Today we’d like to introduce you to Josh Stockton.
Hi Josh, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
My dad was a chef in the metro Detroit area when I was growing up, so my first jobs were always in kitchens. He brought me in with him at the start of a summer vacation and told me I was working and I was going to be making pasta with the owners mom and her sisters, so I got the taste of it young. I really enjoyed it that first summer. The following summer he made me work as a dishwasher. That definitely made me appreciate the hard work that goes on in there. After college, I decided to go to CIA in Hyde Park, NY. After graduation, I was hired to open the Wynn Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, so I packed up and moved across the country. I worked at the Wynn for total of 10 yrs. While there I worked for Daniel Boulud at the DB Brasserie when we were awarded a michelin star. I also spent a few years at Blackberry Farm in Tennessee, were I worked at Barn, which is their fine dining restaurant as well as working as the assistant butcher in the Larder. In 2014 I moved back to Michigan to open Gold Cash Gold in Detroit. This was my first opening as an executive chef from the build out of the space through opening. The entire menu was my creation, so this was the first time I fully put my own food out there. I ran Gold Cash for 3 yrs, then spent time back in Las Vegas opening Eataly at Park MGM, as the Executive Chef of the Palazzo. From there I also opened the first True Food Kitchen in Las Vegas, which I stayed at until the pandemic hit. After the pandemic, I moved to a new restaurant/ casino opening. I opened Kassi, which was the first Las Vegas restaurant for the Wish You Were Here Group, at the newly rebranded Virgin Hotel and Casino. I was with them for almost 3 yrs, during which I opened and ran two other restaurants in addition to Kassi. At the beginning of 2023, I moved back to Michigan to take over the Culinary Director position at the Daxton Hotel in Birmingham. I was there for about a year and half before moving on take over my current job with Rudys Prime in Clarkston.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Nothing about working in restaurants or the hospitality industry is ever smooth and easy. We work holidays, weekends and nights. We work long hours and are on our feet all day in hot kitchens. And yet, somehow we love it and keep doing it year after year. I have moved a lot in my career, going from Michigan to New York, to Hawaii, then back to New York, then to Las Vegas, to Tennessee, back to Las Vegas, then back to Michigan, then back to Las Vegas, then back to Tennessee, then back to Las Vegas, and finally I am back in Michigan. I wanted to experience working with as many great chefs as I could and challenge myself with new opportunities whenever I could. This was fun and exciting when I was younger, but is much more challenging now that I am married and have a 7 yr old daughter. I wouldn’t change the last 20 yrs of my life, but I am looking forward to more stability in the coming years.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am an Executive Chef, but along the way, I have been employed as a butcher, a charcuterist and a saucier. I have also bottled and sold my own hot sauce line, as well as other fermented products. I love the things that take the most time and energy to produce. I love that making hot sauce takes 3-4 months from start to finish. I love the patience that is required to see these projects through from start to finish.
What does success mean to you?
Professionally I define success by running a business that lasts. One that makes money and has staying power. I want to cook nice food and be proud of what we do, but I am not limited to what some people might consider Fine Dining. I would be just as happy selling fried chicken or sandwiches for the rest of my career, because I know that I would put the same level of care and effort into them as I would anything else. I don’t want or need critical acclaim or stars in a newspaper. In fact, I would be happy to never be reviewed again in my life. I do at this point in my career feel an incredibly strong sense of loyalty and responsibility to my employees. I want to be successful, so that they can continue to work in a restaurant they are proud to be at, and one that offers them a chance to grow and feel financially safe. Too many people live paycheck to paycheck in the industry, and I want my employees to be able to grow past that.
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