Posted by ayersian
, February 02, 2010 12:01
The name Tony Luke is certainly synonymous with great sandwiches, but it turns out there’s much more to this R&B-singing, spatula-slinging son of Philadelphia. In our inaugural interview of the “Twenty Questions” series with Roadfood restaurateurs, we talked with Tony Luke, Jr. about his passion for food, the craziness of life beyond the counter, and his plans for global cheesesteak domination.
1. Who served you your first life-changing meal, and what was it?
That would be my father and it was eliche with garlic and olive oil. It’s a very simple dish, but it was amazing. My father always cooked with a lot of spices so he added red pepper flakes as well. I really learned how to cook from my father.
2. What was your most memorable job before the restaurant?
Food was a huge part of me growing up. My father had delis and lunch trucks and there was always food in and out of the house. But my background really is in entertainment. I was in the first graduating class at Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts and I worked as both a songwriter and a producer in the ‘80s before the sandwich shop opened.
3. If you weren’t in the restaurant business, what job would you most like to have?
Music and acting are actually encompassing more and more of my time. I’ve been doing a lot of recording recently—both working on my own music and producing Real World star Josh Colon’s new dance single. Plus, I have two films that are coming out this spring and am scheduled to shoot three more films before the end of 2010. My first lead role in a major feature film called The Nail: The Story of Joey Nardone. There are many stories about domestic violence where the father’s a monster without any redeeming qualities. But I feel that parents who are abusing their children look at those films and say, “Well, that’s not me. I love my children.” I wanted to show a father who legitimately loves his child but is beating him almost to death, and for people to say, “Is that me? Am I doing that to my child?” I hope that people will see that doing this is wrong and that you can’t use the excuse that you love them.
4. What does a typical day look like for you?
It’s extremely hectic. I’m running between meetings and photo shoots and studios, and am constantly short on time. I also do a lot of charity work—I try to do as much as possible for Children’s Hospital and to support children’s cancer research. I believe that fame and fortune are only good when used for to help others, so I strive to become more famous and make more money so that I can get these causes off the ground and get people listening and donating. Sometimes I spread myself too thin trying to make those things possible, but it’s obviously worth it.
5. What’s the one thing that you wish you had more time to do?
The downside to being so busy is that I don’t see my family very much. I wish I had more family time to go out to dinner with my kids and hang out. All three kids do work with me, though, so that’s a good thing.
6. Who inspired you to go into the restaurant business?
My father was always in the restaurant business and I worked for him growing up. He was the one who really sparked my passion in food.
7. How long has Tony Luke’s been open?
The sandwich shop was opened February 3, 1992, so we’re coming up on our 18th birthday.
8. Describe Tony Luke’s in five words.
Quality. Fresh. Family. Friendly. Patient. People at the shop get more flack from other people in line (“If you don’t know how to order, just get out of line!”) than they do from me. I tell my employees to be very patient and help people along. My father always told me and my brother Nicky: “Be grateful for every single person who comes up to that window—they can spend their money anywhere so feel privileged that they’re spending it here and treat people like family.” The reality is that you can’t please everyone in every situation, but I’ve always bent over backwards to do everything I can to make people happy.
9. What’s your favorite menu item to eat yourself?
The Pork Italian. It’s an amazing sandwich.
10. What item would customers be most upset about if you took it off the menu?
Again, the Pork Italian. I would get killed. They would literally lynch me.
11. What menu item was your biggest flop?
Ostrich steak. When it was cooked correctly, people loved it. But it’s a difficult item to cook and once I stopped making it personally, it went straight downhill.
12. What ingredient do you use most frequently in the kitchen?
Garlic. Without a doubt.
13. What’s one thing that you changed in the restaurant that made it better?
When we first opened we were getting hit with incredible lines. Because we make everything to order, it could have take 30 minutes to get a big order. We eventually put a point of sale (POS) system in, which allowed us to take people’s names and make each station individually responsible for what they were doing. When we implemented the POS system, it cut the wait time in half. It really made a huge difference in the high volume we were doing.
14. What’s new at Tony Luke’s?
Tony Luke’s is going international. We have a new frozen food line that’s available both online at tonylukespronto.com and in nearly 2,000 supermarkets (currently in PA, NY, CT, & NJ, but expanding in the coming months). Plus, we are planning on opening 150 partnership stores in the next 24 months (including stores in Dubai and Bahrain this summer). The technology took us three years to develop, but we’ve revolutionized the way cheesesteaks can be cooked. I think it is going to change the way cheesesteaks are done all over the country because we’ve made them absolutely foolproof. No matter whether you order a cheesesteak in a Tony Luke’s Pronto in Chicago or Pittsburgh, Ohio or California, it will be identical every single time with no grills whatsoever.
15. What’s your favorite local restaurant?
There are two places. The first is Franco & Luigi’s High Note Café on 13th and Tasker. I grew up with Frankie but that’s not why I love this place. I love it because he has tremendous food and the atmosphere is just amazing. The waiters sing and every Wednesday night all of the great jazz players in Philly come down and jam. It’s the one place I can go to and forget everything else—I absolutely love it. The second is Ralph’s on 9th Street. Ralph’s is my absolute favorite place for mussels.
16. What’s your favorite food to eat at home?
I love roasted chicken.
17. Who would be your ideal dinner guest, living or dead, and what would you serve them?
I’m very spiritual. I’m interested in why we’re here and am always searching for ways to make things better, so I would want to invite people I could ask questions of. I’d love to pick the brains of Gandhi, Christ, Mohammed, the Dalai Lama, and Edgar Cayce. I would feed them all of my favorite foods with total disregard for health since most of them are probably dead anyway. I’d bring out the heavy cream sauce and pizza since they wouldn’t have to worry about their cholesterol!
18. What was your most memorable celebrity encounter?
It was actually a telephone call. I had just finished doing The Nail, and I got a phone call from Will Smith. He told me that he had just seen the movie and enjoyed it so much that he had to personally call and let me know. It was so surreal. That was probably one of the most memorable moments of my life, especially as an actor and a writer. But I also got excited the first time I met Stevie Van Zant and all of those guys because I was always a big fan of theirs—it’s been a good ride.
19. What advice were you once given but did not take?
When I was a kid my father said to me, “Son, watch what you eat. You can eat whatever you want but don’t over-indulge. And make exercise a part of your life.” When you’re 20 years old you think “I’m fine. I’m never going to gain an ounce,” but the older you get, the harder it is to get the weight off. I just wish I would have listened to his advice by making exercise a bigger part of my life and eating more in moderation. My personality is very excessive, which is a good thing for my acting, writing, and music. But every single positive has an equal negative, and the negative to that is you tend to be excessive in everything you do.
20. Would you provide us with a favorite recipe?
I like simple things—I don’t like when dishes are complicated. I have a very simple recipe for a topping that people can add to their favorite steak sandwich. You can buy all of the ingredients at any supermarket, and although I know it’s great on steak, I’m sure it would be good on chicken as well. For each sandwich, you first want to cook four slices of applewood-smoked bacon in a frying pan. Once the bacon is cooked, remove it from the pan and set aside. Next, thinly slice a white onion and fry it in a small amount of the bacon grease. Sprinkle a chipotle seasoning mix over the onions. Cook the onions until soft, and then add a couple teaspoons of your favorite hickory smoked honey BBQ sauce. Top your favorite steak sandwich with pepperjack cheese, the onion and BBQ sauce mixture, and then the bacon.
Check out Stephen Rushmore’s RF review of Tony Luke’s here and stay tuned for more food-fueled conversations coming soon!
