Posted on

Executive Chef Steve Champagne Keeps The Kitchens Current

Chef Steve Champagne in the Bocado kitchen (Photo by Alex Belisle for Mass Foodies)

When a chef tells you he “still loves to cook,” you might think he is saying it as part of a nostalgic account of a career gone by. Steve Champagne is doing anything but retiring.

What Steve means when he says he still loves to cook is that he no longer mans the stoves or leads a team in one restaurant anymore; he’s just thriving in a completely different way as the executive chef of and a partner in Niche Hospitality Group (owner of eight beloved restaurants including three Bocado Tapas Bars and two Mezcals).

Niche Hospitality Group's Partner and Executive Chef Steve Champagne (Photo by Alex Belisle for Mass Foodies)
Niche Hospitality Group’s Partner and Executive Chef Steve Champagne (Photo by Alex Belisle for Mass Foodies)

Steve used to be the other kind of chef. He’s been cooking in Worcester for more than two decades – ever since he decided to shift his vocation from engineering to cooking. He worked for years at The Sole Proprietor and 111 Chop House before taking over his first kitchen as executive chef at the dearly departed Struck Café. After The Struck, he came over to Niche and headed up the kitchen at another dearly departed friend, Block 5, before turning his talents to Bocado, Mezcal, and the ever-expanding Niche horizons.

Foodies like me wax rhapsodic at the current state of our culinary affairs in Wormtown, but Bocado and Mezcal remain pretty much singular in expanding beyond Worcester – to Providence, Wellesley, and Leominster. What that means is Steve is constantly on the move, tending to teams, menus, and operations for locations tens of miles apart.

So, yes he still loves to cook – when he has the time: “I’m the manager of the people. I touch that part of the business every single day. I probably don’t cook as much as I would like though I oversee all the food. I research and read. I like to taste what other people are doing. I go out to eat with my wife and will order three dishes we can’t finish, because I need to try as much as I can. My daughter will say to her friend when they join, ‘Just watch. My daddy’s crazy. He’s going to order all this food that we can’t eat.’”

These days time to cook usually comes in waves, creating a wine dinner or a new menu of seasonal dishes at Bocado or the Burger Bar at The Fix. But no new menu has been bigger than the one that launched at Mezcal.

“I was totally embedded in the R&D at Mezcal in Worcester. We are completely rebranding the whole space and gutted the menu,” Steve says. (About 75% of the menu has changed.) “We have been around for a long time. So we are getting new booths, wall coverings, and lighting, and I did a lot of research on Mexican cuisine to make Mezcal more authentic and entree focused. We took a step back and realized it can’t be just tacos anymore. It can’t be only, ‘Do you want chicken, beef, or pork in your quesadilla?’ The burrito isn’t dead, but things got a little tired and had to change. We need to stay current. Our city has become this way. Worcester demands that now.”

Demanding roasted Brussels sprouts with house made chorizo, chili honey, pepitas, cashews, and queso fresco? Um, yes please. “It’s lights out good and a modern dish, “ Steve adds. “That’s what we do now, and it’s fun.”

A Salmon Dish Prepared by Chef Steve Champagne (Photo by Alex Belisle for Mass Foodies)
A Salmon Dish Prepared by Chef Steve Champagne (Photo by Alex Belisle for Mass Foodies)

Steve cites Rick Bayless as one inspiration for the Mezcal menu. (Bayless’s Chicago restaurant empire is widely credited for being among the first to elevate traditional Mexican cuisine and introduce its ingredients to diners nationwide.) But he also credits the Mexican-Americans on his own kitchen staff as inspirations for what was possible: “I’d be foolhardy not to listen to these guys. At our commissary, I always pop in and see what Madalena, a Brazilian woman who has been with me since the Struck, is cooking. ‘Whaddya got?’ I’ll ask and she’ll say it is just poor food. Yeah, poor but good. I learned a lot from my team like Miguel who runs Bocado in Worcester. I’ve been to Spain and Mexico but I’m a gringo. I’ve been there and eaten and studied the food but I don’t know it the way they do. So when we created a Yucatan Half Chicken and one of the cooks said it tasted like the chicken his mother makes on Christmas Eve? That’s a super compliment to me. That is exactly what I am looking for.”

