Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” Apple Corporation Co-Founder, Steve Jobs
Sometimes people come into our lives and change everything. Their contributions make us look at the world differently than we did before. Their persona, skills and outlook on life lifts us up to believe we can be better tomorrow than we are today.
Twenty nine year old Giacomo Lijoi came to Sevier County from Fort Lauderdale in 1989 and almost upon arrival, began to make a lasting name for himself in our community. That name was “Chef Jock.” The son of chefs, young Lijoi was raised in Canton, Ohio and cooked his first meal when he was only five years old. As a child he spent as much time in his parents’ kitchen as he did with his friends on the playground and baked his first cake at age 8, a strawberry torte from scratch, followed by a Boston Cream creation. In time, Giacomo Lijoi became a cooking legend among his family and friends.
At age 15, he landed his first professional job in the kitchen of an upscale country club. Lijoi’s first job in Sevier County was at Maxwell’s Pizza & Seafood Restaurant in Gatlinburg. Before long, the owners sent him to help open a restaurant at 5 Oaks in Sevierville. But, that was just a teaser for what was to come to East Tennessee from the culinary talents of Chef Giacomo “Jock” With his own ideas for his own unique restaurant, people from all over the country began to flock to “Chef Jock’s Tastebuds Café” at 1198 Wear’s Valley Road in Pigeon Forge and later to “Chef Jock’s Roasted Pepper Café & Bakery” on Dolly Parton Parkway in Sevierville. He appeared daily on WATE-TV’s noon broadcast and published “Chef Jock’s Tastebud Delight Cookbook” in 1998.
The book features many of the recipes that made his restaurants a source of great pride in the Smoky Mountains . He also brought national attention to Sevier County with his many appearances on the Food Network. Aside from hosting his own weekly television show, “ Tennessee Cuisine,” Chef Jock was featured in Southern Living Magazine and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was selected “Best Chef” in East Tennessee by the readers of the Knoxville News Sentinel while his unassuming Tastebuds Cafe was also selected as “Best Restaurant.”
In a 1998 interview with the Knoxville News Sentinel, Lijoi is quoted as saying about his Tastebuds Cafe, “We’ve been called five-star food without a five-star attitude.” It was that personal humility and professional generosity that endeared Lijoi to his Smoky Mountain community. Tragically, returning home from Knoxville one rainy night in 2001, Jock’s car hydroplaned and flipped on Chapman Highway in Sevier County , leaving the great chef quadriplegic. “Everything changed that night.” Said Billy Joe Shulte, who became the manager of Tastebuds when Chef Jock opened the Roasted Pepper Café. Still, from his wheelchair, Chef Jock ran his businesses for as long as he could. There are very few things in life that are harder to face than the sudden death of someone you care about.
Unfortunately, Chef Jock passed away Tuesday, April 27, 2010, at his home in Knoxville at the age of 50. He is already deeply missed by all who knew him for the life he breathed into everything he touched.
“It is the will of God and Nature that these mortal bodies be laid aside, when the soul is to enter into real life; ’tis rather an embryo state, a preparation for living; a man is not completely born until he be dead: Why then should we grieve that a new child is born among the immortals?” – Benjamin Franklin
Henry Piarrot is the general manager of the SpringHill Suites by Marriott Pigeon Forge . Please send all story recommendations to hpiarrot@yahoo.com
Loading ...
