JVS Graduate Prepares Simply Elegant Cuisine as Executive Sous Chef
Tyler Mock, Culinary Arts, Class of: 2006
How often the student becomes the teacher.
Still, celebrity Chef Michael Symon has nothing to worry about…for now.
But JVS graduate, Tyler Mock is out there, Chef Symon, braising, searing and hungry!
Mock worked for Symon at his Cleveland restaurant, Lola, preparing the cold line foods while attending the Lorain County JVS Culinary Academy.
"From Chef Symon, I learned that simplistic food is elegant," said Mock, who graduated from the JVS Culinary Academy in 2004 and the prestigious Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York in 2006.
"I have no aspirations of becoming an Iron Chef," Mock, 27, said. "But if my current employer ever has that opportunity, I hope that I can be there to assist him."
Mock currently works as Executive Sous Chef for restaurateur Jamie Keating at Keating's Epic Restaurant and RiverMill Event Centre in Columbus, Georgia.
Mock's culinary roots run deep, firmly planted by grandparents that owned restaurants and a mother who taught high school culinary arts in the Madison School District near Mansfield for 35 years.
As a matter of fact, Mock moved from the Mansfield area to live with relatives in Elyria to study under the tutelage of JVS Chef-Instructors Kristian Smith and Timothy Michitsch.
"Chefs Smith and Michitsch are hands-on, easygoing and approachable," he said. "They provided strong foundations in cleanliness, sanitation and a passion for cooking that prepared me well for my studies at the Culinary Institute of America."
Mock was captain of the JVS culinary team his senior year. The team won a state title and advanced to a national competition in Orlando, Florida.
Mock also assisted in culinary competitions in Switzerland and Luxembourg as an apprentice on the Culinary Olympic team at Westchester Country Club in Rye, New York while pursuing his Associate Degree at the Culinary Institute of America.
Mock joined Jamie Keating in Georgia in 2007, where he devotes much of his time to Epic Restaurant, which opened in August of 2012. The restaurant caters to residents big and small, including corporations such as AFLAC Insurance, the Coca-Cola Co. and members of the Armed Forces at Fort Benning.
"I probably work 75 to 80 hours a week, so I don't have much spare time, but I'm not complaining," said Mock. "It's a gift to be able to do what you love for a living."