Article by Debra Freeman
Lead photo of Chef Keith Taylor at CIV by Fitz
Take a look at the back of Chef Keith Taylor’s chef’s jacket, and you’ll find four words. Eat. Love. Share. Soul. These four words are the cornerstone of his remarkable culinary career. Currently the chef and owner of Zachary’s BBQ & Soul in Norristown, PA, Taylor uses the totality of his decades long career to create a restaurant that embodies those words.
A former Army Airborne Ranger, after he left the military, Taylor decided to attend Cornell and The Culinary Arts Institute to pursue what would be a lifelong pursuit. After graduation, he was recruited by Walt Disney World’s Restaurant and Resorts Division to work at their top tier hotels on the property, and was always asking himself, “What’s the next challenge? What’s the next thing?”
Taylor’s varied career answers those questions; he was the Regional Executive Chef for HEI Hotels, where he presided over culinary operations for more than 20 full service hotels, planned and executed the opening of Houston Market and Bistro at the University of Pennsylvania, and provided new kitchen design for members-only club menus for the NJ Devils, NJ Nets, NY Giants Luxury Suites, as well as suits at Bell Stadium in San Francisco.
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While transforming Houston Hall into Houston Market and Bistro, the seed was planted how people can be passionate about food. “People become attached to their comforts. The more I think about being a chef, the more I thought about familiarity, which is what comfort food is.”
“Life is lived in layers,” Taylor said, and he brings multiple influences and lessons into the kitchen with him, including a sense of discipline he learned from the Army. “The order learned in the kitchen [is] no different than a military brigade,” he remarked. To maintain that order, Taylor stresses two principles above all others, standards and solutions. His culinary philosophy hinges on creating and maintaining standards for tasks and food in the kitchen, and if those standards are not being met, then the solution must be found to meet the standards.
Taylor also believes in the importance of teaching outside his immediate circle, which along with his vast experience in the industry, makes him an ideal commencement speaker for the Culinary Institute of Virginia’s graduation ceremony. “Ultimately it is my job to train future leaders,” Taylor explained. “I am a fan of leadership.”
2018 Culinary Institute of Virginia graduating class
As far as advice he would give to those considering going into the culinary field, he strongly believes the culture that various food networks have created by upholding celebrity chefs is not accurate. “Reality shows misconstrue what it is to be a chef. The media has created a gap between truth and reality. The medium says all you have to do is put on this jacket…students see a false fast track. It’s built on passion, pride, and persistence, and that story isn’t told.”
For more info on Chef Taylor and his restaurant Zachary’s BBQ & Soul, visit chefsoulculinary.com
For more info on the Culinary Institute of Virginia, visit chefva.com
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