But fig and lemon salsa? Boldly flavored purees? Will loyal Mezcal customers feel lost?

“Listen, we have to stay fresh and do new things,” Steve adds. “We are anticipating. You can’t just sit on your laurels. You have to stay current with your menu and your physical buildings, your beverages, your staff… But you still have to have balance what people come there for. I remember at Block 5 when we changed the mushroom and goat cheese spring rolls how disappointed people were. You can’t get completely away from what you are just because you want to do something else. So there will still be the same fresh guacamole at Mezcal. Sautéed shrimp with garlic, parsley and olive oil [Gambas Al Ajillo] is a traditional dish that will always be on the Bocado menu. I imagine if we took the fried goat cheese off the menu at Bocado? We might as well just lock the door.”

That said Steve is always willing to try something unexpected and play with color palates, bold flavors, and different textures to create unexpected dishes – some mash ups, some just because he can. Tuna poke, a quintessential Hawaiian dish, turns up at Bocado Worcester because Steve was just there this summer, but Moroccan lamb is there as a reflection of the country’s influence on Spain. In the Wellesley location, New England brown bread is grilled in a wood-burning oven and topped with seared foie gras, mustard reduction, and cranberries – a cool fall dish that takes a little from Spanish and New England traditions. For a recent Mass Foodies event, Steve took creamy rich burrata and served it for dessert with an olive oil cake – something different for an audience that craves it.

Yet when I asked Steve to cook something for this profile that represented him on a plate, he turned to nothing from his Niche repertoire but to something he would cook for himself and his wife. “A little throw together lunch,” he says.

Pan-Roasted Bacon-Wrapped Short Rib: Charcoal charred celery root purée, mushroom conserve, rioja glaze
Chef Champagne’s Pan-Roasted Bacon-Wrapped Short Rib: Charcoal charred celery root purée, mushroom conserve, rioja glaze—served during Chef’s Best Dinner (Photo by Erb Photography for Mass Foodies).

“At home, I like to cook and I try and cook healthier,” he says and laughs. “A little healthier versions of things we like to eat and still enjoy it. At the restaurants, I am always picking and eating from a sheet pan of sausage, imported cheeses, bacon… you never pick at lettuce.”

Yet the dish he makes – a seared salmon with aleppo pepper and smoked paprika served on a bed of mesclun greens warmed by a sauté of black beans, cauliflower, peppers, onions, tomatoes, and rosemary topped with a sauce of white wine and grain mustard and a bit of Manchego cheese – is easily good enough to end up on a menu. (Note to self: Steve Champagne’s “little throw together” lunches are not the same as mine.) The spicy earthiness of the aleppo and the brightness of the vegetables wilting the greens were both comforting and unexpected. In fact, if a dish like this works at home and Steve likes the way the flavors come together he may translate it to a restaurant.

Which is probably the biggest opportunity the current Worcester scene offers. When Bocado opened ten years ago, few understood tapas. Few understood sharing. Few explored beyond meat and potatoes. Now Steve can push the boundaries – both on the plate and behind the scenes.

“I hate waste,” he says. “I am always the guy who looks on the shelf and says okay I have a case of bulgur wheat that’s still good. I want to use that. We have a purchaser for our company and I want that person to tap into the movement for ugly fruit and vegetables. I want to do that. It is extraordinary how much food gets wasted from supermarkets. It’s awful. I don’t waste anything at home. I want less at the restaurants. So how can we change as a group?”

Judging from our conversation, Steve will probably figure that out at the stove, on a Sunday at Bocado when it’s quiet and no one is around.

