Meet the Chef: David Thomas of Jack & Dyl's

David Thomas didn't set out to be a chef and had it not been for a back injury, he would surely not be making his living in the restaurant business today. That's an unyielding fact of his life that he does not regret.

He grew up in Rhode Island, spent summers on Cape Cod and earned an engineering degree at the Denver Institute of Technology before heading for California.

In San Francisco, he landed two jobs—warehouse manager by day and song-writing guitar player for a rock and roll band on weekends and nights. The band enjoyed limited success; occasionally it opened for superstar music-industry headliners such as The Jefferson Airplane and Crosby, Stiles, Nash and Young but venues for unheralded bands were limited and well-paying gigs were infrequent.

After arriving in the City by the Bay, David met, wooed and married Sharon Bucci, a department store fashion buyer and a West Coast transplant from Tarrytown.

But soon afterwards, a serious and painful back injury at the warehouse curtailed both of David's occupations and a long period of gradual recuperation at home began.

Unable to work or hobble around much as he recovered, he became addicted to watching distinguished chef Bradley Ogdon give cooking lessons on a local television station. "I'd watch his demonstrations," David says, "then, I would shop for the same ingredients at a local grocery and by the time Sharon came home from work I had dinner waiting thanks to Ogdon's instructions and recipes."

Encouraged by his wife, David enrolled at the prestigious California Culinary Academy in San Francisco—studying for a degree in Le Cardon Bleu Culinary Arts. Prior to graduation, he pursued and secured a nonpaying internship at the Lark Creek Inn in Marin County solely because Ogdon was the restaurant's chef. Upon receiving his diploma in June 1989, David was offered a permanent paying position at Lark Creek Inn and he remained there for three and one-half years.

David and Sharon moved to Manhattan in April, 1994 where he joined Danny Meyer's Union Square Café as sous chef and she was hired by Macy's as a buyer. After a stint at Drew Nieporent's Tribeca Grill, David designed and ran Bridge Street in Irvington (in the location now occupied by Day Boat Café), and on December 27, 2004, he opened his own restaurant, Jack & Dyl's, at 49 Main Street in Tarrytown.

Among David's favorite dishes are ricotta gnocchi, boneless beef short ribs and shrimp and corn fritters (see recipe below). The short ribs could not be more flavorful; they are prepared by first searing and then braising the meat in beef stock, red wine, garlic and thyme; next the ribs are topped by carrot shavings and served in a rich reduction sauce.

The restaurant is named after David and Sharon's son Dylan, age 11, and their German shepherd Jack, age 12-1/2. Jack's photo appears above the cheery bar.

Unique touches at this restaurant include serving of bread in clay flowerpots, placing of bottled cool filtered tap water on each table, and delivery of the check in an old book of poetry, an aged novel or a reference manual. Art for sale, collected by the landlord, decorates the walls. Two tables revered for people watching seat four to six at the street-front windows.

At the 23rd Annual Tarrytown Main Street Fair to be held on June 6, a stand directly in front of the restaurant will offer shrimp and corn fritters (see accompanying recipe), crab cakes and barbeque.

Jack & Dyl's is open for dinner on Wednesday through Sunday. Call 631-2228. 

David Thomas' Shrimp and Corn Fritters

(serves four to eight people) 

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 tbs baking powder

1 cup whole kernel corn

1 cup chopped shrimp

1 tea salt

½ tea pepper

Mix above ingredients together. Add 1 egg white whipped stiff and 5 oz of soda water or beer together and fold into dry ingredients. Deep fry spoonfuls or pan fry mini cakes. Serve with your favorite dipping sauce and enjoy.