Travis is someone that I’ve worked with at Liberty Market for quite awhile although we didn’t really become friends until I started expediting, and he began working the sandwich station. We bonded over the similarities of labor in Starbucks and In-N-Out Burger; only to discover we have the same immature, name-calling, “that’s what she said” sense of humor. Keep your eye on this one because he’s going to run a sweet restaurant someday soon.

JM: Tell us a little about yourself.

TT: I’ve just completed my third year at Arizona State University. My degree will be in Design Management and a minor in Urban Planning. I had always wanted to be an architect since I was in eighth grade. I took that passion through high school and completed drafting and design courses to prep myself for architecture in college. I went through my first year at ASU as an architecture student, and I dreaded it. It was no what I had anticipated; however, I still loved design. I quickly switched my major to Design Management which allowed me to stay in the design field and was essentially going to allow me to oversee a lot of design aspects without focusing on one particular area of study. I decided to minor in Urban Planning to fill up my elective hours because I think the layout and planning of a city is fascinating.

I’ve lived in Arizona my entire life; I’m a fourth generation native. My family has held farm land in Glendale, and I’ve grown up in the area and in north Phoenix. I am the oldest child in my family with one younger brother, Luke, who is seven years younger. We’re definitely not the same. People say we look the same, but I am definitely a first born and he is clearly the second child haha. I love him to death though. My parents are awesome and have been supportive and encouraging in everything I have ever pursued or worked towards. This you don’t find often: I’ve lived with the same two roommates for over two years (this coming June will be three years). These guys are my best friends and brothers; I don’t know where I’d be without companions and godly men to grow with. They’ve been a blessing to me, and I value our friendships.

Ehhh, why not, let’s give a little plug to the girl that means so much to me: Taylor Sossaman. She’s awesome and definitely pushes me to be a better man, while encouraging me and being right by my side in what I hope to accomplish. She’s great.

I’ve been working at Liberty Market in Gilbert, Arizona for a little over a year now. It’s a fabulous place to work. There’s an incredible staff built by amazing owners: David & Kiersten Traina and Joe & Cindy Johnston. This is a place you can go and hang out, have a great cup of coffee and a fabulous meal, all while getting to know the staff on a different level than anyone else. Chef and Joe have both been instrumental in mentoring me and teaching me ways of the restaurant business that are invaluable and I could learn nowhere else. Liberty Market is a hidden (well, not so much anymore) gem in the Valley and all things aside, I think they deserve a lot more credit than they seem to get.

JM: You want to open a restaurant someday. How did you make that decision?

TT: Yes, I definitely want to open my own restaurant someday. I have a few different concepts in mind, and I am working through those right now. It’s such an exciting and scary adventure to be an entrepreneur, especially in this economy haha. How did I make that decision… well it was about a year and a half ago that I thought I’d start down this scary path. Through some turn of events I spent an entire summer finding local hot spots and cool restaurants throughout the Valley, with one of my roommates. Liberty Market was one of the places that intrigued me, along with The Vig and Postino’s, and even the then-new St. Francis. As I frequented these places something drew me in, it was the people and sense of community within these restaurants. The staff was nice and knowledgeable, engaging with customers, and there was also great food and drink being served. I got very inspired and thought it would be great to have one of these own “community hangouts” of my own. I’ve always loved food and cooking and I figured, “Hey, I’m young, why not?” So since then I have been plugging away at creating what I hope to achieve.

JM: Would you like to share any details about the type of restaurant you want to open?

TT: I have ideas for multiple restaurants-all being different concepts throughout the Valley. The concept I am currently working on could be defined as a gastro pub, but with a little more emphasis on food. I’d also like to do a boutique wine bar, maybe something with simple fare such as burgers, and maybe an old-school bar concept.

JM: What is your earliest memory about food?

TT: My earliest memory of food… To be honest, it’s making homemade ice-cream on the floor of my grandma’s house on Fourth of July. Simply the best, pure bliss for a young boy. However, food became prevalent in the house when Saturday night was “guy’s night” in the kitchen. This was the night of the week when Dad and I would cook dinner and do the dishes for mom. It started with steak and sautéed mushrooms at a young age and grew from there.

JM: Can you describe a foochebag? Are you friends with any?

TT: Foochebag by definition can be found here.

“Portamanteau of ‘foodie’ and ‘douchebag,’ typically referring to foodies who are categorized by attention-seeking, elitism, and superficiality. Basically, arrogant food bloggers and Twitter users.”

To me, a foochebag is someone who is pretentious and pretends to know more than they do about food in an attempt to gain recognition. They don’t even necessarily need to be in the food-service industry, but just someone who frequents the establishments. Am I friends with any… Sure. I think I am, and at the very least I have to admit that I am acquaintances to a handful of Valley foochebags. I also have to admit that I have been called a foochebag before, and there is definitely a hint of validity to it. It’s something I have had to realize, the fact that I don’t know anything or even close to what I think I know. It’s a humbling thing to be called such especially when I know I have much to learn. My goal has been to become a listener and learner and not a corrector of people in the food area. I used to be legitimate friends with some foochebags, and I came to that realization and decided to call them out on it. And as I’m sure you can imagine, they don’t talk to me anymore, but I don’t want to be known for that. I’d like to be a person who has a passion for great food and creating such dishes, but without the pretention as to think that I am better than anyone else in the industry or even a customer. I’ve come to the point where I would rather work on my craft, skill and knowledge of food than to show anyone how great I think I am in the kitchen.

JM: What would be your last meal?

TT: My last meal would be the twenty-nine course tasting menu that I had the pleasure of enjoying at Binkley’s in Cave Creek. This meal was hands down, the most amazing food experience I have ever had. The only reason I would be okay with this being my last meal is because of the food hangover I had the following morning haha. Here’s a link to a blog (Jess Harter) on our meal. Thanks to Ty Largo for the invitation to the dinner.

JM: That‘s a clever answer, a bit in the vein of “I’d wish for more wishes” though. Let’s pretend you were only allowed to have one last dish. What would it be?

TT: Okay that’s fair enough.

My last meal would probably a dish my dad makes: Moroccan Rack of Lamb. He roasts a rack of lamb with a Moroccan rub which consists of spices such as cinnamon and cumin. When it’s roasted there’s a crust/shell of spices that will melt in your mouth. It’s to die for. I’ve always admired my dad, and really he’s the one who got me into cooking, so it’s only fair that my last meal come from him.

JM: Would you like to share an internet link?
TT:

http://rulesformyunbornson.tumblr.com/

http://www.acontinuouslean.com/

Please feel free to ask Travis more questions in the comments!

Thanks again to Travis for participating in my interview!