CityView Magazine

FEATURE "It's About the Food" T A look into the life of Chef Judy McLean By Hope Myers he unpretentious Spring Lake storefront has the small red words I Love America stamped across the outside window. Inside Let Me Cater to You, the aromas of braised garlic and tangy chicken fill the small front room with a homey scent. The Cooking Network plays on the only television, a hint at the story that's a lot bigger than the small catering business and restaurant off North Bragg Boulevard. In her black chef's uniform, head culinary artist and owner Judy McLean sets down two glasses of peach iced tea. "My friends call me Chef Judy, so you can too, since we're going to be that way after I tell you my story," she said to me. "Because you know, everyone's got a story." Chef Judy's story begins when she was nine years old, growing up in Chicago with an absent mother and a Marine father. She learned how to cook so she could take care of her siblings. "I was raised on soul food, but I was basically selftaught. One of the first meals I learned to cook was fried chicken. I guess it was a humble beginning," she said with a smile. "When I think about it, even though things weren't ideal to begin with, it ended up so much better in the end, because out of this experience was birthed a passion." Cooking became Chef Judy's ambition, growing with her through her teenage years. At 17, she decided to enlist in the Army as a cook. Her mother, who had enlisted a year earlier, discouraged McLean from making the commitment to being an army chef and the long shifts the Military Occupational Specialty required. "I still decided to make full service specialist (or chef) my MOS," she said. "I knew I wanted to cook for the rest of my life, even though my Mom advised against me going." The experience proved to be invaluable to McLean's ca- reer. Youngest in her class, McLean graduated with honors from Advanced Individual Training in 1997. "When I got stationed in Fort Drum, I trained with the Olympic culinary team. I didn't know what good cuisine was all about until then, but that was where I really learned about food," she said with a reflective laugh. "Yeah, I could survive and make food taste good, but the Army really taught me how far cooking can go."   During her six years of service, McLean's work saw the ups and downs of a military cook's career. The most grueling part of her job was the hours: unrelenting shifts that were never postponed, even in the case of inclement weather. "We were like the mailmen, working in rain, sleet, snow or ice. Once at Fort Drum, we had this horrible ice storm and still had to show up even though everyone else got the day off." But the work wasn't all icy driving experiences and sleepless nights. At 18, she was chosen to compete in the Olympic Chefs Culinary Competition at Fort Lee, Virginia. She shared, "It was such a great opportunity that most chefs wouldn't get in their lifetime, and here I was training with some of the most brilliant Army chefs out there!" This culinary arts competition required much of McLean's effort and skill. During the competition, a chef takes on a single dish and practices with it repeatedly until it is perfected. McLean was assigned her dish early in the competition: pastries. She shook her head at the remembrance. "I knew nothing about pastries. It helped me to be more versatile, though. And I won. I got a silver medal." After a successful career and six years of service, Chef Judy left the military to continue her dream as a chef. She moved to Fayetteville to be closer to her sisters on active duty and decided to finish her culinary degree at FayetteCityViewNC.com | 49

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