Bistro Newsletter

When I returned from my annual camping trip up north last weekend (I’ll share stories & photos next week) I heard the sad news that the chef of Madam in the Daxton Hotel had died suddenly while at work. Chef Patrick Rodemeyer was only 42. Married with three young kids. An extreme tragedy to his family and of course his crew.


Even though I did not know Chef Patrick personally, the news brought me to a very sad place and filled my brain with memories of people who went too soon. When I was the Chef at Streetside Seafood in Birmingham, Johnny Noxakis was my Sous Chef, we worked side by side for 12 years. Johnny was Greek and extremely proud of his heritage. He cooked like every meal was for a large family reunion of his most favorite family members. He lived in Detroit and was a huge fan of the city’s history. Johnny lived in a massive unique home near 7 and the Southfield Freeway where he grew up. He stayed in his childhood home and restored it, proud of all the interesting nooks and crannies those old homes have. Johnny threw the best Christmas parties, with soooo much food. He loved music, considered himself a pretty decent drummer, smoked Kools, loved marijuana and slammed cans of Coca Cola on the regular that he would first bury in the ice bin at work. He was the best of friends to his old neighborhood hooligan buddies. Johnny could fix anything; he was an expert MacGyver. He talked really really loud. His laugh could be heard all the way in the dining room.

Johnny was incredibly talented in the kitchen. He loved food but more importantly he loved cooking for people. If he saw a favorite guest walk in, he would say “Are you hungry?... I have “so and so” in the house and I would love to cook “this and that for you”. Often, he would join them at the table and talk the entire meal with them (loudly). Johnny taught me lots about hospitality and cooking with LOVE and genuine friendship. Johnny also taught me how to make a killer Greek Vinaigrette.

After not feeling so hot for a few weeks, Johnny got his heart checked. Everything looked fine they said. I remember him being lethargic and anxious at work, he was never like that. The little restaurant was so busy, he just worked through the pain. I think my staff and I even gave him shit for being a baby and saying he didn’t feel good. Real chefs don’t call-in, we work sick and in pain all the time … or so we thought that was how it should be. And then one morning, Johnny didn’t show up to work. We immediately knew something was wrong, he never missed a day. We called his best friend to check the house, and they found him in bed, dead from a massive heart attack. Johnny Noxakis was 40.

That day was impossible for my crew. Those first few weeks were really hard, grown men crying on the line, having to tell our favorite guests he had died, having Johnny’s family visit us just to see his work place and to feel his energy, to sit in the office chair where he sat every day. We were all so sad. Johnny made a true impact on all of us. Over the next few months, things got easier, we could talk about Johnny, and the many pranks we pulled on him, without crying. I think about Johnny all the time, to this day he is one of my favorite chefs I have ever worked with. Now, the tears have mostly dried up, I usually only laugh when I think about him. He was ridiculously funny and it was a special crew he, Chef Dave and I built together. We were all so young, life seemed so effortless back then… like nothing could ever catch up with us. On the anniversary of Johnny’s passing, they just so happened to clean the ice bin that day at Streetside, on the very bottom of the bin was a lone can of Coca Cola.

Thank you to Chef Patrick Rodemeyer and my sincere condolences to his heartbroken family and crew. In his passing was a reminder for me to appreciate the cool guy working next to me, to cut him slack when needed, to cherish the laughs, to hug a little longer, to forgive more quickly, to stay in the moment, enjoy the ride and to count my blessings.​

The link below is a Go Fund Me to help Chef Patrick’s young family.

GO FUND ME PAGE