Chef of the Week: The Hideaway's Robert Grenner

Speaking with executive chef Robert Grenner reveals a background as diverse as the specialties he creates for The Hideaway, the latest dining destination in Agoura Hills. 

Grenner was raised in Los Angeles, where he was influenced by the culinary tastes of his family's generations of European migrants. "They cooked, but were not actually chefs," he explains. Combined with frequent dining throughout Los Angeles—from Chinatown to Olvera Street, his cooking roots were formed.

Good thing for the local culinary scene, Grenner chose not to follow his other career considerations. At 16, he was the youngest player in a semi-pro baseball league, and later in life, he earned a degree in Psychology, with plans for law school. But instead, Grenner chose Le Cordon Rouge Culinary School in Sausalito, CA. 

Immediately after graduating, his newly acquired culinary talent and an admitted spell of luck landed him a role as an associate chef at one of Wolfgang Puck's flagship restaurants in Santa Monica. "I was thrown right into an open kitchen environment where everything you do is on display," he says. Grenner spent a year and a half learning all he could from Puck and his fellow chefs. 

After many years as an executive chef at some of the area's top restaurants, as well as roles at leading catering operations, Grenner realized his dream when he and his wife opened their own restaurant. For two years, they offered a menu consisting of creative approaches to basics; everything from a great hot dog to Russian elk chili to truffled fois gras.    

Grenner is always looking to try new and unique dishes by thinking about what raw ingredients to combine in creative ways. He says this helps him stay close to the true flavor components of his creations. 

He lights up when speaking about his love of putting ingredients together for the first time. This passion is reflected in the menu he has created for The Hideaway.  

"Doing something new is what I do best," he says as he talks about a dish he is preparing for the day's menu. Part of his "world chili" specialty, the chicken-mole chili combines over 25 ingredients to give it a special flavor that reflects the diversity of each component. 

With passion for diversity in his cooking, he can still add a signature touch to the basics. For the wood-burning oven, used to make the nice thin and crispy crust for the pizzas, he combines oak wood and almonds to give the crust a hint of sweetness. He also uses produce from Underwood Farms for his salads.

Grenner tries not to look back on some of the thousands of unique dishes he has prepared throughout his culinary career, preferring to look ahead at what he will create next.