Deadheads by Linda Kelly

Deadheads by Linda Kelly

Author:Linda Kelly
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing
Published: 2015-05-14T16:00:00+00:00


9

GETTING FED

____________

Chez Ray and Bob Weir. Courtesy of Ray Sewell.

Chez Ray

Chef for the Dead, native San Franciscan

What Jerry really liked was the simplicity of a good hot dog. That was his favorite thing. I mean, there were a lot of very favorite comfort foods, but I remember this one moment that I especially enjoyed. Leon was the limo driver for Jerry, and I think this was at the Cal Expo. We were staying at a hotel nearby and I noticed that the Oscar Meyer Wiener Mobile was down in the parking lot!

I’ve always been a nut for theater—surprises and fun stuff. I used to incorporate that into what I’m doing with the gang as often as I could. So I saw this as an absolute opportunity! I went down and talked to the driver, and I told him what was going on. I said, “You know, Jerry loves hot dogs, and it would be the coolest thing if we could drive backstage and meet Jerry’s limo when it pulls up.” So with some arm-twisting and promising something or whatever, he went for it—to my astonishment. And so we cruised out of the hotel parking lot in the Wiener Mobile, and it was such a beautiful sight! I wish I’d gotten a photo of me in it because here I am with my chef’s hat, and I’m sitting with the little Oscar guy in the Wiener wagon.

And we pulled into the backstage, and the security guys were like, “Well, I don’t know if I can do this.” And we had to grapple with them. And so the driver guy, the faux little Oscar—it wasn’t little Oscar himself—gave me a stack of Wiener whistles. A true treasure! So we bought the guy off, we got backstage, we were able to drive it back, but we just missed—in that conversation and that negotiating—we just missed Jerry. But that evening when I was cooking for him, I delivered a plate garnished with the Wiener whistles, and Jerry’s statement was, “One of the great instruments of all time: the Wiener whistle!”

Jerry hated sweet relish. It was very defined. What he liked, he liked. I cook without judgment, so what they like and what they want is what I do. That’s why I’ve been around so long. The Dead and crew were very clear about what they like to eat at any particular moment, so it was a matter of whatever they wanted, and I would do it. My feeling always was that people eat food, and the food becomes the fuel for what they’re doing, whatever that may be. That’s the way I’ve always looked at it. In a sense, you’re sort of fueling the show in some distant, expanded way, so I was very careful to not be a knucklehead in that regard. I remember once making this paella that had this incredibly fiery sausage in it. That wasn’t my intent, but it turned out that way, and it concerned me [because the spice could later affect them in the show].



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