Meet the firestarter

Can a 27-year-old chef stand up to the heat of a hyped new restaurant?

By Lisa Arnett

October 29, 2007

UPDATE: Fahrenheit has closed. Check out our blog, The Extrovert, for details.

Pete Balodimas had hoped to open his first restaurant quietly, but that notion is long gone. With a focus on top-notch ingredients from organic farms, a serious wine list designed by Ambria’s Robert Bansberg and a seriously hot (as in 1200 degrees) wood-burning oven, city-style Fahrenheit in suburban St. Charles has garnered a ton of attention before a single plate has hit the table.

Balodimas, a Glen Ellyn-raised young talent who has logged time at 120 Ocean Place, Tin Fish, and most recently, Spiaggia, is chef-partner at this new family-owned spot. We caught him for an interview as he prepared for a Nov. 5 opening.

We’ve heard you’ve been in the dining biz from an early age. How’d that happen?
You know, honestly, the first day I stepped into my first culinary class in high school, I knew I loved food and I knew I wanted to do something with food. But I was already working at a restaurant prior to that, at Heaven on Seven. I started there when I was like 13 or 14 years old. It was just a summer thing.

Isn’t it like, illegal to work when you’re 14?
Well, [owners] Jimmy and George [Bannos] are sort of like family. My parents grew up with them. [The job] was hell. My dad called them up and told them I was looking for a part-time job, and [said], ‘Just because it’s my son, don’t go easy on him. Do what you gotta do; treat him like a regular employee.’ You’re going to get the labor board involved now and they’re going to call him!

What were some of the worst things they made you do?
Man, George used to make me take down all those hot sauce bottles every single day and wash them off. Cleaning out the grease traps. It was bad. He used to make me clean all the Mardi Gras beads off the chandeliers and stuff.

Why’d you want to open your own restaurant at 27?
The last couple of months I feel like I’ve been pushing 50! I’ve worked for some great restaurants and some great people, and it just came the time when I just didn’t want to cook anybody else’s food anymore.

What’s your approach? And to preface, if we have to hear another chef talk about doing local, seasonal ingredients, we might scream.
People always talk about local ingredients and local farms, and chefs brag about themselves, but without the other people in the kitchen, it would never happen. So, that was really my first approach, building the staff around me that’s solid that understands the food. I mean, keep it simple, let the ingredients speak for themselves… and just cook the best possible food day in and day out. We’re making everything from scratch in-house…our own baking, sausages, desserts, everything. All our fish is line-caught…our guinea hens and our ducks are coming in whole. Eventually, I’d like to get some oak barrels and start aging and fermenting my own vinegars. I really want to control everything.

What do you make of the huge media hype?
I really want to open up quietly, which I don’t think is going to happen anymore, at all. I don’t want to just meet people’s expectations…I want to go above and beyond. It’s surreal to see the response we’re getting. We’ve probably had over 300 calls already for reservations [from] people thinking we were open. Probably about a good 60 percent of those have been with 312 or 773 area codes. And to have [the media] already start making comparisons to other restaurants and we haven’t even served anything, it’s a little overwhelming. It’s like, whoah, those are some big shoes to fill. I just want to do our thing and do it to the best of our ability.

Why St. Charles?
That’s a great question, because people always ask, ‘Well, why the suburbs? This is a city restaurant.’ You know, I worked the city for the last five years, and…I was there six days a week. And on my day off, I’d want to go out to a great restaurant and experience new food, and I feel like I always as trekking back to the city. And at the time, I lived in the Naperville area and…it’s all your corporate conglomerates and chain restaurants.

To change the subject, what tunes would we find on your iPod playlist?
You’re going to laugh at me, you’re going to think I’m crazy, but I don’t listen to music. Even when I’m in my car, I don’t listen to music. I don’t watch TV; all I do is read about food. Seriously -- it’s actually bad. I should seek help for it. All I do is read about different cultures, different cuisines. I really like to know anything and everything food-related. I’m really into the science of food, [but] I will never be doing anything like Grant Achatz at Alinea; it sort of defeats the whole purpose of [using] organic.

Your menu features some pretty fancy dishes. But what would you make yourself for lunch when you don’t have, say, guinea hens arriving whole?
Something very simple -- just a sandwich, salami with giardiniera. Or just a couple great cheeses at room temperature, some nuts or some crackers. I won’t eat heavy throughout the course of the day, and I eat like two bowls of cereal before I go to bed, and that’ll be it.

What kind of cereal?
Aw man, the more sugar the better. Fruity Pebbles are awesome, and Cookie Crisp. You can’t beat little chocolate-chip cookies.

Lisa Arnett is the metromix suburbs and shopping producer.

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