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 Chef's at home on the range By SELWYN CRAWFORD / The Dallas Morning News COLLEYVILLE – Top-shelf chef David McMillan was seriously contemplating a move back to California some time ago when his wife, Denise, threw her annual party at Nana, the five-star restaurant at the Wyndham Anatole hotel where Mr. McMillan was executive chef. With about 30 folks gathered around, Mr. McMillan says his wife experienced an epiphany.
No, not really. When it's time to move on, you move on. I was there for four years. They give their chefs about two to three years, so I did pretty well. And I left on good terms. It's still a great place. It's an awesome, awesome room. Anyone who hasn't been there should go. Did you start off wanting to be a chef? No, I didn't plan on cooking. I graduated from Georgia State University in Atlanta with a fine arts degree. I'm a sculptor by trade. My mom is an artist in Berkeley, and, growing up, we had a kiln in our garage. We were always making something. When did you start your cooking career? I always cooked. I got my first cookbook from the library when I was 6. I still remember the first thing I made, sweet and sour pork. I can still tell you how to make it. It was really kind of magical. But I cooked all through college. I even had parties and invited professors over." Do you still make sweet and sour pork? No, actually, I don't. I'll bet I haven't had any in 20 years now. I still like it, though. I think I'll teach my son how to make it. That's what I'll do. I learned to make it at 6. Now he can learn, too. Is the reason so much of your life centers on Colleyville because of your son? Yes, Ryan loves it here. Absolutely loves it. He wants to be a Longhorn. He doesn't really get the difference yet between pro and college and even high school. So if we drive by the high school stadium and he sees the Mustangs, he just starts saying, "Boo, Mustangs; yea, Longhorns." Then you try to explain that these aren't the same Mustangs that are playing his Longhorns, and he waits a minute, and then he goes again, "Boo, Mustangs; yea, Longhorns." So if you weren't a chef, what would you do? Art, perhaps? No. I still do some bronze casting, but it's expensive and you don't make any money at it until you're dead. I can't imagine what else I would do. [Cooking] offers so much more than a normal job. It's not just a job. It's a hobby. It allows you to be opinionated. I'm like, this is what I made, either you eat it or you don't. I don't do mac and cheese. Would you encourage Ryan to become a chef? Yes, I've had a good life. It's not so much cooking food. It's just a great career. And what I do now, you don't have to be chained to your kitchen. I can come out in the restaurant and meet and talk to people. And then, when I get tired of talking to people, I just go back in the kitchen. Speaking of tiring of things, can you see yourself ever tiring of Colleyville? No. California is pretty. There's a nice ocean. There's hills. You don't see that much here. But California is very expensive. And there are some new things going on in the Village, and my son has a great life here. I go through three traffic lights and I'm at home. This is my Mayberry. By SELWYN CRAWFORD |
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62 Main Street, #200
Colleyville, TX 76034
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