In Chef’s Choice, the Naperville Sun asks local chefs about their favorite meal in Naperville at a restaurant other than their own.
This week, we speak with Corrie Ostheim, 35, executive chef and kitchen manager for Casey’s Foods in Naperville, who says when her bakery and deli obligations are over, she likes Italian food.
Question: How long have you been at Casey’s?
Ostheim: I’ve been here 14 years.
Q: Where did you grow up?
Ostheim: I was born and raised in Joliet and just recently moved out to Aurora two years ago. I went to culinary school at Joliet Junior College and got an associate’s degree. I finished high school a year early when I was just 16. I was going to go into restaurant management work, but realized I’m more of a hands-on person.
Q: What led you down the food road?
Ostheim: My mom cooked everything and baked everything fresh – breads, cookies. I was always in the kitchen under her feet. My grandparents also owned a bar with a little bowling alley and had basic food service. Whenever I visited, we’d make burgers and French fries – things like that.
Q: So, a lot of this comes from family?
Ostheim: Yes, but there were other things. The Food Network started and I used to love to do that. Mrs. Fields was on there and I remember watching “The Frugal Gourmet” on Channel 11 and the Cajun guy they had on there, and “Yan Can Cook.” That was way back in the day.
Q: This is more of a corporate thing, even though it’s family owned as opposed to a sit-down restaurant. What do you like about it?
Ostheim: It’s very different, especially coming from the restaurant work I did before this, where you’re plating things hot. Here, we need to cool everything down to a certain temperature. You also have the problem of things not looking as good when they’re cold. It’s an eye-appeal, buy-appeal thing, so it was a struggle at first. But now it seems like the market has really changed over in this area.
Q: People like “buy-and-go” food, right?
Ostheim: Absolutely, yeah. The rotation and keeping things fresh is challenging, but it’s more about relevance and what people want. The health thing has come into play a lot more.
Q: At bakeries and similar places, they give old products away to the food banks or churches. What do you do here?
Ostheim: A lot of times, we give our little “meals to go” a code date and then we switch them over. We freeze things. A lot of things go into our soups and so forth, so we get to repurpose them. We also donate to Loaves & Fishes.
Q: So after a hard day here, where do you like to eat and what do you order?
Ostheim: I like Rosebud here in Naperville. I love their fresh pastas and their sauces. They’ve been around a long time, and I found them years ago.
Q: What specifically do you like to order? Are you a “pasta with clams” person, for instance?
Ostheim: I’m more of a red sauce person. I like the vodka sauces or marinara. They make this dish called ‘Square Noodles’ that is one of their signature dishes. It’s very authentic pasta and you can tell it’s homemade. I enjoy something freshly made – you can tell when it’s not store bought.
David Sharos is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.
