Life & Work with Lisa Stalvey of Calabasas

Today we’d like to introduce you to Lisa Stalvey.

Hi Lisa, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
It all started 1977. I was studying at Joanne Barron’s acting school. To pay the bills, I worked as a line cook at two hot spots in Los Angeles- ‘The Good Earth’, and ‘The Great American Food & Beverage Company’. On graduation day from, a popular producer who came to scout for talent, approached me about a starring role in a comedy, saying I was like “Lucille Ball.” He asked me to lunch to discuss the details. I showed up hopeful and dressed for possibility. After lunch, we went to his office to sign papers. I left with my dignity intact and with newfound clarity I didn’t know I needed. Afterwords, I decided to shop for a dress. I drove down Melrose Avenue and pulled into an empty parking lot, not knowing it a famous eatery in Hollywood. I met a Frenchman, Patrick Terrail, (the proprietor) standing at the bar, smoking a Gauloise cigarette. This is where my career path changed forever. After a few minutes, a conversation ensued, and it went something like this: Patrick: What can I help you with?
Me: Well, unless you have a dress I can buy, nothing!
Patrick: Would you like lunch?
Me: You’re closed.
Patrick: I’m sure someone could whip something up.
Me: No thanks.
Patrick: What do you do for a living?
Me: I thought I was going to be an actress until this afternoon, but now I think it’s going to be cooking.
Patrick: You cook? Professionally?
Me: If that’s what you want to call it.
Patrick: What do you mean?
Me: Well, the kitchen I work in now is a battle zone! I’m forced to listen to heavy metal music, everyone but me is on drugs, and we are required to carry out planks of food to the tables wearing dirty aprons, while the waiters sing the dinner specials to the customers.
Patrick: What kind of food? Do you have any formal training in French cooking?
Me: Shitty American and no. Is that a bad thing?
Patrick: No. What are you doing tonight?
Me: Nothing?
Patrick: Come back tonight for dinner, on me, and meet Wolfgang Puck for an interview.
Me: Who’s that?
Patrick: Wolfgang is the chef.
Me: Okay, so I’m coming in to interview for a job?
Patrick: Yes, dear.
Me: What’s the name of this place?
Patrick: Ma Maison. Ever hear of it or the chef?
Me: No.

The bizarreness of that conversation made me see that driving into that parking lot was no accident. It was destiny. I was on the brink of stepping into a new level of cooking and embarking on my lifelong career. Cooking had always been a passion, but I had never considered it as a career path. After three weeks of sampling everything on the menu, my new life and career began. Working with Wolfgang was electrifying. The kitchen was fast-paced, intense, and brilliant. As the only woman on the hot line, every day felt like a test. I made mistakes, like burning dishes and using green food coloring for a basil sauce, which got me in trouble, and I often found myself crying in the walk-in and having full blown sobbing sessions on the way home almost every night. But I stayed and persevered. The pettiness of my coworkers wouldn’t deter me. I learned and honed my skills. It was in that kitchen that I began to understand that food was more than just cooking, it energetically memory, emotion, and a universal language I loved.

Then, during my second apprenticeship at L’Orangerie on La Cienega in 1980, I suffered a severe accident, severing three middle fingers and nearly losing my pinky in a food processor malfunction. They were able to fix my pinky which was a good thing. I was able to hold the knife with my thumb and pinky fingers. Even so, I feared my career was over before it truly began and worried about how future employers might perceive the incident. On the day of the accident, I felt “off,” and despite being advised to leave, I insisted I was fine, until it happened seconds later. This taught me to trust my instincts, not just in the kitchen but in life. After months of introspection and rehabilitation, I returned to L’Orangerie, but the environment felt different. Fortunately, I was offered a temporary position by Ken Frank, Chef & Owner of La Toque. On the day that gig ended, I received an unexpected call from my first boss, Chef Kevin McKenzie, whom I hadn’t spoken to in over six years, with some important news.

Kevin: Lisa! It’s Kevin. Where are you?
Me: Kevin! Oh my God! How are you?
Kevin: It doesn’t matter. Where are you?
Me: Leaving La Toque, why?
Kevin: You need to get your ass over to Spago on Sunset Blvd. Stat! Wolfgang is hiring a line cook. Leave. Go now. Hurry up! If you wait until tomorrow, it will be gone.
Me: Okay, okay! I’m getting my ass in the car now!

I happened to be wearing Daisy Duke shorts and a tank top but was going to get this job even if it looked I rode my racing bike from Brentwood! I hadn’t seen Wolfgang in a while, but I got the job and I’d like to think it was because of the shorts! Seriously though, after 2 1/2 years, I was named Wolfgang’s Head Chef. It was a whirlwind being with him again, and this time on an even bigger stage. He made me and all the cooks feel like we worked with him, not for him. After 3 ½ years there, I realized I needed to forge my own way. After Spago, I consulted, opened Santo Pietro’s in Studio City as Executive Chef. After a few years there, I went on to DC3, The West Beach Café and Rebecca’s, all of them Bruce Marder restaurants.

In 1992, I was presented with an exciting opportunity to travel to Iceland as a guest chef, where I introduced California cuisine to Reykjavik at a restaurant/club called ‘Amma Lu’. During my time there, I was contacted by a couple from Malibu about interviewing for the Executive Chef position at a new restaurant in Malibu called, ‘Bambu’. After 5 months in Iceland and 6 weeks in Europe, I returned home to interview, securing the job, and became a partner. The most liberating aspect was crafting the menu with my original ideas and frequently updating it. We later launched a highly successful cigar night, complemented by jazz music. I was honored to be recognized as one of the Top 100 Chefs in America from 1994 to 1997, as we approached the new millennium. In 1998, Paul Newman dined with us, loved some of the sauces, and subsequently hired me to co-write two cookbooks and develop sauces with him. Knowing it was time to leave Bambu to do something new, I worked over 2 years for Newman’s Own.

