D Magazine reported recently that Chef Tre Wilcox has left Village Marquee in Highland Park Village, citing a much-needed break as the primary reason. Wilcox will return to being a private chef and will also teach classes from his house.
I interviewed Chef Wilcox early last year, and in what was, hands-down, the most entertaining interview of the year, aptly titled Chef Tre Wilcox ... and the Perks of Being a Private Chef.
I've taken the liberty of pulling a few quotes of his from the interview to gather a bit more insight into his departure. Here's a fake interview, with real quotes from our previous interview:
LDD: What's the deal with being a private chef? Do you like that line of work? Wilcox: [Leans in closely and whispers] Fuck yeah! [Rolls head back and laughs.] It was awesome. It was a two-year break!
LDD: How's that? You mean running a restaurant is hard compared to cooking for one dinner party? Wilcox: Yes, it was a break! My limit for dinner parties was 16 people. It's nothing like running a restaurant. And I was at all these amazing houses with professional kitchens.
LDD: What other perks could there be? Travel perhaps? Wilcox: Oh yeah! That's all I did. This one family took me to Brazil for two weeks. It was a total of six people, and they wanted to try the food of Brazil, but with my take on it. I cooked three dinners for them. That's it. The rest of my time there I just did whatever I wanted.
LDD: So, why did you even ever come back to the restaurant business? Wilcox: Because there was a recession! [He laughs again.] It was ridiculous, everybody clinched their pockets.
Guess we should have seen this coming...
