A clock chimes midnight, and moments later, my phone rings. It is Thomas Dritsas, the corporate chef for Truluck’s, a high-end seafood brand whose Shops at Legacy Plano location turns one year old in December.
Dritsas has just wrapped up work, which explains our oddly timed rendezvous. But the day is only about to begin for Truluck’s supply chain. In about four hours—some two hours before high tide and dawn—fishermen in the Mexican port city of Campeche will start trapping stone crab. Once iced, the morning haul will be immediately trucked to Campeche International and then flown to Truluck’s 12 locations nationwide.
“We have a 24-hour, trap-to-table guarantee,” Dritsas says. “All our seafood is procured less than 24 hours before we serve it.”
But why is Dritsas, a corporate chef, burning the midnight oil?
“I’m not your typical corporate guy,” admits the career culinarian. “I don’t have set hours or an office, per se. The restaurants are my office…”
“Tonight, I’ve been here in Plano doing R&D (research and development).”
More specifically, Dritsas spent late hours with the Plano restaurant’s executive chef, Justin Valladarez. They put the final touches on Valladarez’s latest creation—Texas Stone Fruit Peach Salad.
Dritsas says he often schedules after-hours testing sessions to avoid disturbing the kitchen’s cadence.
“We never want to risk compromising our guests’ experience by doing two things at once. So we wind up logging long hours”—a commitment, he adds, that Hulu’s ever-popular, chef-centric series ‘The Bear’ mirrors fairly well.
“And our chefs, similar to ‘The Bear,’ are mavericks with rock-star personas.”
How so?
“As culinary artists, they’re ultra-competitive. They live to express themselves creatively—an important trait, given that we reimagine our menu every season.”
Dritsas continues: “I call our approach ‘core and explore.’ We have year-round staples but are always looking for something new.”
Signature dishes include Jumbo Lump Crabcakes, Miso-Glazed Seabass with Crab-Fried Rice, Petit Lobster Tails Scampi, and, in Texas, Redfish Pontchartrain.
It’s all making me hungry, and I suddenly realize that Dritsas—an American-born Greek who grew up in the shadows of The Bronx, “peeling potatoes and doing dishes” in his dad’s Little Italy restaurant—has hooked me. So I make a reservation for me and a friend to experience Truluck’s firsthand.
Use as a PULL QUOTE:
“All our seafood is procured less than 24 hours before we serve it.” - Chef Thomas Dritsas