Colin Nunez
Peek into the kitchen at Villa Harlequin and you’ll find 35-year-old Colin Nunez … and his bandana.
Nunez is only one half of the chef team at the downtown spot, but his partner-in-crime, Paul Fisher, prefers to remain hidden from the spotlight.
Nunez has been with Villa for six years. The restaurant is owned by Nic and Becky Hunter and managing partner Blakelee Kibodeaux. He learned the fundamentals as a sous chef under David Sorrells at Calla.
“At that time, it felt like we were almost pretending to be a Michelin star restaurant. They really pushed us,” he says. “They were hard on us, but in the best way. They’d give you the shirt off their back.”
Nunez, who has no formal training outside of his two semesters at SOWELA, says his time at Calla was like an informal culinary school. “That’s where I learned how to execute high-level cooking and learned the tricks of the trade.”
He lived in Arkansas until he was 12, but he grew up eating good ol’ Louisiana cooking thanks to his parents, who were both excellent cooks and from the area. His family would often go into the Arkansas mountains and pick wild blackberries, which his mom would use to make cobbler.
“To this day, I remember one meal my dad made that really left an impression on me. A friend went hunting and my dad got backstrap and cooked it chicken-fried-steak-style with rice and white gravy,” he says. “I’ll never forget that meal.”
“Working in a kitchen is chaotic in a way that I love, I can’t stay still. I like to move around. I would never want to work a desk job,” he says. It’s why he works so well with Fisher, who’s more regimented and handles most of the business side of things. Over the years, the pair have become good friends, and they get along well.
“We’ve gotten along since day one. He’s a cool dude,” says Nunez. The pair started together under chef Amanda Cusey. “Her style is different than mine,” he says. “She’s more European leaning. She learned in Ireland. I’m a southern cook who learned to cook in Louisiana.”
Alton Brown from Good Eats also made an impact on the chef. “He’s like Bill Nye the science guy, but for cooking … gives tips on what to do and what not to do.” He’s enjoyed reading Brown’s books on basic techniques.
Nunez says he “accidentally” fell into his career. He graduated from high school unsure about what he was going to do next. He was taking a beat to figure it all out when the idea sparked. His girlfriend at the time mentioned that he was “really good.” The rest is history.
Years later, he’s in the kitchen daily, creating mouth-watering specials for Villa and focusing on staying active. It’s something he says is a job requirement.
“You can’t feel like crap and be in the kitchen. I’ll have a Shiner when I’m off from time to time. I like using Shiner to cook, too. But being hungover in the kitchen is a nightmare, so I don’t do that. It’s important to be active in this job because it can be physically demanding.”
He’s the opener at the restaurant. Typically, he’s the first person to show up. He starts prep, handles lunch, and then takes a break to pick up his daughter from school before swinging back by for dinner. He’s typically done for the day around 8:30 pm.
Nunez says it’s important for chefs to shake themselves out of their comfort zones. If you’re not careful, it’s a job that can become mundane, and that can breed complacency. “I stay creative by going out of town and seeing what other people are serving,” he says.
He was in a New Orleans restaurant recently, eating and shaking up his taste buds, when he came up with an idea for that weekend’s special: Asian style pork belly with kimchi risotto served with fried mushrooms sliced very thin and crispy. The dish got great feedback from diners despite the fact that it wasn’t technically an Italian dish. Nunez says Asian food is a favorite of his.
When it comes to Villa, Lake Area food lovers show up not just for the impeccable food and excellent drinks but also for the atmosphere. The restaurant is downtown, and the vibe is upscale, comfortable and intimate. Surprisingly, Nunez says, the energy in the kitchen at Villa is more relaxed than in other kitchens where he’s worked.
“Relaxed might sound like people are slacking, but it’s not like that. Everyone knows exactly what they’re doing. There’s a great synergy among the staff,” he says. And there has to be. On any given day, there are only two chefs in the kitchen and one bartender behind the bar, all of whom service the entire restaurant, which seats 84.
“I think people can sometimes get confused and think being a chef is glamorous, but it’s work,” he says.
Nunez says he wouldn’t be caught dead cooking without coarse kosher salt. It’s a cooking rule he lives by. “I’ll never use table salt again.” Another thing he says is important is good, quality cream. “It’s small things like that that make a big difference.”
His favorite dish lives on the brunch menu: the boar sandwich. “It’s probably ’cause I love to barbecue,” he says. The boar neck is smoked with a hickory and coffee rub. A drip pan, which contains onion, beer and pineapple juice, sits underneath catching juices. After smoking, he cooks it all together, adds more beer, and finishes it off in the oven. The sandwich is served with avocado, fried egg, chipotle mayo and pepper jack cheese, all on a ciabatta bun with a side of house cut chips.
Recently, the restaurant added duck meatballs to the menu. Duck meat ground together in-house with pear, onion, celery and garlic served with Calabrian chili cream sauce over spinach fettuccine sourced from Pasta Lab.
Death row meal? “I’d have to cook it, but General Tso’s chicken with white rice, pan-fried pork gyoza and coffee ice cream. That or my chicken alfredo. It’s a tie.”
His nine-year-old daughter, Hannah, loves his shrimp alfredo. “She used to call it ‘hot stuff’ ‘cause she couldn’t pronounce ‘pasta,'” he says. It’ll come as no surprise that jarred alfredo sauce isn’t allowed in the Nunez home. He uses shallots, deglazes with white wine, and throws in garlic.
Villa is open Tuesday through Saturday for dinner from 5 to 9:30 pm. You can grab lunch Wednesday through Friday from 11 am to 2 pm. The restaurant serves their brunch menu every Sunday from 10 am to 2 pm. For more information thevillaharlequin.com.
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