6 Questions with Jason Neroni
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How does a chef get their start at Disneyland?
I grew up in Orange County, California, where Disneyland is located. And I think most kids growing up spend most of their time there or trying to work there. I really wanted to be a ride operator. But, as luck would have it, the only job opening was in the kitchen at Club 33. So I spent my first summer as a fruit cutter, cutting up watermelon, cantaloupes and pineapples, making Jello and ranch dressing. That was my first introduction to cooking, and it just grew from there.
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Why did you decide to settle in Venice?
I think I settled in Venice because when I was a kid I used to come up here a lot and go skating and surfing. It's this epicenter of creative and progressives at the same time. It's laid-back but there's this huge tech industry and there's seriousness behind it. But, you know, people here get it.
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How has the culinary scene in LA evolved?
Los Angeles has changed and grown immensely in the 20+ years I've been cooking. I think a lot of people used to look at LA as a culinary bastion of sorts, you know, fast food and not much more. But there are so many chefs that have come home to cook really great food. There's a huge melting pot of different cultures that are definitely coming together. I used to think of New York as that, but I think LA has kind of taken over.
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You used to own a Vietnamese restaurant in Portland. How did you approach opening Saucebox?
Not being Vietnamese or having been to Vietnam, and still being interested in the cuisine, I relied solely on my experiences of eating at restaurants and my prowess of a chef. I did my best to interpret and honor traditions and still make it my own at the same time. That's how I approach all my food to this day. I'm pretty known around LA for my carbonara, but when I started making pasta I'd never been to Italy! So, no matter what I'm cooking I try to put my best foot forward to honor a culture's traditions.
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How has the process of coming to an icon like Rose Venice and making it your own been?
This year is The Rose's 40th anniversary. It's always been a cornerstone of the community since its inception in 1979. It was an honor and huge undertaking to try to reimagine and grow upon what it once was. There's a lot of respect in the community for it. The Rose is more than a restaurant or cafe: it's a meeting place, it's a place to have a wedding, it's a place to have your best friend's birthday party, to have a date, to just feel inspired and work—there are people here writing things from cryptocurrency to movie scripts. It was a rewarding and daunting experience.
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What would you be doing if you weren’t a chef?
I love movies, specifically sci-fi. If I wasn’t a chef I could definitely see myself doing something in movies, something in Hollywood. Maybe prop design or set design. The Empire Strikes Back is one of my favorite sci-fi movies!