Four years ago, pastry chefs Rochelle Huppin-Fleck and Kathleen Magee didn’t have a thing to wear in the kitchen. Recent graduates of the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, they had both landed jobs at trendy LA restaurants, only to find that the uniforms were sized for men, had no style, and were made of polyester blends that turned a long session in a steamy kitchen into Body Heat without the sex. Their sleeves dragged in the sauces, their pants were too loose in the waist and too tight across the hips. Worst of all, considering the long hours of reaching, bending, and stretching, the uniforms lacked elastic waistbands.
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In desperation, the two women bought an all-cotton version of black-and-white houndstooth check, the traditional cloth for chef’s trousers. They found someone to sew up seven pairs of stylishly baggy, deep-pocketed pants for themselves and a few friends. Those friends loved the pants and wanted more. Huppin and Magee made up a couple of hundred. On their days off, the two women would drive around to local restaurants, show their merchandise to the chefs, and sell it right out of the trunks of their cars. Chefs change jobs often, so word of mouth traveled fast. Then came a small blurb in the Los Angeles Times and Chefwear took off. Now they are ex-pastry chefs.
Jimmy Bannos of Heaven on Seven, Rick Bayliss of Topolobampo, Frontera Grill, and Zinfandel, Monique King of Soul Kitchen, and Don Yamauchi of Carlos in Highland Park have all posed for Chefwear’s catalog. Julia Child wore their pants during a cooking demonstration at Boston University. Huppin-Fleck and Magee’s old boss, Wolfgang Puck, is a big customer. Jody Denton of Eccentric, who also worked for Puck, has dressed his entire kitchen staff in Chefwear. He has one of everything. When I spoke to Tony Mantuano of Tuttaposto, he was sporting a pair of Chefwear’s tie-dye pants in shades of purple and bluish green.
