{"id":236244,"date":"2013-06-04T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2013-06-04T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sdnews.com\/fathers-day-special\/"},"modified":"2013-06-04T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2013-06-04T07:00:00","slug":"fathers-day-special","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/fathers-day-special\/","title":{"rendered":"Father\u2019s Day Special"},"content":{"rendered":"

For Downtown chefs, being a father is the \u2018job du jour\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

David Moy\u00e9 | Noticias del Centro<\/p>\n

Anyone who has worked in a restaurant knows how hard it is to do it well, but succeeding at it is very gratifying.<\/p>\n

\"JSix<\/a>
JSix Chef Christian Graves with his children (l-r) Coby, Collin and Cash. (Courtesy Christian Graves)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Fatherhood also has its challenges, but it\u2019s also very rewarding to some of Downtown\u2019s top chefs and\u00a0restaurateurs, who try to make being a dad a priority even when the hours spent on the job make it difficult.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very involved with my kids,\u201d said JSix chef Christian Graves of his three, Coby, Collin and Cash. \u201cI love them. That\u2019s why I work so hard. I help in their classrooms and go home early to help do homework.\u201d<\/p>\n

Graves takes pride in reading with them as well. \u201cWe\u2019re halfway through \u2018Harry Potter,\u2019\u201d he said proudly.<\/p>\n

He is also teaching his kids a bit of what he does on the job.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe grill a lot and my oldest, Coby, makes a dill sauce and he knows it takes exactly 1 1\/2 lemons,\u201d Graves said. Coby is starting to use knives too, but mostly to peel things.<\/p>\n

Having a chef for a dad has its perks for the kids because Graves is the one who prepares his kids\u2019 lunches.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes, I will make a version of \u2018Lunchables\u2019 using good cheese and salami,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I\u2019m not sending them to school with oysters and caviar. We sometimes have that at home, though.\u201d<\/p>\n

Antonio Friscia, the chef and owner of Gaijin, also takes time to be with his kids, who are 10 and 14 years old, even though he admits the hours of running a restaurant makes it more difficult.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t participate in all the nighttime activities because I\u2019m at work, but I enjoy making their breakfasts and I will leave work to do a practice or a special event,\u201d Friscia said. \u201cWe try to fit it all in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking of those breakfasts: The meals he\u2019s made for his kids have sometimes ended up on the menu at Gaijin.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes, they want burritos, but I have done rice bowls, like teriyaki beef grilled with a fried egg or, maybe, Chinese sausage,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Some of the rice bowls and noodle dishes have even been done at the restaurant. Friscia said fatherhood has helped him in his job in other ways.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was probably less patient as a younger chef,\u201d he admitted. \u201cI take a different approach now and try and be more fatherly to the staff. But that could be because I\u2019m old enough to be their fathers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Friscia isn\u2019t sure he wants his kids to follow in his footsteps, \u201cThey realize the hours are long,\u201d he said, but he is proud that his kids are developing an interest in food.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy little guy, Zane, is definitely a chef\u2019s son. He has a distinct opinion, but I don\u2019t think he\u2019d do it professionally,\u201d he said. \u201cBut maybe he can cook for his dates.\u201d<\/p>\n

Guido Nistri, who runs Monello and Bencotto and Little Italy, isn\u2019t ready to teach his son how to cook for his dates \u2013 he\u2019s only 3 \u2013 but the kid has already impacted his dad’s way of doing business.<\/p>\n

“Having a child changes your life,” Nistri said. “He’s inspiring me to be a better person.”<\/p>\n

One way in particular is that Nistri has more empathy for young parents who are trying to have a nice dinner with their kids. It’s also inspired him to make sure his son knows how to behave in a restaurant.<\/p>\n

“We don’t let him do things that are offensive,” he said. “But we don’t want him to be the stupid boy who is just given an iPad, either.”<\/p>\n

Like Graves and Frischia, Nistri said he wants his son to eat well so he takes pains to give him a good lunch to take to daycare. In his case, he learned those lunches were having an effect on the people who watch his child.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe noticed the teachers started paying close attention to what was in his bag,\u201d Nistri laughed. \u201cThey used to ask, \u2018What\u2019s for lunch?\u2019 I used to wonder if they gave him all his food or ate some of it themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nistri came up with a solution that satisfied everyone.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feed them all once a week,\u201d he said. \u201cAfter all, they\u2019re taking care of my kids.\u201d<\/p>\n

San Diego native David Moye writes Weird News for the Huffington Post. You can learn more about him at <\/em>huffingtonpost.com\/david-moye<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For Downtown chefs, being a father is the \u2018job du jour\u2019 David Moye | Downtown News Anyone who has worked in a restaurant knows how hard it is to do it well, but succeeding at it is very gratifying. Fatherhood also has its challenges, but it\u2019s also very rewarding to some of Downtown\u2019s top chefs […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":236245,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"Father\u2019s Day Special","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11547,11600],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-236244","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-sdnews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236244","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=236244"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236244\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/236245"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=236244"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=236244"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=236244"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}