In a city known for its rich culture and resilient spirit, few individuals embody St. Louis quite like Delaware North Sportservice Executive Sous Chef Norman Taylor.
The St. Louis Business Journal recently interviewed Taylor to hear more about his journey, marked by decades of leadership and a deep-rooted belief in the power of guest experience.
Below is an excerpt of the article, “St. Louis Character: Busch Stadium Chef dishes on Cardinals cuisine, career path.”
What does a typical game day look like for you?
A night game for me will begin between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. We are in the Redbird Club production kitchen, which I oversee. I’m looking at making sure that brisket and turkey has been smoked. We’re making sure the mega-slice pizzas all get produced out of my kitchen and get pushed out to the other concession stands.
I meet all my cooks and check them in. I want to see them every day for two reasons. One, to make sure that they’re here and that we don’t have any missing spots in the stands. And to make sure they’re uniform, you should be looking your best when you go out. I know it’s hot, but we’ve got to put our best foot forward, and that starts with presentation of yourself.
Then 4:15 p.m. to 5:15 p.m. is getting to the spot and getting the building up and ready. Busch Stadium is notorious for being an early-arriving crowd, which is very good for us. Busch Stadium fans believe in baseball, and they come to watch the game, so they’ll get here early. By the end of the second inning, most of our rush is done, because everyone is in their seats and watching the game. Now we’re going to make sure we get everyone done until the end of the eighth, when beer sales are done and we shut down and get ready for the next game tomorrow.
What do you do in the offseason?
Hopefully we’re playing baseball in St. Louis into October. Once the playoffs are over, the first thing we want to do is make sure we find out anything that needs to be repaired in the stadium itself, and at the same time, start developing new ideas for the next season. We only really have between the end of October and New Year’s Day to get ready. At that point, it needs to have been planned already, because once I get back from Christmas with the family, it’s 90 days to opening day. We’re starting with new ideas already. One of them I’m working on right now is to see if I can either get it in after the All-Star break, dealing with a staple potato chip in St Louis. That’s all I can give you.
What do you like to do in your free time?
My newest hobby is woodworking. Anything I do with my hands helps me keep my mind sharp and is very useful. One of the great things I teach my staff here about food is you eat with your eyes and your nose before your mouth. With woodworking, you have to pay a whole lot of attention to what you’re doing. The last thing I made was a wine rack.
If you were told you have to cook one meal, what would you make?
If I need you to come to Busch Stadium and have one of the best meals here, it would be getting our brisket or smoked turkey. If you told me I had to make you a meal, it’d probably be the meal I did for my chef certification. All Delaware North chefs are required to be certified. I made a three-course meal, and my favorite part of that meal that I prepared was the first course, which was a shrimp and oyster risotto with a champagne cream sauce.