Meet the Chef: Crush 29's Darrell Madeira

A foodie since the tender age of 13, ’s Darrell Madeira has been in and out of kitchens cooking for regular Joe’s and A-list celebrities for the past 26 years.

Having trained under chefs including Daniel Collomb and Jean-Luc Chassier, Madeira describes his cooking in two words; passionate and demanding. 

“Passionate because you have to have passion to get anywhere in this industry. You have to be hungry, driven to do what you want and go where you want to go,” Madeira said. “Demanding because that’s a bit of my French training coming out…when I create a dish and get it where I want it, that’s how I want it to look, taste and be prepared every single time. I’m all about having fun in the kitchen, but when it’s time to work, it’s time to get serious.”

What is your philosophy when it comes to cooking or preparing the Crush 29 menu?
I don’t think I have a philosophy necessarily. When I put together items on the menu, I don’t just do things people can’t make at home, you’ll definitely see something people would consider “basic" like a caprese salad, but I’ll take the caprese salad and add my own touches or put my own spin on it.

You could give you and I the same recipe and tell us both to make it, and we’d both get two very different tasting things because where most people will just follow the recipe and ingredients, I experiment. I add things that boost the flavor and add to the experience. That’s what being a cook is all about.

Where did you work before coming to Crush 29?
I last worked for the Maloof family as a personal chef cooking for them, their guests, parties, basically anyone who came through Sacramento would meet with the Maloof’s, take in a game and I’d cook for them either in their suite or at their home.

I cooked for Maria Shriver’s birthday parties, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Barry Bonds, Pete Rose ... the list goes on.

In 2005 I was in LA working for Adrian Maloof cooking for their family as a professional chef. Adrian had young children at home and wanted to make sure they were eating properly so everything I was cooking had to be fresh and healthy.

I came to Crush 29 to get back into restaurants and being a line cook. It’s one thing to be a personal chef working in someone’s home for big names and it’s quite another to be among the chaos and rush of a restaurant during dinner hour cooking for the public. I missed that. 

What is your favorite item on the menu and how did you come up with it?
Our most popular are the Snap Crackle Salmon and the Drunken Brandy Steak but I’d have to say one that I created that I’m proud of is the Achiote Glazed Mahi - it’s a little different and has flavors that people aren’t used to or wouldn’t ordinarily try.

I was looking for a southeast meets west flavor and was inspired by those regions. It has Achiote which is a pepper, sweet corn sauce, black rice for a bit of an Asian flavor and a blood orange gastrique which is my French training coming out.

I cook with regions in mind and get inspired by those flavors and the ingredients that hint at those regions in my food. I want you to bite into whatever it is and think “that’s California” or “that tastes like the south.”

  
Who is your favorite person to cook for?
I like cooking for the general public. I really cook with ladies in mind because if they like it, they bring back their husbands, and come back for evenings out or for business. 

Everyone’s a critic and everyone knows what they like and aren’t too eager to try something new. As a chef, it’s my job to encourage people to try new things or prepare food in a way they wouldn’t normally expect.

I also like to educate my customers on the foods they’re eating, where they came from and what the flavors are. I love cooking - to me every experience of your life can show up on that plate, weddings, birthdays, babies - all of those experiences can end up on a plate, it’s like being an artist with a blank canvas.

Seasons change and that changes what ingredients and foods you work with everyday is different from the last. Even people’s attitude towards food changes, there’s a big movement now of eating light, healthy, locally, organic, free range whereas the French are all butter, and cream - all of those terms and attitudes you work with as they come into and out of popularity.  

Darrell Madeira is executive chef at Crush 29 in Roseville located at 1480 Eureka Road in Roseville. He lives in Antelope with his wife Lauren, and two children Ella, 2 and Maddox, 15 mos.