The Versatility of Jarvis Williams

Rustic Italian. Country French. Classic American steakhouse. Milwaukee chef Jarvis Williams has mastered all of these culinary styles. And with such a varied and impressive cooking profile one might expect Williams’ favorite dish to be something incredibly technical—coq au vin or baked Alaska, perhaps.

Nope. “I love chicken wings,” Williams says laughing. “I’m not ashamed of it. I also like different kinds of hot sauce and I recently made my own.”

After receiving a bounty of peppers direct from a friend’s garden, the head chef at both Carnevor and Hom Wood Fired Grill was inspired to make his own hot sauce. Yet, he didn’t know his green-thumbed friend only grew scorchingly hot peppers.

“I made my hot sauce solely with those hot peppers,” Williams says. “The taste was very hot and fresh and floral. The flavor was unreal. It was very different from store-bought varieties. I could taste the crispness of those peppers and that made me think of my friend growing them in his backyard, which is cool.”

Williams’ family and friends were the lucky recipients of that Milwaukee-made “Hot Ass Sauce” this Christmas.

“’Hot Ass Sauce’ is a good name for it,” Williams says. “As I was making it I was running at the nose and it was almost unbearable because I didn’t mix in any sweet or mild peppers.”

Long a student of the craft of cooking, Williams learned that hot sauce is typically made with a mixture of peppers in order to bring out a variety of flavors. Even from a young age, the 33 year-old Milwaukee native was eager to experiment in the kitchen.

“My mom didn’t allow me in the kitchen when I was younger because I was left-handed,” he says. “I was eager to learn to cook. When I was a dishwasher at the old Park East Hotel I had the opportunity to jump on the line and I saw passion there. After graduating from Bay View High School I decided to further my education at the Pennsylvania Culinary Institute in Pittsburgh. It was a one-year program and a six-month externship. I completed my externship at the Mohonk Mountain House in New Paltz, New York. I decided to come back to Milwaukee at the end of 2001. My family is here, so I wanted to be near them.”

Moving back to the Brew City turned out to be a smart move for Williams. His resume features substantial stints at some of Milwaukee’s best restaurants.

“When I moved back I started working at Ristorante Bartolotta in Wauwatosa. I was there for three to four years,” he says. “I helped open Bacchus as one of the line cooks. At that time I was also working at Lake Park Bistro. The crew at Bacchus was tight knit and one of my buddies from that kitchen came over to Carnevor. When a sous chef position opened up I applied, having no prior experience in that role.”

After 8 ½ years at Carnevor, Williams is now splitting time between that Milwaukee Street staple and Hom, a new addition to Bayshore Town Center.

“Hom is unique,” Williams says. “The wood fired grill gives everything such a great flavor. We try to utilize the grill for everything. We grill our lobster. We have a veggie skillet with grilled cauliflower, broccoli, and cabbage. I really enjoy working with that grill. The heat is so dry and hot and direct because of the wood. That poses a different kind of caramelization on the product.”

Williams is truly enjoying Milwaukee’s progression into a culinary destination. “The Milwaukee food scene is now getting a lot of national notoriety. We’re a bustling blue collar town that also takes its cuisine very seriously,” Williams says. “Chefs are gaining experience abroad, but then returning to Milwaukee to be a part of the culinary tradition here. Chefs want to honor their upbringing. People are finding ways to make brats and beer and cheese unique and creative. There’s a lot of pride amongst the city’s chefs.”

For Williams, part of being proud of Milwaukee’s food evolution includes giving back to the next generation of aspiring chefs.

“At Carnevor we’ve created a learning environment. We have MATC students working in the kitchen,” he says. “I give them books and share my knowledge. We’ve had line cooks go on to become sous chefs and head chefs in their own respective restaurants. The goal is to keep the culinary tradition going.”

As one of the rare African American head chefs in the Milwaukee restaurant scene, Williams recognizes the impact he can have on the next generation.

“There aren’t very many black head chefs in Milwaukee,” Williams says. “Growing up in my neighborhood I didn’t have the opportunities to get experience in a fine dining establishment. Yet, the kitchen is very egalitarian. It doesn’t matter what color you are or if you have a checkered past. If you show up on time and you work hard, you can be successful.”

It will be exciting to see how Williams shapes his new kitchen at Hom. Perhaps some of his “Hot Ass Sauce” will even make its way into a few dishes.