The Jersey City Independent "

Photos: Roxana Marroquin

This story also appears in the Spring 2011 issue of NEW magazine.

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“As a chef, I’m curious about how other chefs keep their home kitchens,” says Chris Siversen, executive chef at Maritime Parc in Liberty State Park. “The New York Times used to do a refrigerator shot. I’d think: you totally stocked your refrigerator. No way, no how, do you have all that stuff there on a regular basis.”

The items in Siversen’s refrigerator, which is covered with drawings made by his two children, are evidence of the 42-year-old chef’s bustling family life. There’s a large slice of American Girl cake, leftover from his daughter Devyn’s 5th birthday party; a produce drawer filled with grapes hints at his 2 1/2-year-old son Ryan’s love for the fruit (“I think he might turn into a grape one day,” the chef quips).

Siversen also brings his own tastes home to his two-story colonial in suburban Ridgewood: a small tub of D’Artagnan duck fat is a leftover ingredient from Maritime Parc’s signature duck fat fries. The condiment selection is another signal that a professional who trades in tastes lives here: there are no fewer than seven types of mustard, and two types of the Thai hot sauce sriracha.

Since Maritime Parc opened in September of last year, Siversen, who also owns the restaurant, has been quite busy, leaving little time for much more than hurried meals with his wife, Tania. He says they always keep the basic elements – cheese, beer and wine – on hand, pairing a wide variety of cheeses with crackers.

“The great thing about cooking with cheese is that you can eat it while you use it,” Siversen says.

The family refrigerator is the centerpiece in a very clean, minimalist kitchen with pristine white countertops and black accents. The room is strikingly devoid of industrial strength gadgets and fancy appliances.

A few years ago, the high-end appliance brand Gaggenau asked Siversen to do some cooking classes and demonstrations for its clientele. In exchange – and with the hope that Siversen would promote the brand — the company sent him many impressive appliances: an in-counter steamer, an oversized oven with a built-in rotisserie, a combi oven, a hood system and a dishwasher. Siversen installed the dishwasher, but the other items would have required a complete kitchen overhaul, and so they sit, packed in boxes, in the family’s garage.

“I had some kitchen builders come. I would have to change the countertops, I would have to change the cabinets – complete kitchen makeover,” says Siversen. “We were going to have to do a ton of work. I wanted to deal with my business first.”

The bare-bones kitchen, however, was the place where Siversen tested all his recipes before opening Maritime Parc. He invited his key personnel, his partner in the business and his publicist to his house several times to taste the food.

“I didn’t have a professional kitchen available to me at the time, but I needed to set my menu before the launch of the restaurant. I had no choice but to prepare and practice in my house,” he says. “I started coming up with ideas in February of last year. I came up with the concepts and then kept playing with them until I came up with my dishes. I didn’t invite anyone over for tastings until some time in late June.”

Now that Siversen cooks just about every day at Maritime Parc, he doesn’t do too much cooking at home.

“When I’m off, which is rare, a lot of times we do order out. I get a day off, and the last thing I want to do is clean up after myself,”hesays. “When I do get a night off and cook, it really would be something simple. In the summer, I would just throw something on the grill. That truly is my favorite food: a hamburger and fries.”

Because Siversen doesn’t like to cook at home, he keeps his pantry and refrigerator stocked with many snacks. Siversen raves about Food Should Taste Good chips, and loves everything made by Kashi: bars, cereal, crackers and rice. He always has Amy’s frozen pizza in the freezer, and he admits that MI-DEL vanilla snap cookies are his weakness.

And just because Siversen doesn’t cook at home doesn’t mean his children are going hungry. The family’s nanny prepares most meals for the children, and she makes extra food when she knows that Siversen and his wife will enjoy the dish.

“The current nanny tries new things and puts dishes into heavy rotation,” he says. “She makes incredible Bolognese sauce and pasta.”

On the weekends, Siversen makes pancakes with the children (he swears by Arrowhead Mills mix). His daughter, who likes to make her own pancake batter, has a set of miniature mixing bowls, a miniature spatula and a tiny whisk. She even uses Mickey Mouse measuring cups.

“She sits on the counter while I make the big batch,”Siversen says.“Then, she makes her own.”

It’s a good thing Devyn has her own cooking tools, as one glimpse inside what Siversen dubs “the death drawer” proves; the drawer houses the chef’s extensive collection of knives, which he sharpens himself.

Another key ingredient in Siversen’s kitchen is music. He’s set up a speaker system wired throughout the first floor of the house, and the chef says he likes to stream the Verizon FiOS alternative music station when he’s in the kitchen.

