By Mary-Justine Lanyon
Steve “El Jefe” Gomez hails from Miami, Fla., but his culinary adventures have taken him all over the world. He is combining his passion for cooking with what he learned in his travels at El Jefe’s Little Kitchen.
Stanley the Moose stands guard over El Jefe’s Little Kitchen in Skyforest. (Photos courtesy of Steve Gomez)
The food truck – which he had specially designed – is located in Skyforest, behind what will be the new coffee shop and Stanley the Moose. There is plentiful patio seating for folks who join him at what he says he is running like a restaurant.
Gomez comes by his love of cooking naturally – his father was a chef. “He started as a dishwasher,” Gomez said of his father, who worked for several Jewish delis and bakeries in the Miami area. “His variety of cooking is what I fell into.”
But before Gomez started on his culinary adventure, he joined the U.S. Navy, spending two years training as a Navy SEAL. He then segued into his passion, becoming what was then called a mess management specialist. The first year he cooked on a ship; the second he cooked at boot camp in Orlando. And then he was the admiral’s cook and baker. “I got a taste of being a personal chef,” he said. “I could do whatever I wanted.”
In the Navy, he got a flavor of cooking stateside in Connecticut and New Orleans as well as internationally in Scotland and Morocco. One of his favorites was the fish and chips in Scotland.
When Gomez was discharged from the Navy, he attended Johnson and Wales Culinary School in Miami – which Gomez describes as a “melting pot of so many Hispanic foods.”
While getting his degree, he worked for The Cheesecake Factory, opening up locations in Atlanta, West Palm Beach, Westbury, N.Y., Chicago and Boston. “I had many titles,” he said.
Gomez then went to work for Ruth’s Chris Steak House, based in Fort Lauderdale. He supported restaurants in San Antonio, Houston, Coral Gables, Fla., New York City and Boca Raton. From there he made the move to BJ’s as their corporate chef, opening up three locations in Florida.
And then Gomez made the big leap from Florida to California, transferring with BJ’s to Burbank and Glendale. When one of the vice presidents moved from BJ’s to P.F. Chang’s, he recruited Gomez to follow him.
His final gig as a corporate chef was with Eureka Burger. “I got recruited because I had worked with the head of operations,” Gomez said.
“I really dug into the corporate world – I made it like a family thing. My style as a corporate chef – I wanted people to be happy. I didn’t want to be the guy who blows stuff up and walks away. And, if a person was ready, I wanted him to be promoted then, not later.”
Gomez ran eight Eureka Burgers as their corporate chef.
Ofelia, a retired nurse, now helps out on occasion in the Little Kitchen.
And then fate intervened. Gomez met his wife, Ofelia. The first time they went on a date, he said, they talked from 5 p.m. until 2 a.m. After they dated a while, the two decided to move in together.
Ofelia, he said, was a big fan of fixer-upper shows on TV. She heard that in Lake Arrowhead you could get a fixer-upper for a reasonable price (this was in 2020).
“On our off days (Ofelia was a nurse), we would come up here and go to open houses. We fell in love with the area.” At one property, they met a realtor from whom they bought a property in Lake Arrowhead six months later.
The two were commuting down the hill until Ofelia retired. “I wanted something different,” Gomez said. “I didn’t want to drive down the mountain anymore.”
He took his time creating El Jefe’s Little Kitchen. “I didn’t want another taco truck,” he said. What he created is a mobile restaurant where he creates everything from scratch – even making his own pickles from Persian cucumbers.
Burgers can be lettuce wrapped; all burgers come with French fries.
The menu features a variety of burgers – some topped with pineapple, others with goat cheese and fig jam – and a few tacos (fish, shrimp, tofu). He has a special menu for Little Campers and four-legged friends.
Currently Gomez is developing his dinner menu. “I’m leaning toward tapas – shared appetizer plates,” he said. He shared photos of his proposed shrimp-stuffed avocado, plaintains topped with chicken and cheeses and sweet and spicy shrimp and pineapple skewers.
On July 4 Gomez celebrated two months of being open in Skyforest. His food truck has now been relocated from the parking lot in front of the pending coffee shop to the area behind it where Stanley the Moose proudly stands.
The sweet and spicy shrimp and pineapple skewers are one dish El Jefe proposes to add to his dinner menu.
Gomez makes these broccoli patties; without the cheese they are vegan.
Gomez and his Little Kitchen are available to cater events and he is available as a personal chef. He catered a wedding prior to opening the Little Kitchen and will soon cater a baby shower. But, he noted, “I’m very loyal to this location,” adding he only plans to cater one day a week at the most.
Gomez has extended his hours so he is now open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.
For more information, visit www.eljefeslittlekitchen.com.
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