The young Lyons

Looking back, Shane Lyons, now 21 and Colorado Springs’ only bona fide “TV celebrity chef,” blames his career choice on a Christmas gift his mother gave him when he was 5.

It was a French knife (also know as a chef’s knife) with a broad blade. It didn’t take long before the little guy told his parents he wanted to open a bakery.

“With their help, I started baking cookies and selling them to other school kids and neighbors,” said Lyons, who was born in Colorado Springs.

At the age of 8, he was asked to talk about customer service on Tom Martino’s Troubleshooter radio show in Denver. Then acting interrupted his cooking. When he was 12, after appearing in a locally produced film that went on to the Sundance Film Festival, he and his mom moved to Los Angeles so he could audition for a part on Nickelodeon’s sketch comedy show “All That,” and he got it.

He stayed with the show until the ripe old age of 16, when he was released from that contract and decided to drop out of acting for a while.

Though he had a knack for memorizing lines, he grew weary of auditions.

“I was constantly going to auditions, sometimes for parts I didn’t even like,” he said. “I decided to come back to Colorado Springs and started washing dishes at Sencha for Brent Beavers.”

Within a year, he was hooked on cooking, but knew he needed formal training to make it big. So he went east, to Hyde Park, N.Y., to attend the Culinary Institute of America, where his mother had gone to school.

After graduating in 2007, he went back to Los Angeles, where he still had an acting agent. The agent told Lyons about a new reality show being planned for the Food Network.

“It was called ‘The Next Food Network Star’,” Lyons said. “My agent said I should audition. I got on the show and stayed through six of the nine episodes.”

Now, Lyons is the new executive chef at Nosh, a downtown bistro focusing on small plates.

“I always liked to cook,” he said. “That French knife my mom gave me at 5 was hers from her culinary school.”

Long road
Lyons didn’t end up at Nosh right away. After the Food Network filming in New York wrapped, he came back to Colorado Springs and got a chef job at The Blue Star. But being on the show had gotten him some connections in New York, and in 2008, he decided to move back there, to improve his skill level.

“I did a one-day stage at Café Boulud,” he said. “A stage is essentially working without pay, like auditioning for a part. I got a job on the line with 12 other cooks. Any of them could be executive chefs at their own restaurants. It was an excellent experience.”

Though he was getting good training under his belt working at Café Boulud, he realized after a few months he couldn’t afford to live in New York on kitchen pay. He found work in another high- end restaurant, Momofuku Noodle Bar.

“Every new cook here starts out at the bun station,” he said. David Chang, owner of the famous Momofuku, is well-known for the pork steamed buns served at the eatery.

Lyons progressed through several other stations until he made it to the noodle station.

Returning home
Last year he came back to Colorado Springs.

“I knew I wanted to come back and work in Nosh,” he said. “The Blue Star is a great restaurant, and I liked working there. But at Nosh, there were more opportunities to push the limits of food for this market.”

James Davis, the former executive chef at The Blue Star couldn’t wait to get Lyons back on the culinary team there.

“I stayed in touch with Shane while he was in New York,” Davis said. “We talked about once a week. Having had the New York experience, he’s going to bring some of that to Colorado Springs. I expect to see some Asian influences and some French, like charcuterie.

“He also has the youth to support the work that happens in this business.”

Lyons looks to Joseph Coleman, owner of The Blue Star, Nosh and La’au’s Taco Shop, and Coleman’s partner, Tyler Schiedel — as his mentors because he considers them “progressive.”

Beavers has glowing remarks for Lyons.

“Shane is a brilliant and very talented young chef,” he said. “I look forward to his future and all the amazing things I am sure that he will accomplish for his craft and food in general.

“His talents have made Nosh one of the must-eat-at destinations in our city. Everyone should try his style of cooking as often as they can, at least once a week. I have enjoyed the times I have spent in the kitchen with Shane and cherish his creativity and love of food.”

The future
“I might like to go back to school,” he said. “Go to college. Maybe major in sociology or physiology.”

But school will have to wait while he reaches for his ultimate goal: “Making Nosh the best restaurant in the city,” he said. “I want to put Colorado Springs on the culinary map. With the exception of The Broadmoor, the city (restaurants) are not playing with the big boys.”

The first step to that goal was to introduce a new menu this month. Nosh was closed for 10 days the first of January, during which Lyons returned to New York City to get menu inspiration.

True to the prediction of Davis, the new menu does have a nod to Asian dishes like crispy Korean wings and kimchi potatoes. and French influences are noted with a charcuterie selection (charcuterie deals primarily with preserved and cured meats). The menu has a sophisticated feel that is more tightly focused with eight appetizers, three soups, four salads, 12 small plates and three charcuterie options. There are some good-sounding vegetarian options that at first seem weird, but when sampled prove to be delicious, like roasted cauliflower with roasted garlic miso, caramelized onions, basil and cashews.

Time will tell, but it looks like the young chef is on a roll and may just be the talent needed to shower national attention on Colorado Springs.

Here are some questions for Shane Lyons, executive chef at Nosh.
Question: What’s your favorite dish to make at home?
Answer: I love roast chicken! I make two meals out of the leftovers and then use the bones for soup stock.
Q: What three ingredients could you not cook without?
A: In the restaurant: lemon zest, kochugaru (Korean red pepper), Maldon salt.
Q: When it comes to eating, what’s your guilty pleasure?
A: Reduced-fat Cheez-it with Frank’s hot sauce
Q: What’s your favorite restaurant?
A: The best meal I have ever had was at Le Bernardin in New York. Locally, my favorite place to eat is Poor Richard’s. They offer simple, straightforward food prepared thoughtfully and consistently.
Q: What cooking tips could you offer to readers to make their time in the kitchen easier?
A: Invest in one all-purpose chef knife and get it sharpened. A dull knife is a dangerous, useless thing to have in the kitchen.
Clean as you go. Work as clean and organized as possible. Clean chef, clean kitchen, clean mind, clean food.
Q: What’s the biggest mistake you ever made while cooking?
A: I chopped the tip of my finger off one time when I was first starting off as a cook at Sencha. I was trying to be a badass with the knife and ended paying for it.

SQUASH-APPLE CREAM SOUP
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Yield: 2 1/2 quarts

2 onions, peeled and chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
1 stick unsalted butter
2 butternut squash, peeled,
 seeded and chopped
1 quart heavy cream
1 quart chicken stock
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 bay leaf
1 sprig thyme
1/4 cup toasted slivered almonds
1 recipe Applesauce (see recipe below)

Procedure:
1. Sauté onion, carrot and celery in butter over medium heat until vegetables are soft and translucent.
2. Add squash, cream, stock, bay leaf and thyme. Simmer until all vegetables are tender. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Carefully puree in blender.
3. To serve, garnish with toasted, slivered almonds and a dollop of applesauce.

Source: Shane Lyons, executive chef at Nosh

APLESAUCE
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Yield: 2 cups

4 apples
Zest and juice of 2 lemons
1 cup sugar
1 cup water

Procedure:
1. Peel and dice apples. In saucepan, toss apples with lemon zest and juice. Add sugar and water and mix well. Cover with parchment paper and cook on low heat until slightly golden brown and soft.
2. Remove apples from pan; puree in blender or food processor.

Source: Shane Lyons, executive chef at Nosh