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IN THE KITCHEN
Despite the colorful awning and the tile-framed door flanked by murals of huge geckos crawling up the front of the building, you still aren't really prepared for what's inside at Jim Smith's popular watering hole and eatery on Fleet Street. For one thing, it's much more spacious inside than the simple end-of-row building would seem to be. Mostly though, you've got be startled at leaving the grays of asphalt and concrete on Fleet Street and entering into a place fairly rioting with the feel, the light and the hues of the American southwest.
Lovely and evocative photographs of western landscapes set the mood and Smith's bevy of loyal "regulars" have contributed by bringing in all manner of funky Southwestern memorabilia to round out the décor. Naturally, there are geckos everywhere and a bar stocked with the best tequilas known to man! It's as if "Cheers" moved to east Baltimore after a full-tilt Celebrity Make-Over in Sedona.
Geckos opened nine years ago and for Smith it was a rather roundabout journey getting here... Originally from New York, he graduated from college in the 70s with a bachelor's degree in Sociology. "Not much I could really do with that!" he laughs, "Fortunately I like to cook and I landed a job as a private chef -my father knew the butler!" In that capacity he worked for several years for Helen Hull, one of the era's "Grande Dames" of the New York city music scene, learning the ropes as he went. It was a good introduction to the culinary world but, "I wanted to really become a professional, everything I had learned was 'on the job' -or what the butler showed me, so I left and went to school in Paris."
He attended Anne Willan's renowned La Varenne school and honed his skills in classic French preparations. Back in the States he worked several seasons on Nantucket at a French-styled bistro called The Opera House.
Seasonal work in a tourist location ultimately became grueling: "You work seven days a week -split shifts. Come in at 8 in the morning and get things going, take a little break, go to the beach for a couple hours, come back and work until midnight, have a few drinks after work, party a bit, sleep about three hours and come back to work. That's it. The season ends and it's over!" Jim headed back to the city and entered the corporate world, taking a position with the Sheraton chain at their flagship location in Boston. After three years he decided that environment just wasn't for him, "You never know until you try it. I had to try it, but after that I actually thought to get out of the business for a while, thought about doing something else. I guess I was burnt out. I went to career development and took some tests. They matched my interests and skills with different careers. Of course being a chef came in first, but they also suggested architecture and geography-although I didn't know what I could do with that besides read a map!" He did consider going into architecture, and even entered into a degree program, but the overall cost of a second education was daunting. Stops in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia eventually brought him to Baltimore where he worked several years at the now defunct Museum Café before taking a position at the Baltimore International College, School of Culinary Arts. "I taught 'Cooking Demonstration,' how to do things, the hands-on procedures... That was fun and I found that I was actually a good teacher. I learned a lot through teaching too. The level of the students was high; they weren't kids." But having his own place was becoming more and more of a persistent dream. Nine years ago he and Nick Marrero, another instructor at the school, formed a partnership and opened Geckos -Jim was finally on his own and more than ready to get creative with his business plans, as well as in the kitchen. Looking back, he agrees that those career development test results were probably rather on the mark. "If you think about it, building a house, building a dish - it's kinda similar. One lasts a lot longer than the other," he laughs, "but the approach is somewhat the same." Jim's interest in geography is also apparent in the choice of the southwest as a starting point for the persona of Geckos. "I came in here and I didn't want to just be another restaurant. I've always had a liking for the American southwest as a location. The southwest is home to one of the oldest American cuisines. It's a marriage of native American ingredients with the traditions of immigrant nationalities. Native American, Hispanic, and Anglo-American influences are all characteristics of Southwestern Cuisine." He allows that his French training and experience comes into play as well, and in fact, Geckos' menu features a number of unusual elaborations on the southwestern theme, like his Wild Mushroom and Cheese Enchilada, made with shitake, cremini and portabella mushrooms with sundried tomatoes, pimentos and Feta and goat cheese, and the Santa Fe Mussels, spiced with chilies, red peppers and tomatoes. Even the "standards" are done here with a flare and creativity that stands out. After the photo shoot our crew sampled some of Geckos chips and salsa -Wow! We all agreed that we'd never had salsa so fresh-tasting. The delicately blended flavors were amply spicy, without being simply mouth-burning. It's not hard to see why the clientele is so loyal. The kitchen is open until 1am and with a late closing time, Geckos is also known as "the place" for servers, cooks and bartenders to come hang when their shifts are finished. There's a real neighborhood feeling here. It took some time, and some looking for just the right place, but it seems that Jim Smith has built himself a Home. GECKOS 2318 Fleet Street Baltimore, MD 21224 410.732.1961 Fax: 410.534.0838 Sunday: 11:30am - 2 am Mon through Wed: 3:30pm - 2am Thursday, Friday & Saturday: 11am- 2am www.Geckosonline.com |
