The drive and vision of chef Jessie Gomez

The food at Birdie’s by Chef Kevin Lee hits the mark every time you eat there and that’s not by coincidence.

When the chef-owner of the restaurant is a consummate and regular competitor on Food Network, his second has to be someone he trusts to not only keep things running, but embody the same work ethic and drive that led him to where he is.

For Kevin Lee, that person is 26-year-old Jessie Gomez.

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“One thing he’s gonna do is outwork everybody,” Lee said. “His passion and his love for food is far beyond any other young chef’s in the city. Even on his days off, he’s never taking a day off.”

Gomez is Birdie’s executive sous chef, and while people admire the work he’s doing at the restaurant at 2201 NW 150th St., in Edmond, he’s also making a name for himself outside its walls through pop ups and guest dinners at other spots.

Who is Jessie Gomez?

Gomez, who is Mexican-American, was born and raised in Edmond. He said he developed an early love for being in the kitchen by watching his mother cook.

“She loved to cook. For me, that always kind of sparked an interest going into the kitchen. I love food. I love eating, so that was kind of the first start from there,” Gomez said.

Watching memorable celebrity TV chefs like Gordon Ramsay left a mark on him, as well, and by the time he was in third grade, he said he knew he wanted to be a chef.

The process of making that dream a reality was no small feat and took the very work ethic that Lee brags about in Gomez.

After doing a culinary vo-tech program through Francis Tuttle while in high school, Gomez was set to enroll at the University of Central Oklahoma, however he was already working in a well-known and beloved Edmond restaurant, Cafe 501.

Rather than leave Cafe 501, he opted to double down on his culinary training, investing fully in learning from his mentors at the restaurant and pushing himself to do more to grow his skills in the kitchen.

After learning from the Holloway Restaurant Group, Gomez took a shot on himself and applied for a position with Chicago’s renowned Alinea Group. Founded by chef Grant Achatz, the group features Alinea, which has earned three Michelin stars for 14 consecutive years.

“I got the job to work for one of his restaurant groups called Roister. It was all based off of live fire, open flame, and that’s what I would say completely changed my aspect, the way I see cooking, the way I do everything, is going to Chicago,” Gomez said. “And from there, everything was just like, ‘I am dedicated to this, this is my passion, this is what I want to do, is just be the very best that I could be,’ and chef Grant and everyone there, all the sous recommended, I staged even more, so I did. Because Chicago’s a really big city, I ended up being there for about a year and staging at about 18 of the different Michelin-starred restaurants there.”

Gomez returned to Oklahoma for a Christmas visit and the response to the skills he’d gained in Chicago made him realize there was something missing in his home state. The things people expected or viewed as commonplace in The Windy City, set his dishes apart in the smaller, but growing market of OKC.

“I was like, ‘Well why can’t there be more of that here?'” Gomez said. “So I made it kind of my mission.”

When Gomez returned to Oklahoma he went to work for some of OKC’s fine-dining establishments and also launched his own brand. After selling that brand off, he eventually met Lee, who would ask him to join the team at Birdie’s, which had recently been revamped into a new concept.

Having no experience with Korean cuisine, Gomez approached the opportunity to work with Lee the same way he had every opportunity before it, by diving in head first.

What he didn’t expect was to find such a kindred spirit in his new boss. Landing in the role at Birdie’s was a “match made in heaven,” Gomez said.

“We have a lot of the same thoughts. We think the same, we kind of work the same, so something about us working together just works so well,” Gomez said. “It’s like, we don’t even need to communicate verbally, we just know. I can read his mind, he can read my mind, and we just kind of work off that.”

Popping up across town to share his culture and skills

Gomez said that when he looks ahead to the future all he wants it to be “the literal best in every aspect” at what he does. He pushes himself by following the work of other renowned chefs from across the country and imagining how he can use the things they’re doing to continuously turn the culinary scene in Oklahoma on its head.

“It just never stops. I get endless ideas,” he said “Kevin tells me I need to try getting rest some days because it’ll be the middle of the night, and I’ll just I’ll wake up and I’ll get an idea for a dish, and I’ll just be on it.”

Gomez takes the great work he does at Birdie’s outside of the restaurant, constantly pushing himself to try new things and bring other ideas to OKC diners.

To allow himself additional ways to express some of that creativity, you’ll even find him popping up at other restaurants and doing guest-chef features.

A recent pop-up at The Old Ice House in Edmond, called Takuaches, saw the young chef combine Korean flavors with those of his Mexican heritage in a menu boasting items like orange gochugaru chicken chicharrons, doenjang refried beans, white kimchi pico de gallo, strawberry gochujang ice cream and more.

Next up, Gomez is set to bring his flair to OKC’s reigning USA TODAY Restaurant of the Year honoree, The Crown, on Sunday as he does a full restaurant takeover at 6 p.m. of both the main space and the private dining area, The Crown Room.

While the main dining area is completely sold out, chef-owner Eric Smith said there are still spaces available in The Crown Room, where Gomez will serve a five-course meal paired with aromas, songs and optional beverages. The meal is $125 and the beverage pairing is an additional $75. Guests can call Smith directly at 773-991-3707 to book.

Gomez sees a future coming where even more chefs like him are getting a chance to step to the plate and take a swing with bringing their new ideas to the conversation.

And while he’s thankful to be back in his home state, and amazed by the reception he’s received, don’t expect him to slow down or stop pursuing greatness anytime soon.

“I want to be the very best, and that’s really all I care about, whether I have my own restaurant at the time, whether I’m helping someone else, like Kevin expand his empire, I just want to be recognized as the guy here,” he said.

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For what it’s worth, his boss — who comes from a pretty stacked culinary lineage of his own, and keeps the city in the conversation with his own award nominations and competition show appearances — has no shortage of confidence in his abilities.

“I think a lot of people say they want to be good at something or want to be great but they don’t ever put the time and effort in to actually be good, but like Jessie, he truly wants to be good at what he does,” Lee said. “If he stays on the path and keeps doing what he does he can really make it himself in the country. So I’m really excited to see how much he’ll grow and where he’ll be and what he can accomplish with his career.”

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Meet Jessie Gomez, one of OKC’s most promising up-and-coming chefs