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Vice President of Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises, Inc. (LEYE) and Wildfire Corporate Executive Chef, Joe Decker currently oversees all Wildfire culinary operations in Chicago, Oak Brook, Glenview, Schaumburg, and Lincolnshire, IL, and Minnesota locations.Wildfire is a steak and chop house with the best of American food and dining traditions.
Decker, a Chicago native, got his start in the food business by volunteering to work for free at Ann's Bakery in suburban Wilmette in exchange for learning the secrets of great baking.
His next stop was the Oakton Bakery in Skokie, where he confirmed the hunch that he loved the food business but hated bakery hours. Decker continued his culinary education and added a few hours to his sleep by enrolling in Washburne Trade School, graduating in 1981.
Decker pursued a career track that took him through some of the top restaurants in the country. He apprenticed at Jimmy's Place in Chicago and went on to become sous chef at Cafe Provencal in Evanston, where he mastered French food preparation. "The roots of my cooking stem from Cafe Provencal. The rustic French cuisine: olive oil, tomatoes, garlic and peppers. The transition is easy to make. Both cuisines utilize the finest ingredients, prepared simply."
The next stops were Mallory's, where he ran the kitchen, and Don Roth's Restaurants. While with Roth's, Decker took a cooking sabbatical to New Orleans, where he studied Cajun cooking at four famed restaurants -- K-Paul's, LeRuth's, Commander's Palace and Mr. B's. From there, he embarked on the fate-determining trip to Europe.
After traveling throughout Italy, Decker came back to the U.S. with the inspiration to re-create the rustic Italian cuisine with which he had fallen in love. He headed out to California to hone his country Italian cooking at Trattoria Primizia near San Jose. The restaurant was one of the first to feature thin-crust "designer" pizzas.
Less than a year later, Decker auditioned before LEYE's Richard Melman. It was the late Marvin Magid who extended the invitation to Decker, stating, "You talk a big game, now I want to see if you can cook." The twelve course Italian feast Joe created was such a success that he was awarded the position of chef at Avanzare, LEYE's first Italian restaurant. He became Scoozi!'s head chef when it opened in 1986, creating its healthy country Italian cuisine.
In addition to Scoozi! and Avanzare, Decker has been instrumental in opening several other of LEYE's successful restaurants over the years including Twin City Grill in Minneapolis; Tucci Bennuch in Minneapolis; Tucchetti in Arizona; foodlife in Chicago; and Ben Pao in Chicago, the company's first and only Chinese restaurant. He helped bring a version of the 87 year old Miami Florida's best kept secret, Joe's Stone Crab to Chicago. Now he helps to oversee the culinary specialties and maintain the consistency of Chicago's Joe's Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab
Decker continues to play an integral role in the LEYE's corporate and restaurant kitchens to develop the innovative food concepts that have made the company one of the nation's leading independent restaurant groups. | 