“Fame is a fickle food / Upon a shifting plate.’’ - Emily Dickinson
We live in the era of the celebrity chef. What does fame mean for someone who cooks for a living? It creates an automatic level of interest in his or her restaurants. It also creates an automatic level of expectation - and anticipation, when the restaurant in question specializes in a beloved American classic like barbecue or burgers.
Tiffani Faison is a chef more people know from her turn on “Top Chef’’ than in kitchens of restaurants such as Rocca, o ya, and Straight Wharf. In November, she opened Fenway barbecue restaurant Sweet Cheeks, where baby-face students, hipsters, businessmen, bromantics, senior citizens, and young couples share communal tables made from recycled bowling alley lanes. The music is loud, the drinks come in Mason jars, and the decor is streamlined - wood paneling, twinkling lights, hard surfaces. It’s her first solo project, and it’s not necessarily what one would have predicted from a chef known for high-end, nuanced preparations. Faison is a child of the South, among other places; a self-described Army brat, she lived in many locations growing up. But, she says, this food sticks with her. More chefs are moving away from the complicated gimmickry of foams and spheres, applying high levels of skill to humble dishes. Faison does a fine job of this.
