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Joseph Doering in Conversation

With Dana Paul Perna

DPP: For the record, what is your name?

JD: Joseph Doering

DPP: Are you from Long Island originally?

JD: No, I grew up in East Islip.

DPP: When did you begin cooking?

JD: I started when I was 16 working in restaurants and it just progressed from there, basically.

DPP: And is that when you decided you wanted to become a chef?

JD: No, not really. It was the first job I had. It was on Fire Island in Ocean Beach. Just started doing and, as always turned into a part time job; doing other stuff, going to school, waiting tables — you know, the whole gamut.

DPP: Oh, you really ran the whole —

JD: I've done everything from washing dishes to — from the bottom up; I've done everything in a restaurant.

DPP: The whole job!!!

JD: Then I had an opportunity to do a place out on Fire Island. My mother actually opened it up first. It was called Rachel's. She's been out there in a bakery for 30 years maybe, maybe longer.

DPP: When did you buy Rachel's?

JD: She's been out there over 30 years. She opened up a restaurant/bakery, at one point. Mom didn't really care for the restaurant so much. I took that over and was out there for 5 or 6 years and then I purchased this place 18 years ago with a partner whom I am still friendly with who's no longer with us. I mean, he's with us, but no longer in this business in Fire Island —

DPP & JD: Still alive! Exactly!

JD: and that's basically how it all started.

DPP: So there's still a Rachel's out there?

JD: Yeah, the bakery, Rachel's. She's very well known out there. She started; actually, selling zeppolis out of a push cart during the summers and became the bakery, then the restaurant —

DPP: Gotcha!

JD: and that's how it all began, basically. And it started out actually just as pasta place and then we developed it more into a café/bistro-type of restaurant as time went on.

DPP: OK, that ties into my next question. Your menu has a set number of constant dishes, however, everyday you offer a variety of specials which you post on a black board. Is there an aesthetic or philosophy to your menu and your daily offerings — or just, in general?

JD: No, it is just, aesthetically — well, I don't quite, am not quite sure of the question. Is there a method to my madness?

DPP: I might leave the madness part off, but, in other words, if someone didn't know you and took your straight menu, it's still a conclusive, pretty comprehensive offering.

JD: CORRECT !!! —

DPP: Pasta dishes, sauces —

JD: Right! —

DPP: vegetables, you know, pizzas. So it some didn't see the black board they would still say “Oh, wow,” so I am saying what —

JD: what makes the dishes up there? I try to make them a little bit different, a little bit more inventive, a little bit exciting. I mix different flavors people wouldn't think would work together. The combinations of what I do — some of the combinations of what I do - some of 'em are classical, some are dishes that I make up — a lot of them are, actually, dishes that i invent myself, putting ingredients together and it works.

DPP: All of the pastas are made fresh; everything is fresh, right?

JD: All of the flat noodle pastas are made here — the linguini, fettuccini, tagliatelle — those. The rigatoni, penne — all those are bought; they're an Italian pasta.

DPP: And, obviously your ingredients are fresh which is why I brought up the word Bistro before because that is very much the Bistro tradition. Did you study abroad by any chance?

JD: No, no, no

DPP: So this is a Long Island product from, like, beginning to end?

JD: Pretty much, yeah, yeah, yeah.

DPP: Were you looking for a place in Syosset? Is that why you chose a location here?

JD: My wife and partner, we — my partner actually was working at Mims and that's how they saw this place was for sale and we decided to purchase it. And that's how we came upon it to purchase it.

DPP: In terms of the second location, this has always been the second location here?

JD: Correct!

DPP: Are there any particular evenings within a given week where it may be a good idea to call ahead with a reservation?

JD: Well, we don't take reservations. So, what I do is for large parties, Friday, Saturday, Sunday nights, I try to set a party of 6 or 8, I will try to fit them in accordingly. I'll hold this section aside for them, but if someone wants to come in, say 5:00, 5:30, 6:00 with 6 or 8 people I will hold a table because I'm usually not busy until a little later. During the week is obviously a better time because there is usually no wait. Friday and Saturday, like any restaurant at night, everyone wants to come between 7 to 9:00.

DPP: The story of how you helped me out, which is what has led me to write this about you, is that I was set to attend a New York Philharmonic concert which I reviewed for Classical Domain Long Island. I would not have been able to eat and make it to the concert in time so I phoned you ahead. You were kind enough to have dinner waiting for me. I made the concert in time and everything was fine so I appreciated that. And, yes, I reviewed it.

JD: glad to have helped out.

DPP: You do serve a variety of wines. Any preference to your choices as to which ones you purchase? On what do you base your decision as to wine selections?

JD: The wine is based on a price point, pretty much. Because it is a kinda bistro/café-style, I try to keep to a medium price range. I don't feel the customer is looking for the expensive price point, but I think we actually have kept most of the wines on a California or Italian basis. I have integrated one Chilean and one Sauvignon blanc which is a New Zealand wine, but, basically we change our list once a year. We go by taste, how we feel, by what our personal preferences are. Some recommendations by the wine company, but we look for wines that are not going to be found in your local liquor store.

DPP: Are there any long range plans to/for Rachel's?

JD: In terms of this place?

DPP: Yes.

JD: No, not at this point. There's no long range plans to open up another one. There's not long range plans to change anything as of now. You know, I mean, I do keep my eyes and ears open but, as of now, no.

DPP: So you are happy with this location?

JD: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, I like the location

DPP: So it worked out?

JD: Yeah! I've been here a longtime. I have a good following here, a good home base of clientele that come. It's more of a local place because of the size, also.

DPP: It is probably the central town of Syosset's real bistro. Are you planning to keep it, pretty much the way it has been?

JD: Yes.

DPP: Are there any specialties of yours that you cook or are you straight across the board?

JD: If you want to say what's your style? —

DPP: OK - good word — I was fishing.

JD: I like food. There's nothing that out lays another dish as long as it's good, you know. Tonight I want chicken, tomorrow you want pasta, however, it is, I think, honestly, all my dishes are excellent which, obviously — I feel that, if you want to call it a style, it's that base menu which drives the menu and the specials on the board. The dishes we make up, the dishes that I run — the one's that I have designed are my own — the ones I have created keeps people coming back. New ideas, new mixtures, keeps it exiting and happy that other places aren't going to do. The items when I'll do a dish, when my staff says “what?”. The best thing that will happen, by the end of the night, people are saying that was one of the best dishes ever. That' telling me that we are putting that/those ingredients together in that dish with that pasta? And they think I'm out of my mind.

DPP: One of your features are your deserts -

JD: Angela, my wife, makes all of our deserts in house and she makes everything, normally, from scratch. Those are quite a —

DPP: the carrot cake! —

JD: We have the carrot cake, the black mouse cake which is a cake with a cream cheese icing, apple cake which was my Grandmother's recipe actually. Our deserts are very well received here: people come in WANTING THEM! They even get annoyed when certain ones are not on the menu. So we try to mix it up but try to keep a few staples like the three I mentioned, then we go from there.

DPP: The place, also, really has atmosphere in the evenings. The afternoons are much quieter -

JD: Yes —

DPP: but you definitely get the sense of it.

JD: In the afternoon, as you know, we have internet access for the customers who come in at lunch and want to use their computers; they can do that ONLY at lunch, not at dinnertime. It is an open line, wireless access, only at lunchtime. Most of the time, it works.

DPP: Any profound closing thoughts?

JD: I think its what keeps people coming back, and the clientele I have is the quality and the eclectic array of specials that keep them interested. They savor it and are really looking forward to coming back next time. To that end, I feel that I have succeeded.