Cattleman’s Centerline Store’s Sous Chef, Michele Lewis, has pretty much seen it all.
It all started at the age of 8, in her grandma kitchen, while visiting her in Mississippi on a Christmas holiday school break.
“C’mon in here girl !”… her grandma chided her.
“She gave me a knife, and said, now don’t cut your fingers off girl!
And pay attention to what you’re doin!”
“Chitlins was very first thing I learned to make, then Mac & Cheese, Cornbread Dressing and Fried Chicken.
Everything was from scratch…everything”!, Michele proudly exclaimed.
“And my granddaddy, he taught me how to use the grill”, she continued. “He had one of those big ole oil drums he made into a grill and smoker. He even taught me how to cook game meats, like rabbit, coon..”
As Michele grew up, cooking was never far from her mind, and at the age of 15 while still in high school, she got her first “professional” cook’s job, which, like so many young adults, was at a fast-food franchise, Burger King.
While still in High School, flipping burgers was ok, but Michele had her sights on bigger goals, so she enrolled in the Culinary Program at Detroit’s well respected Golightly Vocational School, where she received her diploma after 2 years of studies and hands on lessons.
After a short stint in the retail clothing business Michele knew her heart was in the kitchen, not on a sales floor, so her next stop was Elias Brothers Big Boy in the Renaissance Center, then Top Hat, the Deli and Fish Department at Farmer Jacks, and the Honey Baked Ham Company, spiral slicing and glazing hams with a big torch and making scratch side dishes there.
Michele’s first job in a big professional kitchen was at the MGM Grand when it first opened and worked both in their commissary and preparing food for VIP Guest Services.
Then, after a brief respite, she worked at Maxie’s Deli across from the old Tiger’s Stadium. “That place was ALWAYS rockin, 7 days a week, from 6 am to 3 pm! After my shift, I also had a part time night gig at Shelley’s Tavern on the Avenue across the street!”.
One of Michele’s last stops, before coming to Cattleman’s, was working for the Levy Restaurant Group who operated the main kitchen and luxury suite concessions at Ford Field.
“That’s where I really learned structure. How to organized big food events, working with B E O’s.” she said. NOTE: (Banquet Event Order sheets are the blueprints all Chefs work off of in order to know the menu and all of the specifics of each and every party and event that day.)
“I was with Levy for 16 ½ years and had the opportunity, after the football season was over, to travel all over the country to assist other Levy properties with their biggest events such as PGA Golf, NASCAR and Tennis Championships.
I remember the PGA Championship tournament I worked,” Michele recalled, “I was responsible for printing off all of the B E O’s for the entire weekend and then writing the orders for the 1st food deliveries to be sent to the site.
I worked all day and into the evening printing off a stack of B E O’s 6 inches thick and then spreading them all out on a huge table to organize them and write out all of the food delivery orders.
I wasn’t just a Levy go-to girl, I was the ONLY girl, their only female Chef!
And, I was always available LOL!
One Levy Regional Chef said to me, Michele, you’re a glutton for punishment!
But, I had a blast! And it was fun to see what the other places were doin. I learned a lot. I just love getting the job done.”
As Michele took on more responsibilities, she was also responsible for hiring, training and evaluating new kitchen hires. We asked Michele how she goes about it, what she looks for, what are the signs that tell you whether someone is going to “make it”, or not, in this business.
“Sometimes, I can tell right off the riff.
If they are slow, lazy, even if the way they talk is lazy, you can tell if someone actually WANTS to do the job of not.
You can just tell”, she confidently said.
We asked Michele if she found it to be a challenge being a woman in this business.
“Being a woman, you DO have to work harder to prove yourself. And I know that there have been men who probably didn’t like a woman being in the kitchen with them. And I told him, if it wasn’t for a woman, you wouldn’t be alive to even BE in this kitchen!” She laughed.
“They don’t know me. They don’t know what I know. But, those who DO get to know me, at the end, they say, thank you, you know so much Chef. I loved being underestimated, loved every minute of it, I loved proving them wrong”, she said with pride.
Availability is a skill.
One of Michele’s self-proclaimed assets is, in her words, “getting the job done”. And, as a mentor and a teacher in the kitchen, it’s also what she demands of her cooks and assistants. “Be here, I can teach you the rest. If you’re teachable, you can be great, you can go places!”
Life comes full circle.
As life would have it, Michele followed her grandma’s example and took her own granddaughter under her wing in the kitchen. And, ironically, she ALSO ended up going to school at the Golightly Culinary Arts program in Detroit.
When Michele’s away from work, she enjoys golf, tennis and occasionally watches a bit of the Food Network.
What’s her favorite show? Without hesitation she said, “The Great British Baking Show”! I love it, I watch every it every season!”
And what was her very first cookbook? “That was my Better Homes & Gardens Cookbook that my grandma gave me.” she laughed.
So, what’s Michele’s day like at Cattleman’s?
“Well, the evening before I come in, I make a mental list of all the things I need to do the following morning. Then, I come in at 6 am, get the kitchen set up, wipe down all the tables and turn on all the equipment to make sure everything is working so we have no problems.
From there, I direct the other cooks while starting on my own projects, (soups, sauces and dozens of other recipes), and I help anyone else who needs it.
And what recipe takes the most time to prepare?
“Oh, that’s Chicken Pot Pie she immediately said. You know, cutting up everything, chopping, chopping, chopping, the gravy, and putting them all together.”
“See this callus on my finger”, that’s from my knife, chopping all those vegetables”…she laughed
So, at home, what do you like to cook?
“Nothing” she laughed again. “My kids and granddaughter like to cook and so I only cook at home when I want something that I like, and that I enjoy making. And then there are times that I bring home some of the dishes that I make here at Cattleman’s.”
“Thank God I taught my kids and my granddaughter how to cook!” she said.
Yep, Michele Lewis has pretty much seen it all.
From her earliest cooking lessons in her grandma’s Mississippi kitchen, learning southern comfort dishes, to her eventual culinary career that took her around the country, Michele has always been a proud Detroiter, born and raised.
And although she has mastered many recipes over the years, she still proudly honors her southern cooking roots, some of which you can enjoy at Cattleman’s, not the least of which is her Mac & Cheese, and yes, even her Chicken Pot Pie.
