chef marc anthony bynum

• By admin
• features food and wine interviews
• 851 days ago
• 8

October 6, 2009

Celebrity Chef Marc Anthony Bynum by Christine Gerani

Back in August Newsday featured a glowing review of Chef Marc Anthony Bynum, the Head Chef of Tellers Chophouse in Islip. I wanted to introduce this Celebrity Chef to our readers. He was gracious enough, along with his son 9 year old son Chris, to chat with us here at SpotonLI! 

Christine – Tell us about your early days of cooking.  When did you start and who was your biggest inspiration?

Chef Marc – Early days of cooking, that’s about when I was 10 or 12, cooking with my mom for the most part. Seeing what she did, how she cooked, eating what she cooked and just having fun from there and taking it to the next level is what I wanted to do and that’s what I’m doing now.  It’s all about being young and seeing my mother cooking, my mom is my inspiration, she’s my biggest critic but also my biggest inspiration.

Christine – Was there any specialty that Mom cooked?

Chef Marc – Just home cooking that’s all. She’s from the north, from New York, but she does a lot of southern cooking…peas and rice and stuff like that.  Breakfast was big in the household.  The oversized pancakes with the whipped cream and strawberries!  That was a Sunday specialty.  Mom braised ribs, cooked collard greens, made mac and cheese, mom baked, cobblers and cakes.

Christine – So you helped mom in the kitchen? She let you cook at 10 years old?

Chef Marc – Well she needed help! There were 5 of us kids and there were 7 in the house.  She couldn’t do it by herself!

Christine – You’ve been getting a lot of attention lately and have been called an All-Star and a  Celebrity Chef.  Does your son think you’re cool and do you teach him how to cook?

Chef Marc – My son thinks I’m very cool, but do I teach him how to cook. I’m going to keep teaching him, but I don’t want him to be engrossed in this industry.

Christine – And why is that?

Chef Marc – It takes a lot of your time, and I love what I do, but everybody who wants to do it…you have to have a love for it.  For the most part I would love to spend more time with my son.

Christine – It’s funny that you said that because my next question is; You have such a demanding schedule you probably work long hours that most people can’t imagine, how do you balance work life with family life?

Chef Marc – It’s difficult, but you know he (Chris) informs me when he needs more time, that I have a son. Staying structured as far as my spiritual life keeps me grounded and it keeps me focused.  Just stepping back from time to time and knowing today or tomorrow this job doesn’t have to be mine, it could be somebody else’s, so regardless what I do for somebody else I still have to keep my family my priority. I work hard because I want to keep food on the table and feed my son.

Christine (Asking Chris) – What’s your favorite meal that Dad cooks?

Chris Bynum – I would have to say the hamburgers…cheeseburgers!

Christine (To Chef Marc) – What’s your favorite that you cook or your favorite meal?

Chef Marc – You can go so many ways with that, a favorite dining experience was Oceania in Manhattan. Best food? Ox tails with peas and rice, hands down at my Caribbean store in Amityville.

Christine – What’s the most popular entrée on the Teller’s Menu?

Chef Marc – It has to be the Tellers Rib Eye.

Christine – Congratulations on all your success.  Can you offer any advice for aspiring chefs?

Chef Marc – Stay true to the ingredients, stay true to yourself and hard work.  Hard work does pay off.  Don’t be discouraged! Don’t be discouraged! Don’t be discouraged! Young or old you have to keep on doing it. If you are true, your truth will come out.

Christine – For the home cook, can you share any tips for making the perfect steak?

Chef Marc – High heat. We have a broiler that can cook at 500 degrees. A typical house doesn’t have that.  But you can sear it, add salt and pepper, fresh ground black pepper and kosher salt seared in a pan real nice and then finish it in a 400 degree oven so everything is sealed in. You want to sear the outside of the meat so it stays moist and stays juicy. But don’t take a raw piece of meat and throw it in the oven. Always a good piece of meat, you can’t get shoe leather and try to make it taste great.

Christine – I heard a rumor that you were you supposed to play for the New York Giants?

Marc – I played semi pro football and I was scouted for just a little bit.

Christine – But you decided to cook.

Chef Marc – I’m a chef!

Christine – Favorite team Giants or Jets?

Chef Marc – Giants. The Jets are good, don’t get me wrong. Sanchez is good, Pete Carroll did a great job with him at USC.  But the Giants without Plaxico, it hurts me.

Christine – You must be proud of your son who’s a football player. Do you get a chance to see some of his games?

Chef Marc – This is the first year that I’m not the head coach. I’ve only missed one game in 4 years and that was just recently. I get to see all his games and I’m a very intricate part of his learning and his teaching. He’s great. That’s my son.

Marc Anthony Bynum joined Tellers Chophouse (http://www.tellerschophouse.com/) from another Bohlsen family-owned restaurant, Prime – An American Kitchen and Bar (www.primelongisland.com).  His presence in that demanding kitchen was appreciated across the line. Says Prime’s Executive Chef Gregg Lauletta of his former right-hand player, “Bynum is a real asset who always puts the customer and the team before himself.  He appreciates quality at all levels from the attention he gives to grill prime dry-aged steaks to balancing a delicate sauce with a squeeze of lemon. And all of this at the busiest of times.”