CASA mentors Lucy Thompson-Ramirez and Chef Bret Thompson
mentor Lucy Thompson-Ramirez is one-half of the powerhouse duo behind Pez Cantina, the sustainable Coastal Mexican-style restaurant and bar, located on historic Bunker Hill in Downtown Los Angeles. Despite the impact of Covid-19 on operations, Lucy and Chef Bret Thompson have hired not one, not two, but three CASA graduates who completed our 6–9-month Chef Apprentice School of the Arts (CASA) program at their bustling restaurant.
We recently connected with Lucy to gain insight into how they mentor our students at Pez Cantina, learn more about what impressed them in the CASA grads they’ve hired, and more!
How did Pez Cantina come about in the first place?
“Well, it was one beautiful summer in about 2012. We were in Loreto, Mexico, which is a sleepy fishing town down in Baja, California. And the boys had just caught some fresh fish, and we were literally on an island, grilling the freshly caught fish. We chopped up some pico de gallo, warmed up some tortillas, and were eating fish tacos and drinking a cold beer right on the beach, and we thought, ‘Okay, this is a little slice of heaven. We need to create this concept in Los Angeles.’ At the time, we had a café and catering business called Market, and we knew we wanted to open something else. And we thought it would be really cool to take a taco stand and turn it out to a full-service restaurant with a full bar, 170 seats, [and a] large patio.
Pez Cantina opened in January 2015. So, this year we’re celebrating our sixth year.”
How do you and Chef Bret work with CASA students during their time in the program?
“Chef Bret is a great mentor. I really appreciate the time he takes with his students from holding a knife correctly to firing a full-course meal…. Chef Bret and I would never allow a dish to go out that is not to the best quality or the best plating…. These students get that one-on-one but also the intensity of being in full service. They learn so much so quickly, and they never back down. I just feel like their passion keeps them going, and I think there’s a reason why they’re in CASA now, because they really want to aspire to maybe open up their own thing or become their own chefs. So, it’s been a really great experience for us so far. …
Lucy tells why she and Chef Bret mentor with CASA & talks about the students they’ve hired in our Straight Talk video below!
Lucy Thompson-Ramirez & Chef Bret Thompson
We have two floors. Our prep kitchen is downstairs and our main kitchen is upstairs. So, they start off in the prep kitchen, and they learn every ingredient, every chopping method. And the repetitiveness, I think, just really ingrains the ingredients of every dish so that once they go upstairs and they go into service, they remember exactly why this is chopped this way and they understand why it’s presented this way.”
Has mentoring for CASA enabled you to find talented people to hire?
“It’s been really great to take people like this because sometimes you get applicants… who want to work in the kitchen, and not to say that it’s bad but it’s just a means of getting a paycheck. I feel like the CASA students come in with a passion and a willingness to learn. And although sometimes it gets really hectic, I think people who already participate in the program know that in the restaurant industry, once you’re on, it’s full force.
I’ve worked with Marina and Christian for quite some time now. And while they were students, they were such a pleasure…. They brought in all of this passion and creativity and suggestions, and… we always wanted to have them have the opportunity to voice their opinions and contribute to recipes and maybe say, ‘Plate this. Plate that.’ And once we realized that they were so talented, we took them on full time. We did a lot of off-site events. Marina and I, we did a lot of women chef events. It was really fun. And Christian, we did massive catering events. We did one for El Nido [El Nido Family Centers’ Garden Gala], which is a fundraiser in Beverly Hills…. He did just a phenomenal job. And he was always very, very receptive and really talented. And Jessica, she came on, and she… and I share the same Mexican background, and she was really passionate about what we were doing with making contemporary and creative Mexican food…. She’s just really blossomed. I mean, her creativity and her hard work and her dedication is through the roof. And we’re just so happy to have her on board.”
Busy as you are, why do you choose to mentor for CASA?
“I feel like every student we’ve had they’ve got this passion and this light that makes them feel so focused…. Working at a restaurant is physically, mentally hard work, and you’ve got to have that dedication and that drive. I feel like these students have already made that decision; they’ve already made that commitment to the kitchen. So, when they come in, I feel like they’ve already got one foot in the door, so all we have to do is help them bring the other foot and grow that passion and creativity and teach them as much as we can on our end.”
Learn more about 6-9 month mentored culinary externship programs and remote online one-on-one training with
CASA, The Chef Apprentice School of the Arts.
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