Grill of his Dreams

“I love pizzas. I love walking into a pizzeria… the little hole in the wall,” Jock says. “But there’s 12 of them here.” 

So he thought he’d feature a different
type of pizza: Argentinean grilled pizzas with basil or even chopped
clams on top ($9 for an appetizer size). Then he decided to add some
Spanish dishes, then Italian, and “It became a full-blown restaurant.”

The bistro will seat 28 diners with room
for others on couches at one end of the main room. Free wi-fi will be
available, and Jock is waiting for approval of a liquor license. “And
the food’s going to be killer,” declares Jock, 39. “It’s all about the
ingredients we get, and good service.”

After his stints at local pizzerias,
Jock left the cold of Central New York when he was 19 for the warmth of
Orlando, Fla., and Mid-Florida Tech’s culinary program. While a
student, he worked at two Orlando restaurants known for fine cooking
and top-notch chefs. He next moved to New York City where he helped
open a bistro on the Upper West Side of Manhattan with well-known chefs
Jonathan Waxman and Darren McRonald. After six years, Jock transitioned
into the world of personal chefs, working for Jerry Seinfeld and David
Sanborn, among others. 

As a private chef, Jock spent the last
13 summers in the Hamptons, much of the time in the kitchen, of course.
But this summer he’ll be running his own kitchen near a different body
of water: Lake Ontario, in Oswego, near where his parents and siblings
still live.

“I don’t understand why Oswego isn’t a
booming vacation little getaway place,” says Jock, a 1989 graduate of
Oswego High School. “{The city’s} got a lot of resources here and
nobody uses them.” 

Wearing a gray Oswego State T-shirt, he adds, “I’m kind of bringing New York here.” 

He’s passionate about food and about
giving back to the community, which will take a few forms. The first is
fund-raising. Each month a different elementary school will contribute
children’s artwork to the “blue” wall in his restaurant. A fund-raiser
night will be held, with 5 percent of the proceeds donated to each
participating school. Minetto Elementary School third-graders are
preparing “food art” for February. It may match the striking photos of
fruit and vegetables, taken by Jock’s niece, that decorate the “yellow”
wall in the bistro. Artwork by SUNY Oswego students also will hang in
the bistro.

The second type of giving back involves
Jock’s commitment to his hometown. He hired all local contractors to
help renovate the building, which features a new floor and fresh black
paint on the original 12-foot-tall tin ceiling. He also added a
4-foot-long grill that plays up La Parrilla, the bistro’s name, which
means “grill” in Spanish.

La Parrilla will participate right away
in the “Warm Up Oswego” event slated for Feb. 6 at the YMCA Armory on
West First Street. “We are trying to get involved with everything that
happens here,” he says. This one-day event celebrates wintertime in
Oswego and raises money for the local YMCA. Events include a run,
frozen football, volleyball in the snow and the like. Fireworks blast
at 6 p.m.

That includes farming. He plans to use
seasonal locally grown fruits and vegetables in his kitchen, where he
will preside each night.

Children and parents should appreciate
his homemade kids’ meals, including “sliders,” a dinner of two tiny
hamburgers with shoestring fries on the side. Desserts and fresh bread
will be outsourced from the Oswego Tea Company, located a few blocks
away on East First Street, and its talented baker, Sarah Shaw.

In March, he hopes to start serving
Sunday brunch and weekday lunches, in addition to the dinner fare. His
favorites include: arancini, fried Italian rice balls with tomato,
parmesan and olive oil, a $7 appetizer; ligurian buridda, an Italian
fish stew at market price; and garlic mashed potatoes, a $4 side. The
La Parrilla salad ($7) consists of mixed greens, roasted beets,
cucumbers, Granny Smith apples with warm goat cheese and lemon
vinaigrette. Other entrees include osso buco ($18) and a burger with
fries ($9). The menu also features a glossary of terms to help diners
decipher the origins of their choices.

This solo endeavor is scary, Jock says.
But he’s ready for it. Is Oswego ready? When people walk in, Jock wants
them to say, “Wow, this is different.” The bright atmosphere in the
vintage building provides the appetizer to his nontraditional fare. “We
are definitely different,” he notes.            

 

“We are definitely different:” Chef Raymond Jock prepares to open La Parrilla this weekend in Oswego. MICHAEL DAVIS PHOTO