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A Quick Look Back at The Mansion Kitchen

Posted on June 25th, 2009 1:31pm by Nancy Nichols
Filed under Celebrity Chefs, Chefs, Restaurant News, Travel, Wine & Spirits

Richard Chamberlain in the Mansion kitchen.

Last week I was shooting the breeze with Amador Mora, the chef at Maximo. We talked about the 24 years he spent working his way up the ranks of the kitchen at the Mansion on Turtle Creek. Before he started working at the Mansion, he was a dishwasher at S&D Oyster. “It was 1979 and I needed another part-time job,” he said. “So I stopped by the construction site of the Mansion and got a job as a construction worker.” Mora literally built the restaurant and then moved inside to be the daytime dishwasher.

Mora started hanging out with the prep guys and asked them to teach him how to use a knife. At one point he was prepping alongside Dean Fearing (saucier), Kevin Ascolese (tournant), and Richard Chamberlain (grillardin). I sent Richard Chamberlain a note asking him to verify the scenario and he sent these pictures.

Dean Fearing, the early years.

Dallas is unique—we have a nice community of chefs who have worked together at various times and places and still spend time with each other. They also devote a lot of time, product, and energy to charitable organizations. I bet there are a lot more pictures like these out there. Chefs, if you have a story, share it.

13 Comments to “A Quick Look Back at The Mansion Kitchen”

DGirl @ June 25th, 2009 at 1:48 pm

Great pix! Great story about Amador Mora.
foodie @ June 25th, 2009 at 2:11 pm

Wow, Thats still Fearing signature pose!
great stuff!
TheBrad @ June 25th, 2009 at 2:14 pm

gold!
Worzel Gummidge @ June 25th, 2009 at 2:23 pm

Who was the grand fromage at that time?
Christine Rogers @ June 25th, 2009 at 2:51 pm

Wow – so cool. Love the baby faces.
r @ June 25th, 2009 at 2:53 pm

Nancy
I think you should do history of all the Chef’s that came through the Mansion kitchen and let’s see were they are now. Think about it you Kent,David Bull Nick and so on, that would be fun to see.
PotNet @ June 25th, 2009 at 3:08 pm

Avner Samuel or Wolfgang Puck (the true father of Southwestern cuisine).
Nancy Nichols @ June 25th, 2009 at 3:33 pm

more avner that wolfgang.
Santa Fe Sam @ June 25th, 2009 at 3:50 pm

More Mark Miller than Pucky.
Twinwillow @ June 25th, 2009 at 6:23 pm

Dean looks like he couldn’t be more than 12 years old in that picture.
Terrific!
Richard Chamberlain @ June 25th, 2009 at 10:14 pm

Dean was/is a great mentor to so many chefs, including myself. He has always had a special way of teaching and inspiring young chefs beyond what they ever dreamed they were capable of. I will always be grateful to Dean for that.
jessica @ June 25th, 2009 at 10:24 pm

LOVE this post! Practically prepubescent Dean = priceless.
Amy S @ June 26th, 2009 at 1:19 pm

Sevy’s Buzzy Zeve worked for Dean for over 8 years.