Deciding to step out of the restaurant business and be my own boss, we, (my partner, Frank and I) started a boutique catering businesses, ‘malibucatering.com’ and ‘themalibuchef.com’, in 2006. We’ve been in business now for almost 20 years, and are still going strong. It’s been a wild ride and continues to be fun and different each time. We’ve catered for many fascinating and famous people including artists, actors, musicians, politicians, athletes and movie stars. I offer organic foods as I care about what people put in their bodies. I specialize in creating original menus for our client’s tastes, including eclectic and unusual flavor combinations and special diets that are based on allergies. We also offer gluten free, vegan, vegetarian, Paleo, and other new diets constantly emerging. We also cater weddings, baby showers, rehearsal dinners and bridal showers. We also do BBQ’s, holidays, special celebrations and intimate dinner parties. In other words, we do whatever your event is and what their heart desires as we aim to please.

In 2016, Frank and I launched ‘Butter Barn Butter’, a wholesale, organic, grass-fed, flavored butter line. We brought back the compound butter idea by infusing many different flavor combinations. We evolved into a wholesale baking company that includes gluten free cookies and brownies company using grass-fed butter. They are currently sold at Erewhon, Lassen’s, online at butterbarnbutter.com, and goodeggs.com.

I also wrote my memoir, ‘Food, Sex, Wine and Cigars’, in 2015, which was meant to be a cookbook when I cheffed at ‘Bambu’, but couldn’t make it cohesive with the ‘sex’ part in the title! Later, I found it in my computer and thought this was meant to be my memoir. It was a quite the self-discovery for me, spiritually and emotionally. In it, I talk about my accident, my 2 near-death experiences, why I became anorexic for a brief time and healed, and how I was true to myself and my career. I also wrote a long overdue cookbook, ‘The Thoughtful Chef’, in 2022. It includes many recipes and valuable information about health and healing.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I believe every career comes with its challenges like jealousy, competition, and even sabotage, all of which I encountered. My career found me rather than the other way around. I say this because I’ve tried several times to leave and start a new career, after some serious disappointments, but the Universe had other plans for me. While many struggle to find a strong start in their chosen field, even finding a career they love, opportunities seemed to fall, and still do, into my lap. When I joined Spago in 1983, the last thing I thought was ever becoming the ‘head chef’, representiing my mentor, Wolfgang Puck and after only 7 years of cooking. This was a tremendous honor, especially considering I was chosen over two colleagues who had been there since the restaurant’s opening in 1982.

However, the most significant obstacle I faced was at L’Orangerie. That accident forever changed my world on many levels, challenging everyday things we take for granted, like everyday chores, my career, my friends and struggling to see myself as a “whole” person again. It was a dark period in my life for sure. I came to realize that I am complete person, even if I’m missing a few fingers!

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I specialize in organization, speed on the line, multitasking, and creativity. My culinary style leans towards organic, healthier cuisines that blend different regions and cultures into a single dish and breaking the rules. During my time at Bambu, I successfully combined Asian, Oaxacan, Italian, French, and Asian influences. I’m known for my passion for cooking and fairness towards my staff, recognizing their invaluable contributions and surrounding myself with talented and kind individuals. I expect the best and learned from Wolfgang Puck that treating employees well yields better results than bullying.

I’m proud to have been a pioneer in the professionalization of women in the culinary arts during the 1980s, challenging traditional gender roles in kitchens. Despite obstacles and biases, I was determined to succeed, viewing it as a personal challenge that propelled me forward. I encouraged my line cooks, mostly from Oaxaca and El Salvador, to create specials from their hometowns, which often sold out quickly. I wanted my staff to feel safe to come to me with a dish from their country they wanted to share.

Throughout my career, I’ve hoped to inspire other women to pursue careers as chefs or restaurateurs. If it’s fulfilling, you’ll never work a day in your life. I feel fortunate to have done what I love and am far from finished. I’ve enjoyed reinventing my career and trying new things and have my greatest ahead. Starting ‘Butter Barn Butter,’ was the complete opposite of running a restaurant. I used to buy from vendors, now I am a vendor! Most of my goals have been achieved, and some are still in progress. Each chapter of my career has been a reckoning, a reinvention, and a refusal to be defined by gender or my accident. I didn’t see it as a handicap but as a gift to challenge myself beyond perceived limitations. There’s much more I plan to do in my career, and I’m excited about what’s to come.

What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?

Currently, I’m developing recipes for a healthy fast/casual organic concept that was born 20 years ago but was put on hold for other life events. It promises to be a healthy concept fast food idea that’s in development. I’m also in the midst of developing a new television series based on my raw and ‘no holds barred’ memoir, ‘Food, Sex, Wine & Cigars.’

The biggest trends I’ve noticed is sourcing sustainable and organic products along with personalization. Global fusion of flavors, regional food stations, and health-consciousness has increased noticeably. Plant-based menus that cater to evolving consumer values and preferences, have also become important, but something I’ve been doing for a long while now. Clients often tell me how challenging it is to find a caterer who can create a meal that’s both gluten-free and dairy-free without anyone noticing. It helps that the products that come out daily are improving, especially the ‘cheeses.’ As we continue to see changes in trends, we are happy to adjust to them as they come. The most important thing to me in my world are keeping in step with my originality and openness to change.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.malibucatering.com
• Instagram: @butterbarnbutter
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisa-stalvey-coady-135a3a18/
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-malibu-chef-calabasas-5
• Other: https://www.themalibuchef.com, https://lisachef68.substack.com/

Image Credits
Lisa Stalvey