“When I come home on those days my wife will ask how it went and I’ll say, ‘Really good. I still love to cook.’ And she’ll see me smile and say, ‘You say that every time.’”

Chef Steve Champagne introducing the first course at the Chef's Best dinner at Bocado in Wellesley, MA.
Chef Steve Champagne introducing the first course at the Chef’s Best dinner at Bocado in Wellesley, MA.
Posted on

Worcester’s Change Agent Celebrates 10 Years of Hospitality

Mike Covino In The Kitchen With Chef Steve Champagne

Mike Covino speaking to the Worcester Foodies during the inaugural Test Kitchen EventMaybe we already know this fundamentally. Maybe every person’s soul contains a dream longing to be fulfilled. Perhaps some of us ignore the internal urge deep down in our hearts and forge along a safer path free from big risks—luckily some people aren’t afraid to take risks otherwise we Worcesterites wouldn’t have as many dining options.

Mike Covino, owner, founder and leader of The Niche Hospitality Group, is celebrating its 10th anniversary since opening Block Five Bistro–the first restaurant of a now burgeoning business empire.

Beyond the eight restaurant locations, the group opened the Niche FabLab, a design consulting faction that manufactures customized commercial furniture including everything from bars to weight racks. Bringing us to Covino’s latest venture—Peak Fitness, a 10,000 sq. ft. training facility on Plantation Street specializing in boot camp classes.

Shrimp and Scallop Sauté from Citizen Wine Bar to celebrate Block FiveFortunately for Worcester, Covino hit all three fortuitous elements required to spark a perfect storm of success and now we have a bevy of concepts to choose from—Mexican, Spanish tapas, burgers and comfort food.

First: let’s talk about timing. In 2005, Worcester craved an exciting new concept to liven up the restaurant scene. Part of that need came from young professionals wanting a little bit of Boston without the commute, the small portions and the overpriced tag.

Second: the funding. Before the housing bubble burst, banks allowed you borrow against your home and gave you access to “monopoly money” as Covino calls it. He admits he knew it was play money given the inflated property values of 2005 but he took out money against his home anyway.

He had been dreaming about opening up his own business since he was a kid watching his uncle’s convenience store afford him freedom—not from work but to make the decisions at work. His uncle could decide what to sell and how to market it.

Factoring in what was at risk, “failure was not an option” according to Covino. They leased equipment, fibbed on a few things and the financing was in place to open the door.

Opening isn’t the victory though. As Covino mentioned when we sat down the first year does not tell you if you have the stamina for success—to adapt, to maintain quality and to consistently deliver a product worthy of people’s clamoring.

Then the third, and final, element of success: unwavering, borderline delusional, confidence.

Niche Hospitality owner, Michael Covino, showing the plans for Mezcal, set to open in November 2013.
Niche Hospitality owner, Michael Covino, showing the plans for Mezcal, before opening in November 2013.

Not that Mike Covino, or any other successful person, is delusional but bringing those visions we have in our heads into the real world requires constant devotion and faith that our vision will bring abundance, rather than spiraling debt accompanied by heartbreaking failure.

You can’t spend your time thinking about the percentage of new businesses that fail or daydream about a Plan B and then expect to see a thriving business. No, you need to imagine Plan A working and know that you are the exception to every rule.

The first year Covino said he was plagued by anxiety. He wondered why Block Five employees didn’t see the spot on the wall that needed to be fixed or the menu design that was off. And, he would get angry. Long-time employees have reported that in the old days Covino would yell in the kitchen, one time snapping a menu in half. A raised voice seems like a practical response when juxtaposed against the personal risk involved.

Quickly Covino realized that if he didn’t change his leadership style, the business wouldn’t succeed. After that revelation he shifted his focus to his internal customer: his staff. As the employees came together Block Five grew even more.

