JULY 2019 • LONGISLANDPRESS.COM 71
CHEF THOMAS ROUGEY
A PERFECT LANDING
BY ALAN KRAWITZ
Chef Thomas Rougey’s path to becoming
the executive chef at The Landing
in Ocean Beach was anything but
typical.
For starters, unlike many chefs who
begin their career at culinary school,
Rougey, now 32, learned working at
his father’s restaurant, Emerson’s in
Babylon, when he was just 18.
“I learned to cook on the job, while
cooking for my dad in his restaurant,”
he recalls. “That was my training…I
didn’t go to any fancy culinary
school.”
However, Rougey likely had a leg up
on other chefs anyway, coming from
a country known for its fine cuisine.
Born and raised in France, Rougey,
who came to the U.S. in 1998, says he
is a third-generation chef who progressed
from a pantry line cook to a
sous chef. He finally landed the role
of executive chef at several venues
including East Hampton Point Restaurant
and Hotel, Verace in Islip, and
True American Kitchen in Mineola.
Rougey, who originally planned to be
a computer programmer, says that he
doesn’t regret not going to culinary
school.
“My on-the-job training was definitely
better than going to a culinary school,
I mean, I moved up the ranks in the
kitchen quickly,” he recalls. He mainly
used skills he learned early on. “Cooking,
for me, was a natural thing. It
was in my blood, even though I didn’t
realize it until I was doing it daily.”
Calling cooking “too hard a job to not
love,” he says that, fortunately, once
you can navigate one kitchen, you can
figure out the rest.
“The various systems of cooking in the
kitchen change little from restaurant
to restaurant…only the atmosphere
and size of staff...large kitchens just
have more hands to control,” he says.
As executive chef of The Landing for
the past year and a half, Rougey has
helped to rework the venue’s menu a
bit, keeping the spot’s seafood staples
such as calamari and sushi but adding
a French flair.
Rougey says he’s generated good buzz
with specialties such as surf and turf,
a homemade turkey burger, and fromscratch
pastas that he learned to make
growing up in Nice, France, which is
only about 30 minutes from Italy.
Patrons of The Landing also seem
pleased with Rougey’s light-style
French cuisine.
Belinda Rubino wrote on Facebook
that the “surf and turf, the sushi,
beet salad, and a white Cheddar, applewood
smoked bacon burger were
all prepared to everyone's delight.
Executive Chef Thomas Rougey
satisfied my restrictive gluten-free
vegan dietary needs with great flare,
by serving a perfectly cooked crispy
skinned salmon entree, delicate
asparagus and miniature zucchini
sauteed in olive oil.”
Rougey, who enjoys the laid-back
atmosphere of Ocean Beach also says
that working in the U.S. compares
favorably with his native France.
“Work-wise, I like the U.S. better for
opportunities than France,” he explains.
“I like the way the U.S. handles
business. People seem to be hungrier
to work here.”
The Landing at Ocean Beach is located
at 620 Bay Walk in Ocean Beach.
It can be reached at 631-583-5800 or
thelandingob.com
MAIN DISH
Chef Thomas Rougey outside The Landing in Ocean Beach, the closest restaurant to the ferry terminal.
“Cooking, for me, was a natural thing. It was in
my blood,” says Chef Thomas Rougey.
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