Johnny Law

Ask Johnny Law what he does when he’s not cooking, and you’ve stumped him.

A big part of Johnny Law's life is "just being around food and talking about it," he says.

“Actually, I don’t know when I’m not cooking,” he says. “It’s a big part of my life, just being around food and talking about it.”

Food talk — it’s what Law loved when he worked at the Mansion on Turtle Creek in Dallas, and it’s what he enjoys with the culinary team at Chili’s, where he’s corporate research and development chef for Chili’s Grill and Bar.

“We talk food all the time — things we’ve experienced, restaurants we’ve gone to. We’re all of a like mind and love food,” he says.

The youngest of five children, Law grew up in rural Louisiana. “We grew about half of our food, so there were always fresh garden vegetables,” he recalls. “We also had our own cattle and chickens, so we were producing a lot of food. It’s always been an integral part of my life.”

Both of Law’s parents worked, so the kids had to help in the kitchen. “When everyone went off to college, I was left with two parents who were tired at the end of the day. So I started cooking the evening meal,” he remembers.

A creative type, Law always liked to paint and draw. “Cooking was just an extension of that, being creative and making something that tasted good.”

After graduating in 1982 from Louisiana State University with a degree in Animal and Meat Science, the young food lover moved to Texas to work as the manager of a ranch. From 1987 to 1990, he attended the Chef’s Apprenticeship Training Program and El Centro College, both in Dallas.

“It was interesting because I never grew up around chefs,” he says. “Being from rural Louisiana, there weren’t any restaurants that had chefs. It was a strange leap of faith to go in that direction.”

While in school, he also worked at the Mansion on Turtle Creek as a chef’s apprentice and chef tournant.

“My mentors there,” he says, “were, of course, chef-owner Dean Fearing and also Jim Mills, the executive sous-chef. Jim was amazing — very creative but also very practical. He ran a very organized and efficient kitchen. I try to emulate him.”

Law spent the next five years in various chef positions for a variety of operations, including the Buffalo Club in Dallas and Romano’s Macaroni Grill in Addison, Texas. Then he moved on to Bonefish Billy’s Restaurant in Winter Park, Fla., and Peter Scott’s Restaurant in Longwood, Fla.

“In many of these places, I had a chance to create menus,” he notes. At Bonefish Billy’s he wrote the menu, priced, trained the staff and opened the restaurant. “It was a chance to stretch myself as I had never done before.”

After working at four restaurants in five years, Law was looking for the perfect spot. “I knew some chefs at Brinker International, including my current boss, Brian Kolodziej [vice president of culinary operations for Chili’s], who had worked with me at the Mansion.”

In October 1995 he signed on with Brinker. As corporate chef Law’s chief responsibility is developing new food items. Not surprisingly, he spends a lot of time in the kitchen experimenting, researching and trying to find the next big hit for Chili’s.

During the last few years, Chili’s menu profile has changed significantly.

“When Brian came on, and then I followed him, we were able to go into new territory,” Law remarks. Where once Chili’s was famous for burgers and fajitas, the chain’s menu is now bursting with new items like a Southwestern egg roll, grilled-shrimp Caesar, citrus-fired chicken and shrimp, Cajun chicken pasta, tuna steak sandwiches, and country-fried catfish.

“We’ve educated our guests as we’ve been making these changes, and they’ve responded positively,” he adds. “More people are eating out, and they want something they wouldn’t necessarily make at home. We’re giving them variety, like our lettuce wrap, an Asian-style dish that won a MenuMasters award last year.”

Law is in his element with research and development. For him, it’s a constant process of learning new techniques, testing flavor profiles and experimenting with textures and appearance.

Looking back on his pre-Chili’s days, he says: “I have tremendous respect for the chefs I’ve worked for, but when you’re in a fine-dining restaurant, you can charge $35 a plate, have bay oysters flown in from California or Dover sole from England. You can experiment with the absolute finest quality ingredients.” It’s different at a 732-unit chain like Chili’s.

“We must fit the food into parameters and still offer great quality, fresh flavors, good looks, colors and texture,” he comments. “It must be something the cooks can put out consistently and something the guests can afford. I think it’s just a bigger challenge than fine dining.”

When asked about his culinary associate, Kolodziej says, “Johnny’s got a diverse background, and with his degree in meat sciences, he understands everything from meat production to meat fabrication, which helps us find the best products.”

According to Kolodziej, one of Law’s strengths is his great palate, his ability to identify strong flavor profiles. “That, and his experience in fine dining and opening his own restaurants, has raised our quality level and makes him a great fit for this team.”