From salmon cakes and grits to risotto all’onda, Chef Mark Bolchoz of Cane Pazzo brings a blend of nostalgia, precision, and local flavor to every dish. In this interview, he shares what Italian food means to him, the one diner concept he’s secretly dreaming about, and why good cookware makes all the difference—especially the Made In pan he can’t live without.
- What's a dish that tastes like home?
- If you could open a novel restaurant concept that was guaranteed to be a success, what would it be?
- When did you know you wanted to be a chef?
- What's the best meal you've had recently?
- Which chefs inspire you?
- If you could add one thing to your menu that doesn't make sense, but you love making, what would it be?
- Which piece of Made In cookware do you reach for the most?
- What do you expect from your cookware?
- How important is having good kitchen tools?
- Finally, what's one way you use Made In to finish a favorite dish on the menu?
What's a dish that tastes like home?
Probably the epitome of a dish that tastes like home to me is salmon cakes with grits. My mom used to make them when we were growing up in Charleston with cans of smoked flaked salmon which is kind of crazy but actually really delicious. She would pan-fry them and make grits with a little bit of cheese in them.
If you could open a novel restaurant concept that was guaranteed to be a success, what would it be?
I think the concept that I'm about to open in Cane Pazzo is the concept of my dreams, and I hope that it is a guaranteed success, which is Italian food my way with a little bit of my life attached to it. The dishes are based on historic recipes from Italy, and then if there ever is any influences put on them, it's ingredient-driven through what's available locally to us here in the Lowcountry.
If I could open something that generally is a harder way to be successful but know that it was gonna be successful, I would say probably a hot dog shop of some variety.I love hot dogs. It would probably be a pretty hokey, chill diner-like vibe with hot dogs, tater tots, crinkle cut fries. We’d have like two good beers and then a bunch of milkshakes and stuff… Unless there's some way for me to get Arby's to agree to let me use the curly fries.
When did you know you wanted to be a chef?
When I was in high school, I started working at a country club as a dishwasher because I needed a job… The chefs there were super professional classically trained chefs from the CIA and the Culinary Institute in Baltimore and they allowed me to kind of grow in that kitchen the way that it has traditionally been done, where I worked in the dish pit and peeled potatoes when I wasn't washing dishes.
And I peeled potatoes very quickly and tried very hard to make them all perfectly clean peeled, and so I was able to peel carrots, and I was able to chop onions, and then I was able to prep the salad bar, and then I was able to work the salad station, and I kind of just went through like that, and it was around probably 6 months into that process that I was cooking.
And that was when I decided I wanted to do it for a living and then it's probably another 6 months of discussion with those chefs before I decided that the CIA (Culinary Institute of America) would be the best path for that.So probably 15 or 16 years old I guess.
What's the best meal you've had recently?
I had some pizza from Tutti the other day that was pretty good (that's the new Graft pizzeria in Charleston). We had a pepperoni round and we had a sesame crust square pie. They were delicious.
I love pizza probably the most after hot dogs–probably before hot dogs really. I have a couple of pizza tattoos and I have no hot dog tattoos, so I guess we'll go with that. I really did like the pizza.
Which chefs inspire you?
I would say Mark Vetri is probably one of the biggest inspirations to me, throughout my whole career. Just because he did so much, he's such a big part of what a lot of people would call real Italian food in America, and he just had a cool way of going about it. He opened some restaurants, he closed some restaurants, he was able to make a pizzeria so successful it went public. He's done a lot of cool stuff and even what he's still doing right now is pretty awesome.
Obviously Anthony Bourdain and Grant Achatz, I read their books when I was in high school. That was probably the next biggest inspiration for me to pursue cooking fully was reading Kitchen Confidential and Life on the Line.And then Jeremiah Bacon is another one for Charleston. He's done a lot. He's had a remarkable career and I don't think he's raised his voice like twice the whole time. So he's an inspiration for how to lead from a different style.
If you could add one thing to your menu that doesn't make sense, but you love making, what would it be?
Am I allowed to say hot dogs? Or stir-fried noodles. I've always had this pipe dream when I was really young, when I was like a freshman at culinary school of opening up a noodle restaurant.
But hot dogs probably I guess would be the first one. I may still serve hot dogs low key at some point. Yeah, facts. Italian hot dogs.
Which piece of Made In cookware do you reach for the most?
- Stainless Clad Saucier
- 3 QT
- $149.99$179Save $29(16% off)
The Saucier, it's really great for tossing pasta. For risotto, I like the 2 QT, but for pastas we use the 3QT. But in both cases it's great for whipping and emulsifying sauces on noodles or in rice, so definitely a stand out for me.
What do you expect from your cookware?
Durability and longevity for sure. I've used a wide variety of stainless steel saute pans in my career and I've seen even some of the best fall victim to the dry heat popping, splitting, or developing air bubbles, so durability for sure.
The way that Made In Pans are virtually seamless to the edge, but also like there's not that disk on the bottom that a lot of brands use, the fact that it's just a fully smooth handle to pan transition will help with keeping them clean and keeping the flame or flare up marks off of them. We clean our frying pans inside and out aggressively, multiple times, because we try to keep them completely silver on the top and bottom so I would say those are the biggest things really, durability and longevity for sure.
And I like the weight and the way, you know, it can retain heat for searing (with the frying pans). Definitely being able to blast those on high heat you know use them in the wood fired oven, use them on the grill. That's a big one for, for sure outside of the pasta world.In the pasta world, most of it's really like gentler heat, warming, emulsifying, whipping and that sort of thing.
How important is having good kitchen tools?
I mean, I think it's pretty important. I would say less is more. I don't really believe in having, you know, a million or something, but I think that having the best version that you are able to that you have the means to acquire of each item is definitely important.
You need one small egg pan—the Made In Ceramic is one of the best ones that is available—and then you need a nice frying pan, you need a little pot to boil pasta in, and you need a chef's knife. I mean you don't need much, but I think that your individual items should definitely be top tier for sure.
Finally, what's one way you use Made In to finish a favorite dish on the menu?
- Stainless Clad Saucier
- 2 QT
- $159
The penultimate sign of good risotto is the finishing and the emulsification to achieve “risotto all’onda” (risotto on the wave) and the 2 and 3QT Saucier is unmatched for its shape. I would say whipping the risotto in those pans is probably the biggest way we would specifically finish a dish.
Photos Credit: Andrew Cebulka
