Joshua Severson is a father, chef and “all-around nice guy” that can be seen helming the kitchen at Tangerine Room. The signature restaurant at the brand-new Westin Anaheim Resort is making waves with its coastal cuisine and, according to Severson, houses the nicest hotel staff and best culinary crew around. Learn about Chef Joshua Severson…
Hometown: Seattle, WA
First job: Paperboy, until I got attacked by a dog.
Favorite ways to spend your free time in CA: Do chefs get free time in California!? My favorite thing to do with my off time usually involves doing anything adventurous with my boys, like hiking Mt. Everest, cliff diving and swimming with sharks.
Your biggest accomplishment and why: Opening a multi-award-winning restaurant from dirt and seeing how the success of everyone’s efforts made it successful and to later watch them grow and expand in their own personal careers.
The biggest obstacle you overcame: Somehow staying sane in this industry with hospitality being highly competitive and demanding. As an executive chef, managing multiple components can be challenging such as juggling staying atop competitive trends and managing expectations in what can be considered an exceptionally subjective industry.
Someone who inspires you and why: My boys. They push me beyond my limits in more ways than one!
Advice to someone pursuing a career path in what you do: Don’t throw pans…they do hurt! (Alluding to old-school chefs who used to literally throw pans when things went wrong in the kitchen.) In the kitchen, behind the scenes, there are so many things that can go wrong. So, it’s key to not take things too seriously and take care of your team – have their back.
Favorite quote: If wishes were fishes…they’d all be fried! (Reason: stay grounded, don’t overthink things or have unrealistic expectations from life in general or create manageable goals that are attainable.)
Something someone would be surprised to learn about you: I got into cooking as a punishment. I was a sever at a restaurant when I was younger, had an unruly table and, after not fully delivering on the company standards on customer service, got thrown into washing dishes. I’ve stayed in the kitchen ever since. That’s where I thrived.
What makes someone fabulous: Someone fabulous to me is someone who doesn’t care to be fabulous and just does good things to and for people out of the kindness of their heart.