Joel's Steakhouse Chef: The Man With the Food Plan

I worked for over a month trying to get an interview with the owner of Joel's Steakhouse but something always seemed to stop me.

Either he had the flu or I was sick or there was always some type of timing problem. When I finally sat down with Joel, he realized that I didn't want to interview him, the owner and entrepreneur. He told me that I wanted to interview his chef, so we put the stop to our talk and he introduced me to Esteban Sainz, the man with the food plan.

He was born in Charlestown in 1970 and has managed one heckuva lot of experience in the 40 years he's been around. He learned at an early age where he wanted to spend his time--in the kitchen. His grandmother, Abuela, taught him how to cook while throwing huge family themed parties in his youth.

It seems he was a natural, but that never stopped anyone from doing foolish things now and then. When he was 12 years old, he thought he would work outside, get a great tan and have all the girls marvel at the muscles he developed. Wrong! He hated it and, before too long, he decided there had to be a better way to earn a living.

By the time he turned 14, he was working at the Oyster Shanty over on Hillsborough Avenue. He started out cleaning turtles, shucking oysters and washing pots and pans, but it beat mowing lawns.

The next few years included doing host duties at Red Lobster and moving on to be a corporate trainer at the Tampa Stadium Chili's. He held that position for the next three years, then moved on as a corporate trainer for Hooter's.

He decided to check out the Beef O'Brady's Restaurants where he met Steve Balducci who told him that his potential was far above the goals he set for himself. After a brief stint at Ivarone's, where he quickly rose from prep cook to sous chef, he realized Steve was right and he moved to North Miami Beach to attend The Johnson & Wales Culinary Academy.

I asked him how many places he worked at while going to school there and he said there were far too many to remember much less list.

He graduated with his bachelor's degree in 2000 and moved to Vegas where he went to work for Bob Johnson at the Paris Hotel. This is where he learned to "put on the dog" and do extravagant things in extreme situations.

He brought these much-needed skills to South Padre Island, Texas, and worked a three-concept restaurant with two separate kitchens. On the first floor sat 187 diners on what he referred to as casual island. The second floor was split into two lofts, one of which sat 47 people with a fine dining theme while the second was a tapas bar serving 37 people right over the water. This was a touristy type of island 17 miles long by half a mile wide, the spring break capital of Texas.

 He worked the De Luna Bayside Grille and was on the fast-track to stardom when his mother took ill. Being a dutiful son, he moved back to the Bay area.

He designed Wise Guys in Oldsmar as his mother recuperated bu,t by the time she got all better, he had his heels dug in at Mangrove's on Howard Avenue in Tampa as the executive chef.

He had a chance to work for one of Iron Chef Morimoto's personally trained chefs from the Atlantis Restaurant at the bottom of Sky Point, and he jumped at the opportunity. During this period of time, he learned quite a bit but new ownership put a halt to that dream. When the neo-millionaire owner changes the entire menu every time he visits a new country, it will cause undue strife and conflict within any place of business, especially a restaurant where stress is a way of life.

Sainz came to Joel's, 1020 E. Bloomingdale Ave., Valrico, about four months ago and thoroughly loves his new home. He is responsible for getting rid of the microwaves and going to a fresher concept. This is not from his lips, but from his co-workers, who enjoy his attitude in the kitchen.

His favorite foods are soul foods but he likes the Asian influence on other cuisines. He really likes to mix and match foods and that makes me a bit curious--what would mustard greens taste like with an Asian sauce?