Iowa’s 2023 Chef of the Year commands quiet respect from Black Sheep’s kitchen

CEDAR RAPIDS — Away from the blue mood lighting and upscale finishes of Black Sheep Social Club, Iowa’s 2023 Chef of the Year orchestrates a kitchen between bright fluorescent lighting and dull brown tile.

To the cadence of a ticket printer’s grinding clicks, sizzling flames at the stove and beeping timers, chef Monkut Sayasit is a conductor of flavor profiles. But notably, the executive chef, simply called “Mon” by those who work with him, hardly has to utter a word — even in the heat of a dinner rush.

In a kitchen without music, he’s arguably one of the quietest ones, save for an “order!” announcement delivered with gusto now and then. Defying the stereotypes of angry chefs shouting chaotically at their line cooks in TV shows and movies, he only raises his voice on occasion — not for emphasis or enforcement, but to simply be heard in a noisy room.

In the kitchen, Mon drops his hard-earned title around those apt to say it most, quietly commanding a type of respect that cannot be demanded. Described as calm, patient and funny, the man named Chef of the Year by the Iowa Restaurant Association leads by example.

“There’s a different level of respect. I truly attribute that to the fact that he’s not afraid to do any job,” said Steph Mehmen, general manager of Black Sheep Social Club who hired Sayasit over five years ago. “He doesn’t look at any (task) as a pay grade. We’re all part of the same thing.”

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To the average diner, Sayasit’s title conjures images of food masters. But what stands out through a few moments with Mon is not someone finessing ingredients, throwing flames in a skillet or chopping with verve. In most ordinary moments, his skill shines through in the way he orchestrates the people cooking up and down the line with a gentle direction, a flash of his smile and a soothing laugh.

In Mon’s kitchen, the executive chef goes where he’s needed. Despite a crowning jewel with this year’s award after four wins at the Iowa Pork Producers’ Taste of Elegance competition and top placements in other Iowa competitions, there’s no rarefied air around him.

“If I’m short on prep cooks, he will become a prep cook. He will work anywhere and everywhere,” said Lindsey Kelley, kitchen prep manager at Black Sheep. “He had elbow surgery once and was still in here every single day, learning how to chop with his other hand.”

The 42-year-old, who has spent much of her life in professional kitchens, attests to how rare of a quality that is.

That even extends to the dish pit, where he’ll step in to scrub pots and pans. It’s where the 50-year-old started his career as a teenager, when he helped his mother, a baker, by washing dishes at Bishop’s Buffet in Westdale Mall.

When corrections are needed, they’re given away from the daily din to preserve a staffer’s dignity. But perhaps the highest mark of a well-run kitchen is that at Sayasit’s helm, rarely does the staff seem to need correction — a form of organic leadership that goes beyond delegating tasks.

“You’re not going to get yelled at, you’re going to feel like you’re disappointing your father,” Kelley said. “You want to make him proud. Mon puts in the work, so you want to live up to his standards.”

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To him, it’s simply the golden rule in action.

“If you respect them, they respect you,” Sayasit said. “When things get tough, they expect me to be there.”

Born in Thailand but raised entirely in Iowa, Sayasit’s American fusion twists often pay homage to his Lao heritage with international twists that have come to define some of Black Sheep’s popular offerings. Turn on just about any trending cooking show today, and you’ll see modern plating and approaches that Sayasit was using 10 years ago.

“If he was competing, he usually won it. He was the guy everybody talked about,” said fellow competitor Matt Meadows, who nominated Sayasit for this year’s award. “There’s quite a skill, art and craft to putting something on a plate where you look at it and go ‘wow, that is incredible.’ ”

Through Vino’s Ristorante, Daniel Arthur’s, Bata’s and the Cedar Rapids Country Club, Sayasit has had an influence well beyond Cedar Rapids.

“Chef Mon’s influence on the Eastern Iowa culinary scene extends well beyond Black Sheep Social Club. He has been a mentor to the now executive chefs in many of the Corridor’s best dining establishments,” said Jessica Dunker, president and CEO of the Iowa Restaurant Association. “He has a savvy business mind as well as an intuition about emerging culinary trends.”

Today, it can be challenging for chefs to create inspired dishes that are profitable yet uncompromising, she said. Sayasit has mastered both.

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With no formal culinary education, he describes his style as “a little of this, a little of that,” between modern gastronomy, old school French technique and everything in between. And in an industry with a notoriously high turnover rate, his longevity is simply a byproduct of passion.

“Cooking is the easy part. Success is about management, numbers and math,” he said. “You can’t escape math.”

By fostering a sense of belonging, he has beat the odds in the industry to cultivate an outsized number of talented staff through listening, letting them use their creativity through specials, and joking around.

Sayasit wouldn’t have a job without a need for good food. But he wouldn’t have a passion for that job without the people who cook it alongside him.

“In this industry, you’ve got to have passion to be able to stay long,” he said.

After decades in hot kitchens, the flames fueling Sayasit’s career show no sign of dying down any time soon.

Comments: Features reporter Elijah Decious can be reached at (319) 398-8340 or elijah.decious@thegazette.com.