Every thriving chef knows that while he or she may be the public face of an eatery, success rests on a team in the back willing to do the unglamorous work.
That’s what makes an employee like Donald Pickney so special, 225 reports in a new feature in the current issue.
Pickney, 56, has worked in the kitchen of Mestizo Louisiana Mexican Restaurant on Acadian Thruway since it opened 18 years ago, washing dishes and completing the prep necessary for Mestizo’s lunch and dinner service.
Most days, Pickney is chopping vegetables, grating cheese, assembling ingredients on the line and making Mestizo’s pico de gallo and guacamole.
“I don’t have to tell him what to do,” says Mestizo chef-owner Jim Urdiales. “He just knows.”
Pickney came to Mestizo with plenty of kitchen experience. For 20 years prior, he worked for Urdiales’s father, Carlos, who founded Carlos’ Mexican Restaurant—a local institution that closed its doors last year after 51 years in business.
And when Urdiales decided to open his own restaurant, Pickney joined him, offering a consistent pair of hands in Jim’s new venture.
Now, nearly two decades later, Pickney says he’s enjoyed watching Mestizo evolve. The restaurant has in recent years expanded its menu to include healthier dishes that use lots of fresh vegetables.
“I do a lot of chopping,” Pickney says.
