Chef Steve Bender of Fishers Fiddle Catering
Name: Steve Bender
Age: 72
Born & Raised: Cohasset, MA
Business: Fishers Fiddle Catering
Phone: 508.228.9047
Location: 24 Orange Street, Nantucket
When did you first become interested in food?
When my grandmother would cook for me as a kid. I realized that its my female side of myself. I lived in the tenements in the Bronx so I was always around women as a kid and they really got into me. As I got older I went to university and I started cooking food at school. I realized at school everything I cooked was overcooked. At 18 I started cooking for friends and girl friends and always wanted to impress people no matter what I did.
What inspired you to become a chef?
I cooked all the meals during your first marriage for 13 years. That really turned me on to cooking.
What did you do before becoming a chef?
I got a degree in chemistry at Alfred University. I then went to Columbia for a year for chemical engineering but dropped out after a year and never got a degree. I then went to work for Phillips doing xray chemistry. Then I went to Avco Corp and I was in charge of the xray laboratory. We were working on a re entry vehicle for the US space agency. After that I went to Kennecott Copper Corp and worked with electron beams and an electron beam microscope doing basic research. After that I came to Nantucket and ran a restaurant for almost ten years. I sold it and became a commercial fisherman. I fished for Nantucket Bay Scallops in the winter and quahogs in the summer. I also had a 32 boat built in Maine to jig for codfish and when the cod left I fished for tuna. Name of restaurant was called the Sandpiper on 35 Main street where Maury People and SJ Patton are today.
Years in cooking business?
I've serious cooking for 35 years.
When did you first come to Nantucket?
I first came to Nantucket in 1970. I came to Nantucket because I heard there was a restaurant for sale on the island. I was living in Lexington MA at the time. I flew out here with a friend to look at the Sandpiper restaurant. I asked them to take it off the market for 30 days and I got the money together and bought it.
What style/culture influences /inspires you?
For a few years I liked Moroccan. I don’t like the way they cook, I like what they cook. There herbs, fruit, and sweet flavors. I like Asian and French. Lately I'm fascinated by Vietnamese and Italian.
Do you travel for inspiration? Where have you gone?
I've traveled quite a bit in Italy in the north and in the south of Siena called Val d’orcia. I traveled all thru Portigual, Lisbon and north. Spain and Switzerland, Sweden. France, I love Europe. I love the ingredients you can buy in France.
Who are your mentors?
Susan Simon I met in the early 70s and she was cooking food that really inspired me. I also am a huge fan of Alfred Portale and read all his cookbooks. My mother was also a big inspiration as well as my grandmother. My main mentor was an Italian country chef named Marie Tomjanovitch.
How do you come up with ideas for the menu?
I usually try to ignore what the people want *laughs*, I use seasonal ingredients and whatever is happening at the moment.
What do you try to do that is different from anyone else?
I don’t prepare much, I cook everything to order on the site, I don’t bring anything… its kind of a hassle, but that’s the way I do it. I like to serve a lot of appetizers before dinner.
Favorite dishes?
Pork clay pot [Vietnamese], pasta con vongele Portuguese, I love broscuitti e fichi, im nuts about smoked eels! I also love oysters. Especially Nantucket oysters. I also love cherry stones Diane.
Any tips for the cooking at home?
Use a stove that can put out a lot of heat, at least one burner.
Any final words?
I love food because there's always something to to discover!
