Pickie Pie represents the Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar location in San Antonio along with five others in Texas. Recently, we secured this feature on Chef Jonathan Demeterio's trip overseas with Operation Feeding Freedom in the San Antonio Express News.
Fleming's chef plays a role in overseas mission.
By Edmund Tijerina, etijerina@express-news.net
Published 05:30 p.m., Thursday, December 1, 2011
This just may be the ultimate in off-site catering: A team of 30 or so cooking meals for thousands of soldiers in Afghanistan and Kyrgyzstan.On the menu: 14-ounce New York strip steaks, lots of pasta and plenty of Bloomin' Onions.
Clearly, this isn't typical military cuisine. Operation Feeding Freedom, which this fall included Jonathan Demeterio, the chef at Fleming's in the Quarry, is an effort of OSI Restaurant Partners, the group that owns Outback Steakhouse, Carrabba's Italian Grill, Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar, Bonefish Grill and Roy's Hawaiian Fusion Cuisine.
“We're all volunteers and we have the opportunity or the privilege to go overseas and feed our troops and give the hospitality that they've earned,” Demeterio said. “In our own little way, it's a way to give back to our country. We just want to do what's right for our troops.”
He was one of two partners from Fleming's chosen to go to the Middle East.
The program began in 2002, when a group from Outback traveled to Afghanistan to feed troops stationed there. Since then, the program has served military members from all branches of service in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Djibouti, Kuwait, Bahrain, Turkey, Qatar, United Arab Emirates and aboard the USS Nimitz in the Persian Gulf.
The trip lasted three weeks, and that included travel time to Washington, to Istanbul and then to Kyrgyzstan and Afghanistan. Long before the culinary people traveled, representatives of the restaurant group were able to work with their longtime purveyors to get the products transported for the special meals.
The team cooked three main meals, serving about 5,000 troops at a time, including a meal at Kandahar Airfield in Afghanistan.
“We actually cooked on (the anniversary of) 9/11. That was a big deal for everyone involved,” he said. “It was kind of surreal, remembering that day.”
Demeterio was in charge of steaks.
“On 9/11, I had 11 big grills, all in a square and two guys helping me out for all those grills,” he said. “You have to train them on the fly. Some of them speak English, some of them don't. It's just one of those challenges you have to get through.”
When he wasn't cooking or prepping, Demeterio had a chance to visit with troops. Like many conversations back home, they focused on family and football, people talking about their hometowns and their favorite teams.
“I don't know if you have eaten in dining facilities in installations. The food can be challenging. But give them a good quality steak, a taste of back home, it means a lot.”
Next year, he's going to put his name in the pool of candidates and try to do this again.
“It would be kind of like winning the lottery twice.”
Clearly, this isn't typical military cuisine. Operation Feeding Freedom, which this fall included Jonathan Demeterio, the chef at Fleming's in the Quarry, is an effort of OSI Restaurant Partners, the group that owns Outback Steakhouse, Carrabba's Italian Grill, Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar, Bonefish Grill and Roy's Hawaiian Fusion Cuisine.
“We're all volunteers and we have the opportunity or the privilege to go overseas and feed our troops and give the hospitality that they've earned,” Demeterio said. “In our own little way, it's a way to give back to our country. We just want to do what's right for our troops.”
He was one of two partners from Fleming's chosen to go to the Middle East.
The program began in 2002, when a group from Outback traveled to Afghanistan to feed troops stationed there. Since then, the program has served military members from all branches of service in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Djibouti, Kuwait, Bahrain, Turkey, Qatar, United Arab Emirates and aboard the USS Nimitz in the Persian Gulf.
The trip lasted three weeks, and that included travel time to Washington, to Istanbul and then to Kyrgyzstan and Afghanistan. Long before the culinary people traveled, representatives of the restaurant group were able to work with their longtime purveyors to get the products transported for the special meals.
The team cooked three main meals, serving about 5,000 troops at a time, including a meal at Kandahar Airfield in Afghanistan.
“We actually cooked on (the anniversary of) 9/11. That was a big deal for everyone involved,” he said. “It was kind of surreal, remembering that day.”
Demeterio was in charge of steaks.
“On 9/11, I had 11 big grills, all in a square and two guys helping me out for all those grills,” he said. “You have to train them on the fly. Some of them speak English, some of them don't. It's just one of those challenges you have to get through.”
When he wasn't cooking or prepping, Demeterio had a chance to visit with troops. Like many conversations back home, they focused on family and football, people talking about their hometowns and their favorite teams.
“I don't know if you have eaten in dining facilities in installations. The food can be challenging. But give them a good quality steak, a taste of back home, it means a lot.”
Next year, he's going to put his name in the pool of candidates and try to do this again.
“It would be kind of like winning the lottery twice.”
