AT THE CLUBS

Talking with Paul F. Meyer of The Meadows.

Paul F. Meyer has been at The Meadows Country Club for the past six years. A native of Utica, New York, and a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, 39-year-old Meyer has been at The Meadows Country Club for six years. His wife, Lauri, is the clubhouse manager there. They met on the job, and they spend 70 to 80 hours together on the job, coming to work and leaving together in one car. For the second year in a row, Chef Paul took home top honors at the Inter-Club Cooking Challenge organized by Tim Nichol of the Sarasota University Club. The competition, based on the theme of Australia and seafood, was open to country club chefs from Sarasota and Manatee counties. Chef Paul's winning recipe for Queensland Crayfish Walkabout Purses is included here.

Q. What's the best thing about being a country club chef?

A. At The Meadows, it's the variety and diversity of the members. We have 1,400 members from 19 foreign countries and 40 states. I do menus and cook in three kitchens for three very different restaurants and for special events. We do 150,000 meals a season. There are lots of ways to be creative.

Q. What's the biggest challenge?

A. The variety and diversity of the members! They're all regulars, and they have exacting standards. I have to please every single one of them for breakfast, lunch, or dinner as well as their daughter's wedding.

Q. How often do you change the menus?

A. Twice a year in the Regency, the Fountain Grill and Center Court. But all the menus have rotating features, such as prime rib night, or black-tie theme dinners. So we keep the menus fresh between the two major changes.

Q. Are there some things you can't retire from the menu?

A. Braised lamb shank. We took it off once and had to put it right back on. Salmon is the most-requested fish, and we always have it on the menu, although I like to come up with new ways to prepare it. A big favorite lately is thinly sliced salmon wrapped around blanched asparagus and steamed. We lay that on a bed of greens and top with an orange vinaigrette dressing. It's refreshing and looks pretty.

Q. What food trends do you see on the horizon?

A. Southern Mexican, Moroccan, Sicilian, and more Vietnamese.

Q. What's your take on baby vegetables?

A. I'll use the carrots and squash. I would never serve baby eggplant. It's a scientific mutant.

Q. How about garnishes?

A. I'm tired of seeing mesclun lettuce used to garnish nearly everything. It's not appropriate. And I don't use parsley. I'm more interested in pulling out some ingredient in the dish and making a garnish of it. For instance, on a mound of mashed potatoes I use a swirl of a potato crisp. It relates to the dish.

Q. How about presentation?

A. I think food generally looks best against a white plate. Here at The Meadows, I use a white plate rimmed in green.

Q. Where do you eat on your night off?

A. Lauri and I usually opt for takeout near where we live in Lakewood Ranch. Outback, the local Chinese place, First Watch, whatever. We're not picky eaters. I just don't want anything elaborate or complicated when I'm at home. When I eat out, I tend to be constantly evaluating and scouting for new ideas and thinking of how I'd change the recipe. For me that's too much like work, not relaxation.

Q. When you cook at home for friends and family, what do you make?

A. I get requests for my grilled chicken. I debone a whole chicken and marinate it in a mustard vinaigrette and grill it whole. The skin gets nice and crispy. Lauri is a terrific cook, and her specialty is baked chicken and yellow rice. It's famous among our friends and is my favorite home-cooked meal.

Q. You're a lean chef. How do you stay in shape?

A. We have a treadmill at home. Lauri and I take turns.

Q. Any hobbies?

A. When I was a boy in Utica, New York, my dad taught me to target shoot. I still do it at a local range. I don't hunt. I just shoot at paper targets with a pistol and I'm not all that good at it. But I enjoy it.

Q. What's your guiding philosophy as a chef-boss?

A. I hire attitude, not accomplishments. And I believe in continuing education for myself and my 30-member kitchen staff. If someone wants to take a course or get a certification, I encourage it all the way. We should never stop learning.