- Jose Ceballos escaped a troubled childhood in Los Angeles and Mexico to become head chef at Harvard Square Retirement Community. Photo by Joshua Cole.
By Joshua Cole
Many modern retirement communities have rebranded themselves as places where people can renew their lives.
At Harvard Square Retirement Community, the message extends not only to the residents but also to head chef Jose Ceballos, 26.
Ceballos grew up in Los Angeles and Mexico, where gangs and violence were ubiquitous.
Distracted by his past when he moved to Colorado for high school, he thought he would fail school and amount to nothing. Instead, he’s well loved by his cooking staff and welcomed by resident diners. War veterans also have a connectedness to Ceballos, as he can relate to their thirst for life that stems from a challenging and uncertain past, he said.
“As I was growing up, I figured if I see 18, I’ll see 18. Now I want to live,” Ceballos said.
Ceballos is originally from Los Angeles, but his parents moved him and his older sister to Mexico when Ceballos would have started middle school due to his parents’ fear of gangs, death and a poor environment. The family had lost cousins, an uncle, friends in LA.
“My dad was like, ‘That’s it!’ Ceballos said.
Things weren’t much better in Mexico. Ceballos and his sister were in Mexico for about four years, and they never went to school once.
“We did what we wanted,” Ceballos said.
Used to a life without a daily schedule and worried about his buddies in Mexico, when Ceballos moved here to Westminster at the start of high school, he was uninspired and unfocused. His sophomore and juniors years, he skipped a few of his classes and got kicked out of many others. When he was in class, his mind would disappear.
“I gave a lot of teachers headaches,” Ceballos said.
Before his senior year, a teacher talked with Ceballos and gave him inspiration. She first told him that he could graduate on time, if Ceballos took nine classes, which he did.
“Coming from where I had, I didn’t think I had a shot at anything,” Ceballos said. “She was Hispanic and came from Mexico. She knew how hard it was. She was as old as I am now.”
She also got Ceballos to think of what he could possibly do in life. He remembered the few times in Mexico when everything was calm and peaceful. Coming together for a meal was the only thing that created a cease-fire.
“My godfather was cooking, and everybody was happy because there was food,” Ceballos said. “It brought people together. When my teacher asked me what I wanted to do, it was all I could think of.”
He applied to the Colorado Art Institute‘s cooking school and was accepted. On the first day, Ceballos quietly approached his teacher, shyly confessing that the only thing he had ever cooked was French toast. The teacher wasn’t worried.
“He told me all he needed from me was passion and for me to be there early and stay late. H said he could make me a superstar,” Ceballos said.
Ceballos never missed a class and became one of only two of 27 students in that initial class to graduate on time.
“My passion now is working with my crew, coming up with different ideas and different menus to try. When the residents love it, it’s awesome,” Ceballos said.
Ceballos worked for five years at a hotel chain and one year at an airline before becoming head chef at Harvard Square in January.
A gentle boss
Ceballos’s rise could be the plot to a television or cable movie, but his daily attitude in the kitchen wouldn’t even be a radio drama.
Unlike the Fox network’s screaming and irritable chef Gordon Ramsey, Ceballos is friendly, soft-spoken and happy. He treats his other chefs with respect and open-mindedness.
“When I had the boss who was yelling, I wouldn’t work that hard. When you have a boss that you respect, you work hard,” Ceballos said. “At the hotel, there are so many expectations, like making money, but my management style was successful there. My crew loved me.”
He is an empowering facilitator, giving his other chefs freedom in their work to create, experiment and practice – especially students from the culinary school.
“They come from class and say they tried this certain dish. I say, great, let’s do it,” Ceballos said.
The rest of Ceballos’s staff appreciates his treatment of them. They have high trust, morale, professionalism and passion to please the residents at the same time they’re improving and practicing their own skills, they said.
“It’s an awesome place to work,” said cook Karl Holt. “I have the most fun out of anyone, and he lets me do it. This is not Hell’s Kitchen; this is ‘Heaven’s Kitchen.’”
Ceballos is also fortunate to work with them. He’s gone back to Mexico to five funerals for old friends. His cousin’s baptism was bittersweet: he was so proud on such a wonderful day for his family, but he had to take the place of his cousin’s father in the ceremony.
“There were people that couldn’t get away. It’s worse now.” Ceballos said. “You never let opportunity pass you by. My life probably should have been taken lots of times. When somebody else is stressful, it’s something you’ve got to get over. Nothing can get you down because I’ve been there. It can’t be worse.”
Harvard Square Retirement Community is at 10200 E. Harvard Ave., on South Parker Road near South Havana Street, 303-696-0622, harvardsquareretirement.com.
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josh@villagerpublishing.com, 303-773-8313 ext. 301
