He’s the owner, chef and mastermind behind The Kitchen Restaurant, Selland’s Market-Café, and most recently Ella Dining Room and Bar. He first made his reputation as the chef and ringmaster at The Kitchen, putting on the “greatest show in town.” Recently Randall Selland sat down with our Steve LaRosa and exhibited the same energy he’s become famous for.
Steve La Rosa: How did you get your start in show biz?
Randall Selland: Since I was a kid, I always wanted to be different. From a chef’s point of view, if the people serving don’t have the same care and passion, the soul of the restaurant doesn’t get translated to the customer.
SL: Where did the showmanship spring from?
RS: A desire for people to like you? You get the recognition…a kid wanting to be noticed.
SL: How did the whole Kitchen extravaganza develop?
RS: We were leasing space at Bernice Hagen’s cooking school on Marconi, in the early ’90s. A party of 18 did a wine tasting with some small plates. We cooked in front of them, and I would chat back and forth with people. Then we started putting a notice in The Bee for demonstration dinners one night a month, $35 per person. From there, it spread by word of mouth. In 1992, we launched The Kitchen full time.
SL: What’s the most unusual incident that’s occurred in your dining history?
RS: Years ago the power went out all over the area. A transformer blew I think. We gave people the option to get their money back and come back another night, but not one person wanted to leave. We ended up serving dinner by candlelight and cooking with gas and torches. People had a great time and drank a lot of wine.
SL: Do you still do the dog and pony show at The Kitchen?
RS: Sometimes. People request me occasionally and I stop in to say “Hi.” But my staff just tells everyone they’re lucky to have Noah in there doing the show instead of me.
SL: What is your time and energy taken up with these days?
RS: I dabble in all aspects of the business. Most of the time, I shake hands and kiss babies. And I play with my grandchildren.
SL: Was/is Sacramento ready for Ella?
RS: Yes. We wouldn’t have done it if we didn’t think so. I think about what I want, not what would be sellable. It was, “Why not?” “Why wouldn’t you want to?” It’s our vision for the city.
SL: What’s your next venture?
RS: Another Selland’s Market Café. I want to do a Mexican place too.
SL: Do you cook at home?
RS: Yes, on Monday, for the grandkids. We don’t experiment at home…veggie tacos, burgers, steak, salad…
SL: Guilty food pleasure?
RS: Sweets. The peanut butter and chocolate squares, dream bars and chocolate-chocolate chip cookies from Selland’s. We don’t order sweets when we dine out. We get our sugar in the form of alcoholic beverages.
SL: Unknown talent?
RS: About all I can do is cook and talk to people…and I can clean house and do laundry.
SL: Unusual hobbies or collections?
RS: I read newspapers all the time. I don’t read cookbooks much. I love to play golf.
SL: Favorite dive?
RS: Thai Spice on Broadway.
SL: Where did you earn your stripes?
RS: My wife got me interested in cooking 30 years ago. At age 29, I was hired at Fat City. I was just a grunt. I did everything I could not to hurt myself.
SL: Were you successful?
RS: No. Many cuts. You just bandage up and keep going. Then Jean-Luc hired me at The Cookery. Then Kevin Nichols was leaving to go to Koya’s and chose me because I could taste. Then Café Donatello, then Bernice’s Cookery.
SL: Celebrity encounters?
RS: Travolta was in town shooting a movie. One of his people called to inform us of his requirements. We told her we couldn’t accommodate his requests. She said, “But he requires them.” So we told her then he can’t eat here.
SL: Now, the three important Lux/Psych meaningless, though incisively revealing test questions Favorite film.
RS: Young Frankenstein. It was just so smart…the delivery of the lines, like “Werewolf? There wolf.”
SL: What’s in the CD collection?
RS: From Metallica to Luis Miguel.
SL: What’s on the bookshelf?
RS: Nothing but cookbooks, but I haven’t opened half of them.
SL: And the question we ask all chefs…As a child, did you own an Easy Bake Oven by Hasbro?
RS: No.
SL: Wish you had?
RS: No.
SL: Plans to purchase one in the future?
RS: When my son gives me a granddaughter.
SL: Your LuxLife extravagance?
RS: Being able to travel where I want to. One of the best things I’ve ever done was to travel to Europe for five weeks with no plans.
SL: What is the LuxLife to you?
RS: We don’t need a lot. Do we like nice clothes…staying in nice hotels? Yeah. It’s being able to afford to travel and not worry about phone calls from work.
