Chef de Tucson: Eddie Coronado, Wildflower

He was barely out of high school when he got his first taste of the culinary experience, and he rose fast: By the time he was 25 he would become one of the youngest chefs in the Fox Restaurant Concepts group.

What was your experience with cooking growing up?

“I don’t really have a point where I was like, I love being in the kitchen. My best memory of cooking was during the holidays when the family would get together and make tamales. We were like this assembly line: Grandma made the masa, mom made the meat, and the kids all assembled the rest.”

When did you start paying attention to the culinary environment?

“I got a job at the Holiday Inn downtown and started working for Chef Richard Knott. It wasn’t just bussing tables and dishwashing. He started giving me more responsibility, showing me how to prep food in the kitchen.

“A year later, Knott moved on to become the sous chef at Bistro Zin and he brought me with him. He really inspired me to get started cooking.”

Who else has inspired you?

“Clint Woods, Chris Christiano — they were the first chefs I worked under in the Fox restaurants when I went to work for North in 2001. They both really took my training further and developed me.

“They taught me about flavor profiles, and the different seasonal tastes you could discover.

“They would take me to other restaurants to try different dishes to really understand what food is all about. They really helped me develop my craft and opened my mind to a lot of things.”

How long have you been with Fox Restaurants?

“About 15 years. After North, I was made executive chef at Wildflower in 2005. Then Fox opened the Blanco concept and I was moved over there. In 2014, they asked me to come back to Wildflower.”

What changed for you when you became executive chef? You’d only been in the kitchen for about five years when you took over Wildflower the first time.

“Everything. I went from focusing on food to being in charge of developing people. I realized that I influenced their work environment. I learned about finding the balance between the business needs and employees’ needs.

“When you’re young and just starting out, you watch the executive chef and think, ‘Oh, I can do that job.’ Then when you get into the job and you are now in control of food costs and labor costs, you realize there is so much more to it. I used to just worry about making my fish entrée look great; now I’m responsible for everything.”

So what do you like most about your job?

“I love teaching the cooks who work for me. If you think you can do this job on your own, you’re crazy. You need to take the time to teach people, or you’re always going to be struggling with that employee, or they’ll leave.

“When I show my employees how to do something and they get it, it’s great to watch their reaction.”