“Before installing anything or making upgrades to the kitchen, I wanted to have those speakers,” says Siversen, who cites music as his first passion. Before attending the French Culinary Institute in New York City, in fact, he went to school for music performance, specializing in saxophone.

“I just didn’t want to be the struggling artist type of guy. I thought culinary school would be a better way to make money,” he says. “I play keyboard now. I’m always with music. At work, I have great speakers at my desk.”

He gets plenty of time to listen to music in his car, given that his commute is about 30 to 45 minutes long, depending on traffic. Siversen’s morning routine involves homemade Starbucks Italian roast coffee and a cup from the Starbucks by the Grove Street PATH plaza in Downtown Jersey City.

“There’s something about buying a cup of coffee and having it in a paper cup,” he says.

Given his long commute and demanding job, Siversen tries to focus on relaxing when he gets home. A beer or a glass of wine helps, but the chef says his family helps even more.

“With the kids, immediately everything that’s been going on that day goes right out the door,” he says, adding that they aren’t always awake when he gets home from the restaurant. “When they’re asleep, it’s a lot harder for me to unwind.”

Siversen, a self-described “newshound,” loves catching up on the day’s news; even though it usually stresses him out, he says it’s completely different from work stress. He also really enjoys video games.

“I’m a video game junkie. You read about people who have addictions – I think I probably was addicted to Xbox,” Siversen says. “There’s something about video games that’s a huge stress reliever. When you’re playing a video game, you are zoned out of everything except for the video game. Everything else you’re thinking about that stressed you out is gone.”

Siversen minimizes stress in his home kitchen by adhering to two simple rules: keep plenty of basic ingredients handy and “clean as you go.” A single ingredient, he says, often triggers an idea for a whole meal.

“I always have La Baleine sea salt, a pepper mill, sherry vinegar, and Frantoia olive oil. We always have pasta in the house. We like De Cecco and Rustichella d’Abruzzo. Bucatini is our favorite type of pasta,” he says. “We always have maple syrup for pancakes and various fruits for the kids. In the summertime, I typically buy herbs.”

Siversen’s first apartment as a chef, a diminutive Manhattan space with a kitchen only about six feet long, taught him the importance of cleaning as he prepares and cooks.

“It was so tiny, and I needed to stay really organized,” he says. “I didn’t have a full-size oven. The aisle was only about three feet wide. I learned how to use a toaster oven and a George Foreman grill very well.”

Given the choice between a professional kitchen and his home kitchen, Siversen says he obviously prefers the kitchen at Maritime Parc, which he custom- designed to suit his vision of an ideal kitchen layout. In the restaurant’s kitchen, Siversen has the ability to better control cooking temperatures and move around more efficiently.

But he doesn’t need the high-end equipment to cook a meal that will please his children. All he needs is a pot of boiling water for macaroni and cheese from the box — though he says he’ll usually mix in some spinach to make it something special.

RECIPE: CHEF SIVERSEN’S SPICY ITALIAN CLASSIC

(start to finish: approximately 30 minutes)

Given the ingredients in his pantry and refrigerator, Siversen decided to prepare us a dish he calls a “spicy Italian classic.” This recipe definitely has Italian influence, and the chorizo adds depth and smokiness. Siversen uses grapeseed – not olive – oil to sauté the mushrooms.

“I always cook with grapeseed oil as a start. You can achieve a higher temperature without burning,” he says. “Then I’ll finish it off with extra virgin olive oil. I’d definitely recommend that to anyone cooking.”

When he cooks at home, Siversen uses whole wheat pasta for its texture. Also, he tries to sneak in whatever healthy food he can to balance out the rich and decadent food he eats all day.

Ingredients:

• Whole Wheat pasta shells
• Grapeseed oil
• 1 shallot
• 3 cloves of garlic
• Cremini mushrooms
• 1 package of Niman Ranch chorizo (or your favorite chorizo)
• 1 can of chickpeas
• 1 14 ounce can of tomato puree
• Valley Shepherd Fairmount cheese (or any cow’s cheese)
• Parmesan cheese
• Splash of white wine
• 1 tablespoon butter
• Olive oil

Sauté mushrooms in grapeseed oil and season with sea salt and pepper.

After a few minutes, add chopped garlic, shallot, and cubed chorizo.

Rinse chickpeas.

Salt water generously and boil water for pasta.

Add chickpeas, pureed tomato, a splash of white wine, and cheese to taste.

Cook for approximately 10 minutes.

When the pasta is done, drain it and coat with olive oil.

Add pasta to sauté pan with chorizo and tomato mixture.

Add butter, which will smooth out the sauce and help temper the spiciness.

Finish with salt and pepper.

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