Dale Watkins

My grandfather, who was raised on a potato farm in Maine, brought his rural lifestyle to Connecticut. He hunted and lived off the land, and I got to be a part of living that lifestyle - which was super exciting as a kid. I have vivid memories of hunting with him, helping out in the garden, and fishing in the river behind my grandparent’s house. I remember picking tomatoes off the vine and eating them at peak season, peak ripeness. My grandfather used to trick my cousins and me into eating little cloves of garlic from his garden - he used to tell us it was candy. So we grew up chomping on little cloves of garlic, thinking it was candy and thinking it was the best thing in the world. I still do it to this day, and people are like, what are you doing?

I mean, there are worse ingredients to be attached to.

Dale Watkins, Director of Culinary at Ivan Ramen. 

My upbringing was split between spending time with my grandparents and spending time with my mom. Mom was more of the “it came from the freezer aisle” type person while my grandparent’s house was the opposite with the “Hey, we just pulled this thing out of the garden”, or, “Here's the deer that we got last fall” type of stuff. So a bit of a dichotomy there, and that still lives in me to a certain extent. There’s still a part of me that gets a lot of enjoyment out of some really trashy stuff. 

As a teen I would cook pasta - my grandma was Italian so there was that influence and heritage coming through. I wouldn't say I was good at cooking by any means, and I never really saw food as my career, I just thought it was fun. Fast forward a few years, this changed completely when I was living in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, during my early 20s and found myself spending every spare moment I had roaming the city in search of the best pho, or the best chicken and rice, or the best bowl of Wonton noodles. Discovering and trying to understand the cuisine through the lens of regionality…that's one of the unique beauties of a place like Vietnam: a truly regional form of food. When I try to cook Vietnamese food for my wife, who is from the north, she’ll without fail say “This stuff is way too sweet”. It’s a completely different palate between north and south. Every province has a different specialty dish with different ingredients they're working with. Go up to the mountains, you’re eating Civet, which is like a weasel. Go down to the coast and you’ll find the freshest bounty of seafood you can imagine. It was endless; the more I dug, the more I learned. It became my whole reason for being. I realized this was something I really cared about.

I moved back to the US and thought, okay, I’m at a transition point. I landed in New York City and started working in restaurants. I started in the front of the house but found myself constantly wanting to understand the food at a deeper level, asking cooks what they were doing. I never really even thought about cooking until one day I asked the Chef I worked with what a path to working in the kitchen might look like. He said to show up Monday morning for a kitchen shift, and I never looked back. After moving around a couple of different places, I eventually ended up at the doors of Ivan Ramen in 2015. I remember hearing of this famous chef who came from Japan to open up a ramen shop in New York. I went there as soon as the restaurant opened, and I loved it. At that time, it was the restaurant I went to most in the city -  I would go at least once a week. I was so determined to work there. So I reached out and sent this long email, begging for a job or even just an opportunity to come in and interview. Eventually, I got a reply and then the job. I knew this was going to be my place for a while.

I started as a line cook, eventually got moved into a sous chef position, then took over as GM overseeing our ramen counter in Hell’s Kitchen, and eventually as Chef for both locations that we had at the time. I did that for a while before taking a little break in 2020, right before the pandemic. My path gets a little less traditional here - I actually went back to school. I often find myself balancing between creativity, which is deeply fulfilling, and my analytical side. During my time at Ivan Ramen, I became increasingly interested in the business aspects. I wanted to learn more about streamlining processes, analyzing P&Ls, and developing long-term strategies. So I went back to school, got an MBA, and then worked in consulting for about a year and a half before coming back to the industry. 

I was always going to come back. My leaving the industry was not because I had a moment where I was like, I'm done with this, I'm out. It wasn't like that. I just felt like there was more that I could bring to it, and I wasn't going to get it by staying in the industry. And so leaving was more to go out, expand my own experience, pick up some skill sets that I could bring back, and straddle that line between having a place that's great, but that also works well. 

The experiences that you will have in this industry are like none other. I have a distinct memory of working under a well-known chef who was yelling at us for not being able to hear water boil from across the restaurant. I remember just looking at my team…like, “I’m sorry, did he just say hear water boil from across a restaurant?” We held it in while he was in the room, but as soon as he left, we just laughed hysterically about the whole ordeal. Listen, I get what he means. You should know how long it takes for water to boil. But you’re talking to 24-year-old kids who are just starting out. You say things like that, they’re not going to take you seriously. That will never leave me. It’s funny looking back on it, but it’s also really important to realize where people are at, work with them, and help them grow.

But honestly, the heat never really got to me. The physical heat at least. I always thought that it was cool to be at the end of the shift, wearing a dishwasher shirt from service, completely soaked through. It gives you instant gratification of knowing that you put in really hard days of work. And that was one of my favorite things about getting into this industry  - I knew I was working. I mean yes, we're all working, all the time. But there is no doubt that by the end of a shift in a restaurant, you've given it your all, you've earned every dollar you've made, and more. And it was just so satisfying. 

My advice for the guys who are just starting out - the easiest way to rise up in this industry is to just show up and work hard, and do it day in and day out. And sooner or later, people notice, and you get promoted. And that's how you learn too. Yes, you can go to culinary school. I didn't, but that's an option. The second trait is to be curious. It's not having a creative flair or being a genius, it's just being curious. Why does this ingredient work in this way? Get into the science of it. What's the reaction going on in a batter that I'm making, for example? What elements are going to give me the texture that I want? What's going to make it lighter? What's going to make it shatteringly crispy?

I'll be honest. I am in a very fortunate position now. I have an incredible team that essentially runs the restaurant. Today, a lot of my energy is focused on expanding the brand and growing it. And so I would say a solid 80% of my time is sitting in front of the computer at this point, writing emails, reaching out to suppliers, working with partners, and writing recipes. I think one of the best things I did was leave the industry for a little while because I needed to understand what boundaries should look like. Granted, it's still a tough industry. So for me, it’s important to balance it out with the things I love.

Why the restaurant industry? I know this very well because I chose to come back to it. The ‘why’ is because people care. I mean that on both sides of the customer and the people that are working in the industry. People care about food. It's one of the easiest ways to really impact people and make them live a happier, better life. There are a lot of ways to make a positive impact in this world and many ways that are farther reaching. Thank God that there are people inventing things like electric cars and figuring out how we're going to meet the energy needs of the future, all that stuff. That is incredible. But it's also important to make people's lives better every day and to be able to provide a great experience, with a great environment and good food. 

My NYC Spots: Where I’m sitting right now, Grand Central Oyster Bar. I think it's one of the most beautiful spaces in New York. I love the fact that you walk in and see people from every walk of life. You've got tourists here, you've got people commuting, you've got everybody. I have a fascination with transit hubs because people don't come here as a destination, but are instead just passing through on their way to somewhere else.

I also love the Four Horsemen. I think it’s one of the best dining experiences in the city. The food and wine are always incredible, the space is fun, and the team is always so knowledgeable, yet cool and hospitable.