A homegrown Louisiana chef with more than 20 years of Culinary Management experience, Chef Troy Deano comes to Columbus as the Executive Chef of the new Hotel Indigo Columbus at Riverfront Place. Deano will head two venues, Denim and Oak and the Eighteen85 Rooftop Bar & Kitchen by Hotel Indigo.

Chef Troy Deano, the new Executive Chef of the new Hotel Indigo in Columbus, gives Denim and Oak and the Eighteen85 Rooftop Bar & Kitchen diners the quality Southern flavor and service we all know and love. Troy spoke to SVM about what inspired him to become a chef, what he loves most about Columbus, and what helped him shape the chef he is today.

What inspired you to become a chef? Growing up around New Orleans, it can happen so quickly to fall in love with the grand nature of restaurants and food culture. Some of the best cuisine in the world has come directly from that city and the southern coast of Louisiana. Watching the way food brought my family together to the dinner table and the joy it brought them made me realize how food was comforting.

What was your first culinary job? My Godfather owned a small 8 table restaurant in Chalmette, Louisiana; where I am originally from. I started doing the dishes on weekend nights during the summer going into my junior year of high school. I literally ate so many times a day as a growing teenager that the cooks taught me how to prepare my own food.

Can you walk us through the inspiration behind the menu at Denim and Oak at Hotel Indigo? I have always used my travels and interest in learning new cuisines as my biggest inspiration. We want to deliver plates that are local in inspiration, but that tell a story about things that have inspired me. The Stuffed Quail is the personification of this technique. We use ingredients that are very entrenched in the local cuisine, as in okra or quail; we give the dish a bold Latin flavor with chorizo and tomatillo.

Do you have a favorite cookbook or culinary hero? I am a huge cookbook collector. My favorites tend to swap up pretty often. The latest that I have been reading is a baking book by a great chef, Kelly Fields.

What do you love most about Columbus so far? We really love all the nature and family oriented things to do here. My kids are very much into “nature walks,” even if they are just around the neighborhood.

Of all the food trends out there, what’s your favorite? My family tends to eat healthy; I wish the true healthy food movement could grab a bigger hold on the world.

What is your guilty food pleasure? My only real guilty pleasures for food is eating Baked Macaroni from a small restaurant where I grew up, named Rocky and Carlos. We also love the surprise of having a Nonna Randazzo King Cake show up on our door, mailed to us by a family member in Louisiana for the Mardi Gras season.

Obviously you're a very accomplished chef, New Orleans experience, etc. But at home, what are you known for? I have always been very much into gardening and yard work whether it be vegetables or flowers does not matter. The perfect day for my wife is a brisket on the Oklahoma Joe and working in the garden. We just try to keep our youngest, Fitz, from eating all the berries.

Can you tell us about one moment from your career that helped shape the chef you are today? Ten years ago I decided to go move out of New Orleans and work with a good friend Chef Steven McHugh. Steve had just finished chemotherapy for Lymphoma. Steve really took me under his wing; shopping at the farmer’s market, thinking outside the box, imagination in cuisine. I really credit Steve for making me a chef and not just a cook. I always said that Rene Bajeux taught me to love food, but Steve taught me how to live it.

CHEF TROY DEANO