Meet Chef Russ Keith

It's about a half hour before the Log Cabin Restaurant opens for lunch and Chef Russ Keith is at the bar in a Log Cabin T-shirt, white apron hanging from his neck, politely answering questions about his life. 

Keith has been in the food industry since his mother dropped him off at the Nostalgia Cafe in Waterbury over 30 years ago. 

"It wasn't for me," said Keith of his high school. After he left school in his senior year, his mother told him he needed to get a job, so he started off dishwashing and hasn't left the kitchen since. 

The actual cooking started at age 18 at the Plaza Restaurant and from there Keith moved to Faces Restaurant where he met Fred Stango, current owner of the Log Cabin and Keith's brother-in-law. It was Stango's uncle, Sonny DiOrio, who taught the two young men to cook and who is responsible for many of the recipes at the Log Cabin.

Faces also happens to be the same restaurant from which Keith remembers his worst kitchen disaster. 

"We had this pot of sauce," recalled Keith, "and I said I'd carry it by myself and I dropped it. It took about an hour to clean, there was sauce all over the walls."

Rookie mistakes are a thing of the past for Keith now. A seasoned chef, Keith doesn't wash the dishes anymore. He fills them with some of his very own recipes. 

Keith came up with "Chicken Jessica." He explains, "It's named after my daughter - it's chicken, shrimp, scallops, broccoli, mushrooms, white wine, mozzarella, lemon and butter." The same recipe with veal instead of chicken is "Veal Amanda" after his other daughter, Amanda. 

Keith says the best part of the job is family. "We all work together as family. A lot of people here are treated like it's their own; there's a lot of good employees here." 

Cindy, Keith's wife of 13 years, works as a waitress at the Log Cabin where the two met. The owner, Fred, is married to Cindy's sister, so the restaurant really is one big, happy family. 

Aside from the restaurant, Keith says he's an avid collector of all things Budweiser. He even sports a Budweiser eagle tattoo on his left bicep. There's also a Bud Man tattoo on his right bicep as well as a tattoo on his right forearm of two hands folded in prayer in honor of his father. 

As for his kitchen at home, you probably won't find him in it. Keith says he doesn't cook when he gets home. Once he's off the clock, the apron stays off. 

For the young chefs and dishwashers out there, Keith has a final word of advice: "Go to school. If I could go back, I would go to school."

For more information on the Log Cabin Restaurant, visit their on Patch.