Best Chefs in Pittsburgh: Creating the Perfect First Bite With NcKeon Saunders at Social House 7
By Olivia Miller
While browsing Social House 7’s menu of fantastically crafted fusion dishes like their chee fried sprouts and fiery firecracker shrimp, it is hard to believe that their creator’s original career path was not in the restaurant industry.
Executive Chef NcKeon Saunders was a carpenter by trade before taking a part time job washing dishes at an Italian restaurant. While he was there, he witnessed the chefs cooking in the bustling kitchen and “was hooked and wanted to learn” how to do it himself. After a bit of mentoring and training by the restaurant’s chef, he attended culinary school to hone his craft and later started as chef at Social House 7.
Though cooking food initially attracted him to becoming a chef, he says being a chef “goes beyond just creating.” It’s a meticulous, selfless, and inspiring process in Chef Saunders’ eyes. In the kitchen, he says “every detail matters” since “a recipe is the sum of its parts”, which he admits is “kind of poetic.” Take for instance his favorite dish to cook, which is “anything on the wok.” He enjoys working with the high temperatures and fast speeds that command his attention and exact precision because “one mistake and you scorch the whole dish.”
As a chef, cultivating a good kitchen environment is just as important as producing great meals for guests. To Chef Saunders, this involves wearing many different titles like “therapist, father figure, role model” to accomplish “a lot of character building.” When creating new menu items, he acknowledges the importance of getting the input from his line cooks. He says, “[you] can create the most amazing menu but [it is] the kitchen staff who make your dream a reality.” His greatest joy has been “being able to create something that others can catch on to and love to recreate.”
As for his favorite part of being a chef, Chef Saunders’ answer is simple: “the first bite.” He reminisces on seeing couples sitting at their table, immersed in conversation until the first show stopping dish comes to their table. He says, “the whole conversation stops” as they take the first bite then “their eyes get wide and they focus on the dish.” Seeing their apparent satisfaction in their meal signals to him that “all [his] hard work was worth it.”
In his journey from carpenter to chef, he was inspired by both local and national culinary talent. He cites Gordon Ramsay as one of his role models and ultimately hopes to own his own restaurant and “become like Chef Ramsay.” Another of his inspirations is Pittsburgh Chef Richard DeShantz. His office is close to the restaurant and Chef Saunders values this proximity and says, “I could walk up the street and have a conversation with him.”
To try Chef Saunders’ cooking for yourself, see Social House 7’s website for their complete menu and a listing of their hours.
