Departments

Chef Q & A: James Dudley

Cena, Appleton

Cena’s prodigal son James Dudley returns to the fine dining establishment after stints at Village Hearthstone in Hilbert and Mars Cheese Castle in Kenosha. Dudley started at Cena three years ago, working the prep station and expediting food. In September, he returned as the restaurant’s head chef, bringing a new era of cuisine to the College Avenue staple. 

What’s changed at Cena since you’ve been back?

Everything. I gave myself a month and had everything changed on the menu except for our two staples, the Mediterranean nachos and the flatbread that changes every week. Other than that, literally everything is new, down to the cheese.

Cena // Submitted photo

What’s your culinary philosophy?

I’m still trying to develop my philosophy because this is my first head chef position in fine dining. I’m learning things about myself. My style is a combination of countryside French and Northern Italian. That’s what I like to eat, so that’s what I feed other people. Not putting lipstick on a pig is my motto. Don’t buy crap and try to make it taste good. Buy really good stuff, treat it correctly and it will speak for itself.

What are your favorite ingredients to use?

I will put anise in everything unless I consciously dial it back because I love it so much. I like weird ingredients too. We make black garlic in house. I ferment garlic for three weeks and after it’s done basically rotting it turns black. It’s very gooey and tastes similar to balsamic. Then I dehydrate that for two days and it gets really hard so you can microplane that on top of a dish for that extra umami. Umami is the flavor of meat, essentially. If meat isn’t in your diet you can create that sensation with mushrooms, kombu, kelp and seaweed. It’s one of my favorite things to manipulate. Another cool ingredient is duck eggs. I take the yolks and cure them in salt for a week, then dehydrate them. I microplane it over dishes like the duck egg carbonara. It’s salty, but eggy and very intense. We have a joke in the kitchen. ‘What does this dish need? Put a duck egg on it.’

Cena // Submitted photo

Where do you learn these techniques?

I haven’t had any formal training, I’ve learned on the job from the chefs I’ve worked for. They taught me rapidly how to be what I am now. It started with Tracy Darling at Village Hearthstone and later Kevin Woods. When I had the opportunity to come to Cena, I got to hone my technique a little more. I worked with Bobby Wrobleski, Craig Turenske and Colton Roberts. Those guys have influenced me and my career. I constantly read books and watch videos from chefs I respect so when I see something I’m curious about, I try it. Doing the same thing gets really damn boring and then you lose joy in your work.