TCC's Cleaver and Cork celeb chef Michael Symon does what he loves

When Michael D. Symon attended culinary school, becoming a chef meant pursuing a trade. Today, top chefs are often referred to as the new rock stars.

“I feel like the chef world has changed so much,” said Symon, a culinary star in his own right. “I’m 53 now. I went to the Culinary Arts Institute in the ‘80s. There was no Food Network. Julia (Child) was on and Jacques (Pépin) was on. I went to school to be a tradesman. It happened to be a trade that I was incredibly passionate about and loved.”

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Symon is still passionate about his trade, but his interests are on a bigger scale. He’s an award-winning chef, restaurateur, philanthropist, cookbook author and TV personality.

In March, Symon will come to Tallahassee to share his love of cooking, headlining the 2023 Cleaver and Cork culinary event, which will help fund student scholarships at Tallahassee Community College.

This is the eighth year for the culinary experience, thanks to the TCC Foundation. The event features three events: The first two – a progressive cocktail party and a signature dinner showcasing Symon’s cuisine – are sold out. But fans will be able to see Symon and other Tallahassee chefs at the Cleaver and Cork Food and Wine Festival on March 4.

“He has such a great passion for what he does and that comes across to everybody,” saidHeather Mitchell, executive director of the TCC Foundation. She has brought a long list of Food Network chefs to Cleaver and Cork, including Aarón Sánchez, Chef Marc Murphy, Geoffrey Zakarian, Marcus Samuelsson, Alex Guarnaschelli and Chef Amanda Freitag.

Quick to laugh and share stories, Symon talked on a Zoom call from his home in Long Island, covering a range of topics in his affable, open manner.

Growing up in Cleveland

Symon was raised in a close-knit family with a Greek-Sicilian mother and Eastern European father.

“My mother cooked a lot,” he said. “My grandfather – I call him ‘Pap’ – was a tremendous cook and he cooked all the time.”

“There was never not a lot of food in the house,” Symon said. “I ended up in the restaurant business but when I was a kid, we rarely ever went out to dinner.

“The only time we’d go out to eat was after church on Sundays. Then we’d go to the Greek diner and after that, we’d go to the Italian market Alesci’s to get food for supper.”

His parents’ warmth and generosity helped foster his love of hospitality.

“My wife and I talk about this,” said Symon. “We both came from middle class, or slightly below, families. When I was a kid, I thought we were rich. We grew up in a small house but there were always people over, we were always entertaining. There was great food. I had a rich childhood.”

Forging a path

“When I went to culinary school, I was the youngest kid in my class,” said Symon, who started working in restaurants as a teen. “I learned at a young age that this was a business where you really have to work hard.”

Symon followed the traditional route, working in restaurants and moving up the line. He opened his first restaurant, Lola, in Cleveland in 1997.

Symon was named Best New Chef by Food & Wine magazine in 1998, which put him on the culinary map. In 2009, Symon earned The James Beard Foundation Award for Best Chef: Great Lakes.

He opened other restaurants, including his current ones – Mabel’s BBQ, Bar Symon and Angeline.

Symon also turned to philanthropy. In 2010, he was the first and only chef ever to host the annual Farm Aid benefit concert. He and his wife, Liz, also started The Michael D. Symon Foundation in 2010, focusing on offering assistance in Cleveland.

Like many other chefs, Symon was hit hard by COVID. In 2020, Symon closed his flagship, Lola, due to the pandemic.

“It made people reevaluate things a bit,” he said, noting that high costs and lower profits have also discouraged some in the industry from reopening or launching new fine dining ventures.

Launching TV career

Symon made his debut on the Food Network in 1998. In 2008, he won season one of The Next Iron Chef. His long list of shows have included BBQ USA, Burgers, Brew and 'Que, Throwdown and The Chew. He grills in his own backyard on the show, Symon's Dinners Cooking Out.

“If it looks like I’m having a good time it’s because I am,” said Symon, who still travels about 35 weekends a year. “I made a promise to myself a long time ago. I’m never going to do something I don’t like…. I’m fortunate to do something I really love.”

‘Fix it with Food’

Symon has written eight cookbooks and two address his autoimmune issues. He has suffered from rheumatoid arthritis since his 20s and discoid lupus since his 30s.

He wrote "Fix it with Food," and a sequel, that offer recipes to help people figure out their food triggers and learn to make anti-inflammatory dishes.

“This is what I’ve learned going through my own trials and errors,” he said.

Public life

Cleaver and Cork is his kind of event, Symon said.

“I like events like this where I can get to be in front of people, interact and feed them. That’s the best part of my job.”

Rochelle Koff writes about food and dining at TallahasseeTable.com, on Facebook@TheTallahasseeTable and Twitter @tallytable.

If you go

What: Cleaver and Cork Food and Wine Festival

When: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. March 4

Where: Intramural fields at Tallahassee Community College, 444 Appleyard Drive

Tickets: General admission $100; VIP tickets $300

For more information: visit cleaverandcorktcc.com

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Michael Symon does what he loves as Cleaver and Cork celebrity chef