Chef’s table: In conversation with Jackie Hildebrand

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This article was published 01/02/2018 (3107 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Jackie Hildebrand, 33, was recently made executive chef at Hy’s Steakhouse & Cocktail Bar in Winnipeg — the first woman to hold the role in the chain’s history.

The family-owned brand, which was founded in Calgary in 1955 by Hy Aisenstat and has five locations across Canada, opened its local outlet in 1958; Hildebrand also has the honour of ushering in the restaurant’s 60th anniversary.  

The British Columbia-born Hildebrand’s promotion finds her taking the reins from Frank Vadacchino, himself a second-generation Hy’s employee (his father worked in the Winnipeg kitchen from 1968 to 2003).

The running-in-the-family feel extends to Hildebrand, a grad of Red River College’s culinary program, whose brother works as a line cook at the restaurant and whose older sister was formerly a server.

She may not have envisioned one day heading up a local institution, but Hildebrand, who was made sous chef at Hy’s at age 24, knew from childhood that her future was in food. 

“I think I told my mom when I was seven, ‘I want to go to culinary school,’” says the chef, seated in an upstairs banquette at the downtown steakhouse on her day off. “I grew up watching Julia Child and Emeril Lagassé. When I would come home from school, I was immediately in the kitchen… my mom was very supportive; she enrolled me in a couple of cooking classes, whatever I could find.”

Hildebrand applied to Red River College while still a student at J.H. Bruns Collegiate — “I think I was 16 because I knew it would take a while and I wanted to start right away,” she recalls — and initially focused her talents mostly on baking. 

A friend convinced her to put in an application at Hy’s and, being thirsty to learn about all aspects of the business, she gave it a try.

“When I first applied I was completely overwhelmed,” she recalls. “I was like, ‘What am I doing? I don’t belong here,’ but at two weeks in, I told the first sous chef I worked with, ‘I’m a lifer.’

“That was 13 years ago. When you’re that young, you’re just trying to adapt and sponge in as much as you can from as many people as you can. The talent — our corporate chef is just incredible and the chef who was here at the time is now the assistant corporate chef — and to be able to work under them and learn… like, we do everything from scratch here. We do stocks, we do the sauces, we do desserts, everything is done here. So it was great to absorb everything.”

Jill Wilson: Restaurant kitchens, in general, are quite male-dominated but steakhouses, in particular, seem that way. So it seems like a pretty big deal to be Hy’s first female executive chef.

Jackie Hildebrand: Yeah! People have been talking about it, but it didn’t hit me until you see it on paper, that it hasn’t happened before. I grew up around boys all the time; I played hockey most of my life and I was a huge tomboy, so I don’t know what else I would do and it’s just what I was used to. I don’t notice it until other people point it out. I think it’s huge and I had a couple of moments where I felt, not overwhelmed, but honoured. The entire company has been very supportive, but it’s crazy (laughs).

 

Jill: What was your first kitchen job?

Jackie: Hu’s on First, in the ballpark. I was 19; it was one of my co-op programs through the culinary school. Before culinary school, I had never worked in a restaurant. 

 

Jill: Did you grow up in a foodie family? 

Jackie Hildebrand: I would say so — not in the way that we went out to a lot of fancy dinners, but we were very food-based. Everything was always focused on the kitchen. I grew up in the kitchen with my grandmothers, watching them cook. I was always in the kitchen with my mom. My brother also works for the company. My grandfather made knives. So I was brought up in a kitchen.

 

Jill: What’s your heritage?

Jackie: German, with some Russian in there, too.

 

Jill: So are there dishes you remember your grandmothers cooking that you can’t duplicate?

Jackie: My grandmother’s chicken and dumplings; she’s my one remaining grandparent. My other grandmother, it was her pickles. We would go pick the cucumbers and make the pickles in the kitchen at her place. But I even asked her how to make it: she’ll say, “Yeast” and I’ll go, “How much?” and she’ll say, “This much.” (Hildebrand holds out her cupped hand.) But I can’t do it; I can’t get it to taste the same.

 

Jill Wilson: What dish would you make to impress a date? Is steak too obvious?

Jackie: Yeah, that might be a lot of pressure!

The things that make me feel comfortable are what I always want to give to other people, so a simple roasted chicken that’s brined properly with all the fixings.

 

Jill: What about to impress a child?

Jackie: My niece is nine, she’ll be 10 this year, and for her birthday, she always asks for salmon with risotto. But there are pictures of her in the kitchen with me since she was a child, so… My nephew is a bit pickier. When they visit in the summer, we’ll make pizza — make the dough and pick out the toppings. 

 

Jill: There’s a lot of tradition involved in steakhouses and even more so when it’s a chain. Do you feel like you have room to experiment here?

Jackie Hildebrand: We obviously have the same standards throughout the company and we keep a consistent level of quality. But we have specials all the time, and we have a happy hour that gives us some flexibility, so there is definitely room. 

 

Jill: You cut down subprimal cuts of meat here in the restaurant?

Jackie: Yes, there’s two of us who do it; the other one is Frank, the previous chef.

We’ll get a short loin and cut our porterhouses off it; we have a saw downstairs. I didn’t know how to do any of that until I started here. I just learned how to do it by doing it… It is definitely a dying art and there’s not a lot of places that do it in-house.

 

Jill Wilson: What do you consider your signature dish? 

Jackie: I’m going to have to say our beef Wellington. It’s something we take a lot of pride in; even after the stock is done, the sauce still takes numerous hours to cook down and it’s kind of an art.

When it’s done well, it’s perfect.

 

Jill: What food is always in your fridge or pantry at home?

Jackie: Potatoes — the whole German thing. And lately, there’s a lot of cheese.

 

Jill: What food trend do you think is overdone?

Jackie Hildebrand: Bacon. I love it, but I’m over it. 

 

Jill: What’s your favourite fast food?

Jackie: Wendy’s, Baconator (laughs). 

 

jill.wilson@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @dedaumier