The most impressive example of this fundamental shift can be seen at many of their current locations since several of the employees who helped open Block Five are still part of the team. Lindsay Brown, who has worked for each Niche restaurant concept, was there for Block Five’s packed opening night.

Brown said of Covino, “He’s done everything he said he was going to do.”
“I remember sitting with him at Block Five after hours and he would talk about opening a Spanish tapas bar and calling it Bocado, which means mouthful,” says Brown. She recalled a similar conversation about his vision for Mezcal, remarking that the company has experienced significant growth in the last few years even though the opening of Block Five feels relatively recent.

In 2005 The Niche Hospitality Group hadn’t been formed yet. After Block Five they opened Bocado on Winter Street and then the original Mezcal on Shrewsbury Street. With three spots open, the group incorporated as Niche Hospitality before the inception of The Citizen and the People’s Kitchen with the Still and Stir in the back. Their other restaurants include Rye & Thyme and another Mezcal, both in Leominster, The Fix Burger Bar on Shrewsbury Street in the former Mezcal location with Mezcal now on Major Taylor Boulevard and two more Bocado restaurants, one in Wellesley and one in Providence, Rhode Island. Moreover, earlier this year they opened the Niche Test Kitchen where they try out new concepts, host special tasting events and prep food for other locations.

Lazy Ravioli from Citizen Wine Bar to celebrate Block FiveNow that one restaurant turned into eight locations—nine if you count the test kitchen—taking money out of your home equity line almost seems practical, the way all risks appear when they end triumphantly. There is one snag though. Block Five closed its doors after five years.

How do you celebrate 10 years when the restaurant that started it all, Block Five, closed down? With all this success how did their flagship fail?

Covino explains after they formed the Niche Hospitality Group, he felt the other restaurants had their own “niche” but Block Five didn’t. Their menu included comfort food that was becoming readily available at Applebee’s and other neighborhood chains.

To be set apart, they renovated the space and reopened as The Jewel Box, an Asian fusion restaurant. It closed in four months. The concept strayed too far from its base—and people were left missing Block Five. Taking big risks while reaping a variety of outcomes is all part of the process. There’s no looking back. It’s gone.
But just for this month the original Block Five menu has been resurrected for a takeover at The Citizen and The People’s Kitchen as well as Still and Stir, all at the 1 Exchange Street location. Sampling the menu either for the first time or for nostalgia’s sake is the best way to celebrate the wave of trendy spots Niche bought to Worcester.

For this article, WorcesterScene.com asked for some Block Five fan favorites to try and came back with: the Lazy Ravioli, the Shrimp and Scallop Sauté and the Chocolate Fudge Egg Rolls. We heeded your advice.

I opted to experience the menu the best possible way in my opinion: going to the Still & Stir for a good soundtrack to pair with your meal.

Chocolate Fudge Egg Rolls from Citizen Wine Bar to celebrate Block FiveTo the tune of Madonna’s Ray of Light, I had the Lazy Ravioli, a generous portion of braised short rib, Gorgonzola, toasted walnuts and a ruby port demi-glace.
After some Cyndi Lauper and Whitney Houston, the perfect entrée for the transition from summer to fall: the Shrimp and Scallop Sauté, which comes with roasted acorn squash and cauliflower florets, pignolia nuts, baby spinach over orecchiette pasta topped with marsala cream and shaved Romano and a cranberry reduction.

For the dessert, everyone recommended the Molten Chocolate Spring Rolls. Those are served with a strawberry ginger dipping sauce, white chocolate mousse, and Kahlua caramel cream. While the title doesn’t give it away, I will. There is poundcake inside this dessert spring roll creation, which are perfect to share and cap the night.

The menu takeover runs through the end of the month. If you choose the Still & Stir option, they are only open on Friday and Saturday nights. Of course the The Citizen Wine Bar and The People’s Kitchen are open every day after 4:30 pm. And with that, we wish Niche a happy 10th anniversary. We’re looking forward to seeing what you bring to life next.