Ken Lumpkin
Title: Sous chef, Acre restaurant
Age: 42
Hometown: Oakland, Calif.
Who or what was your first cooking influence? My mother. She ran a little coffee shop. In Japan, a coffee shop, they do rice and pickles and just kind of standard everyday fare. ... It (their home) was a very Japanese household. I had to take my shoes off. We slept on the floor. We sat on the floor. ... We did a lot of fried rice, stir-fried vegetables, a lot of miso soups, fish head soups, curries, pickling.
What was the first thing you ever cooked or baked? I was probably like 4 years old. I started with washing the rice and cooking the rice.
What made you decide to become a chef and when was that? What I wanted to do was print production layout. I started doing that, but I quickly found out that I was not very good behind a desk and I was even worse at office politics. Going to college and trying to get through college I worked in the restaurant business ... On a fluke I went down to The Peabody just to put in an application. At that time, I was working at Buckley's just grilling and making Grilled Chicken Caesars. No big deal. ...On a fluke, Jose (Gutierrez, then head chef at Chez Philippe), took me in. ...For about six or eight months I walked around with the biggest eyes going, "I did not know you could do that with food." ... Once I got there I was like, "You know, I can do this."
What was something important that a fellow chef taught you? If a person goes out, works 40 hours a week to earn money and he's going to bring that money to your place to eat, at least cook him a meal he deserves.
What is the Ken Lumpkin style? I know what I can cook very well and I try to make it taste good. And I just make sure that I have fresh, good ingredients.
What do you cook or bake at home, if anything? 'Cause I cook for my son. He's 10. ... I just cook whatever's fresh, but most of the time we have rice. I usually make some type of soup. ...My son eats very well. The teachers can't wait to see what my son has for lunch.
What's your favorite food? The noodle bowls, just phos or ramens or udons. That's kind of what I'm eating right now.
What's your least favorite food? I'll eat it, but I'm not really down with all this over-processed food . ... I'm a little against corporate food.
Acre is at 690 South Perkins Road; (901) 818-2273.
Michael Donahue: (901) 529-2797; donahue@commercialappeal.com
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