WORKING -- Carlito Jocson

-- Susan McCormack

HE IS

Creating a new California cuisine.

FROM SCIENCE TO THE SKILLET

Carlito Jocson is executive chef at The Yard House, which opens at

Triangle Square on Monday. He said he found his calling while studying

biochemistry at UCLA, but it was not academia or medicine.

While working as head chef at Fullerton’s Chez Panache, a 19-year-old

Jocson met a Los Angeles Times restaurant critic who encouraged him to

pursue a career in food.

“He said, ‘Carlito, why are you going to school?”’ Jocson recalled. “I

said, ‘Because I like helping people.’ He said, ‘You know what? You’ll

make a lot more people happy feeding them rather than healing them.”’

Jocson, now 32, said he was persuaded after calculating the cost and time

involved in medical school.

MOVING UP THE FOOD CHAIN

Jocson quickly moved up from his first job at a frozen yogurt shop to

head chef at Chez Panache to jobs at Prego Ristorante in Irvine,

Antonello Ristorante in Santa Ana and Zov’s Bistro in Tustin.

Now Jocson is overseeing operations and updating menus for Tequila Jack’s

in Shoreline Village and The Yard House restaurants in Long Beach and

Costa Mesa.

FOOD IN THE VEINS

Jocson said despite his success, he’s never had formal training as a

chef. His mother ran a catering business while he was growing up, so he

got hands-on experience -- starting with chopping onions and peeling

garlic, then progressing to baking pies.

“We grew up with food. Everything was food.” Jocson said. “Mom was like

... ‘we’re not going to buy you nice clothes, but you will have nice food

to eat.”’

Jocson said, unlike his mother, he usually does not take his work home to

his four children.

“My wife is the greatest woman,” he said. “She cooks all the meals at

home, except on special occasions.”

SETTING CULINARY TRENDS

With a keen sense for culinary trends, Jocson has updated the menus of

several restaurants in the ICON Restaurant Group, his employer. The Yard

House’s menu now boasts not only 250 varieties of draft beer, but

Cal-Asian delights such as salmon spring rolls with roasted seaweed salad

and ginger dressing.

Jocson said a trend is emerging that has nothing to do with the talents

of the chef.

“A lot of chefs are focusing on the quality of ingredients used,” Jocson

explained. “In Orange County ... the population is very well educated on

food. If you’re going to serve, say, a Cobb salad, it better be with very

good turkey.”