Name: Chef William Nemeroff
Restaurant: BT’s Fried Chicken and Barbecue
Town: Worcester
Background: As a chef, William Nemeroff sees it as his job to not only provide honest crowd favorites and reinvented comfort food, but also to inspire and educate the guests that come to BT’s Smokehouse. After attending Johnson and Wales University in Charleston South Carolina, William worked for several restaurants and country clubs up and down the east coast. Then William settled in Sturbridge Massachusetts, where he opened acclaimed Cedar Street Restaurant. After several wonderful years he decided to root in a more metropolis area to bring his talents to a broader audience. After a 6 years as the co-executive chef of Niche Hospitality, the four diamond Beechwood Hotel, and The International Chef Nemeroff embarks on a new mission; to join forces with culinary powerhouse Brian Trietman of BT’s Smokehouse where he will make a mark and bring his southern roots to the BBQ world. “At BT’s Smokehouse we do not adhere to rules or boundaries, our style is our own. We create food to be enjoyed.”
Q1 What is your first or best memory of cooking and who was it with?
As a child I remember mowing lawns all weekend to save enough money to purchase fresh clams and oysters from the local fish monger in Virginia Beach. I brought them all home and with nobody else home I simply roasted them in the oven and ate them in front of the TV like popcorn. I believe it was the 5th grade.
Q2 What is your most popular dish?
Through the years the food that I have prepared has changed a bit. I get a lot of request for fried chicken that I have been preparing for a very long time. Soon everyone can get it whenever they want.
Q3 What is your favorite dish to make?
I enjoy cooking anything and everything. Especially for people that appreciate the love that goes into it.
Q4 Do you have any pet peeves about the industry?
Egos tend to get out of control. I get it, as a chef you put yourself out there every day subjecting yourself to everyones criticism. Have tough skin and be humble. I still wash my own dishes.
Q5 Person you would most like to cook for?
My father passed away when I was 18. I never really got a chance to cook a meal created especially for him. He appreciated quality and I would have loved to be validated by him.
Q6 If you weren’t cooking, what would you do for a living?
I have no idea. I knew I would be a chef at an early age. Although I enjoy teaching people what I know and problem solving.
Q7 Not your own spot, what is your favorite restaurant?
Whenever I’m not working, I’m going somewhere else to eat. I appreciate all food that thought, and pride went into. I’m not one to criticize. Most recently I enjoyed a very thoughtful meal that was executed very well at Hen of the Woods in Burlington VT. I can’t wait to return.
The MUST TRY items according to Taste of Massachusetts:
