ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - “Behind you!”
“I need three burgers all day!”
“A little help? I’m in the weeds here.”
Stand near a typical restaurant kitchen, and you’ll hear a flurry of kitchen lingo, which to the unfamiliar ear can sound like a foreign language.
That’s not the case in Kendall Kail’s kitchen, the Pioneer Press (https://bit.ly/2dLy7vR ) reported.
The usual ballet of furious, deliberate movement is there, but most of the time, the only noise you’ll hear is the clicking of a spatula on the griddle or the “tsk” of a whisk against a bowl.
That’s because Kail, executive chef at Ward 6 on St. Paul’s East Side, is deaf.
Kail, 43, grew up in a small town in Iowa. He went to a mainstream high school and, eventually, a typical college.
Though he held a variety of jobs, including owning his own T-shirt-making company, he was never settled, never quite happy.
Kail grew up on a farm, and loved to cook with his grandmother, who made from-scratch meals from her garden.
“Helping my grandma, most of my fond memories were of that,” he said through an interpreter.
It was that grandmother who suggested he try cooking for a living.
“I was sort of lost, and she said, ’Remember how much you loved cooking?’ ” Kail said.
The chef took her advice and went to Le Cordon Bleu in Mendota Heights. He landed an internship at La Belle Vie, then worked at Crave Edina for a few years.
Kail began working at Ward 6 in 2013 and has been in charge of the kitchen there for nearly a year.
While the kitchen runs smoothly now, Kail said it has been challenging at times to teach his staff how to work with a person who can’t hear them.
“It started out where people were really not sure what to do,” he said. “I taught them to touch. They have to touch my arm, shoulder or back to get my attention.”
Interpreting on a daily basis is done through typing messages on a smartphone or through Brian Titus, Kail’s sous chef.
Titus has learned American Sign Language in the three years he’s been working at Ward 6, and he’s often Kail’s interpreter.
“I taught him sign language,” Kail said.
“We started hanging out outside of work,” Titus said. “And it was tough to communicate. Kind of like a game of charades. The more I got to know him, the more I wanted to be able to really talk to him.”
Titus’ newfound skills come in very handy.
For instance, when the duo plans the special for the evening, Titus interprets the vision for the dish for the staff.
Others in the restaurant are also learning bits and pieces of Kail’s language. They can all sign “chicken” or “duck.” They also know “thank you” and other niceties.
Restaurant co-owner Bob Parker communicates with Kail in what he jokingly calls “really crappy sign-glish,” a mix between signing and charades. They also use an iPhone app that makes text bigger to type messages to each other.
Parker said the communication learning curve and paying Kail’s longtime interpreter, Patty McCutcheon, to attend staff meetings and other important functions have been worth it.
“It’s just been really cool to see it work,” Parker said. “It’s worth the extra effort for what I’m getting out of it.”
It’s the first head-chef gig for Kail, who said he’s still learning the ropes of being a manager. Paperwork, procedures and responsibilities other than cooking are a change of pace.
He tries to hire cooks who learn visually, like he does.
“My eyes see more than the typical person,” Kail said. “So I use that to my advantage.”
It hasn’t all been sunshine and roses for Kail while coming up in professional kitchens. Some bosses couldn’t get past the fact that he can’t hear.
“Some places, they tried to throw me under the bus,” he said. “They didn’t understand. They’d say, ’How do you know it’s done without the sound?’ They tried to put me away. Not here, though.”
Ward 6 recently threw a dinner specifically to celebrate Kail and Titus. The duo cooked five courses for a packed dining room of appreciative diners. The dishes were more refined than the usual gastro-pub fare served at the Payne Avenue restaurant: profiterole with chicken liver pate, blini, basil-crusted halibut, a lamb chop and a bordering-on-savory Fontina cheesecake.
“We wanted to give them a chance to stretch, to show everyone what they can do,” Parker said.
Kail, accompanied by McCutcheon to translate, worked the dining room after the last course was served, chatting with appreciative guests.
And Parker led a toast to the duo.
“We wanted to thank them for not only what they’ve done tonight, but also to the potential that they lay before us,” Parker said, raising a glass of red wine.
Parker, who dealt with a lot of kitchen turnover in the restaurant’s first few years, seems pretty satisfied with where things are at right now, including the food that Kail is putting out.
“We really turned a corner with these two guys,” he said. “We’re in a new world and it feels really good. I’m so much more relaxed than I’ve ever been. And I’m getting fatter.”
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Information from: St. Paul Pioneer Press, https://www.twincities.com
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