There is a single stop sign to manage traffic in downtown Highland, Kansas. And when Highland Community College -- the oldest college in Kansas -- is in session, the population swells by 500 people to more than 1,000. But it's hard to get a decent bite of pizza.
Casey's General Store sells the kind of pie you'd expect to get from a gas station, and even Pizza Hut is 15 miles down the road from the northeast Kansas town. And two decades ago, pizza nut Quillan Glynn, 33, did the only thing he could -- he learned to make pizza from his mom, Mary Lou.
His mom taught him to make dough and sauce from scratch in order to satisfy his craving for pepperoni pizza. He also developed the attitude that is evident today in his modern Crossroads restaurant, Pizzabella.
"I want it to be casual, but I also like when people go to a pizza place and they're surprised with what they get," Glynn says.
Glynn knew he couldn't become a chef in Highland. So, at the age of 18, he made the decision to move to another well-known college town ... Lawrence.
"I moved to Lawrence with the intention of learning how to cook and be a chef," Glynn says.
His first job was prepping salads at the Lawrence Country Club. During his two and a half years there, he worked everything from Sunday brunch to banquets. His first true restaurant job in town was at WheatFields Cafe and Bakery. He began to play with pairing flavor profiles in order to keep up with the rotating cast of specials.
After a stop on the line at Prairie Fire, a short-lived American bistro, Glynn was hired on at Pachamamas to work under chef Ken Baker. The menu changed every month during his three years in the kitchen, meaning he had a chance for some of his ideas to be featured.
"I really got focused on food and delved into lots of different ingredients," Glynn says.
In 2005, he left Pachamamas to come to Bluestem in Kansas City.
"I wanted to take my career further, and Colby [Garrelts] had just won Food & Wine's Best New Chef award. I saw it as a good opportunity to learn," Glynn says.
And he did, by accompanying Garrelts to New York City to cook a dinner at the James Beard House and working alongside him over the course of a year. Glynn briefly worked next at the Hotel Phillips under chef Marshall Roth, learning quickly that hotels weren't a good fit for what he wanted to do in the kitchen.
"I didn't like doing the big parties. I prefer smaller parties, where you can see the dining room and be closer to your staff," Glynn says.
In 2007, chef Rob Dalzell was opening Pizzabella and needed a chef to tweak the menu and run the restaurant so he could focus on running 1924 Main. While Glynn had been able to create items for the menu at Bluestem and Pachamamas, this was the first time the entire menu was his. And after 12 years of cooking, he knew exactly what to do.
Pizzabella became a place where diners discovered things that weren't traditional on pizzas or at pizza restaurants. There were short ribs, lamb shanks and smoked scallops -- all cooked in the wood-fired ovens. In May of 2010, Glynn bought Pizzabella -- a move that didn't shock his parents, Mary Lou and Daniel Glynn.
"They weren't surprised. I was always eating pizza," Glynn says, "Now I just have a chef-run pizza place."
Showing 1-7 of 7
Cheers! Me and my lady are going to come and check you out soon, brussel sproutz yumm
What's the deal with happy hour? No longer doing it? We are never sure. Sometimes the beer is $2.50, other times list price.
Very nice article...nephew! Looking forward to seeing you and family in a few days.
like
dislike
