8 minute read
Still cooking after all these
“I
His real name is Ernest Bowens, but absolutely no one calls him that. “Why’d you even want to put that in?” he questions when asked the spelling of his name. “Everyone, even customers, call me Mr. B.”
You may not recognize his name, or even his smiling face (although once you see it, you won’t forget it), but if you’ve lived in East Dallas for any meaningful amount of time, you have most likely eaten his food. Mr. B has been working the kitchen at Highland Park Cafeteria since 1956 and today, at 84 years old, he is still cooking as the head of the popular restaurant’s kitchen. He’s seen the business through multiple locations, owners and dozens of employees over the years, but he doesn’t have any plans to hang up his apron — retirement is not for Mr. B.
“Work is good for you, it is,” he insists.
“We ate whatever was put on the table. There was no, ‘I don’t like this, I’m not eating it’ in our house.”
It’s a mantra he’s clearly lived by his entire life. Mr. B was born in 1931, the third of 12 children just as the Depression sunk the country into economic despair. His father was a share-cropper in Pilot Point, Texas, and the children were expected to pitch in.
“My daddy, he took me to the fields to pick corn, but I didn’t have any gloves,” he remembers. “My hands got so cut up. I never forgot gloves again.”
Although he came from humble beginnings, Mr. B never really noticed because the family always had what they needed. They lived on the type of diet hipster foodies spend a fortune coveting today: organic, home-grown produce and humanely raised livestock.
“We ate whatever was put on the table,” he smiles. “There was no, ‘I don’t like this, I’m not eating it’ in our house.”
Mr. B says in his childhood days he was more of a nuisance in the kitchen than the skilled practitioner he is today. He remembers driving his mother crazy, whooping and running under foot one day when she was trying to make biscuits.
“She just took that biscuit dough and smashed it right into my face,” he says, his laugh warm like his memory of his Daddy’s sweet potato pie.
It was a family built on love and faith.
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Before every meal, all 12 children were required to recite a Bible verse, a practice he still believes in today.
“Everything I have is thanks to the Lord,” he says. He has an easy way of relating every topic back to his faith in that way that makes him come off like a street preacher.
Mr. B’s path to a professional kitchen was more practical than passion-driven. After graduating high school, he needed a job. World War II had just ended, and employment pickings were slim as the market flooded with vets returning from war. He got work cooking for students at Texas Women’s University in Denton, and found his niche.
“I got to liking it,” he says.
The Korean War briefly interrupted his career in the kitchen, when in 1951 he was drafted into the 45th artillery of the U.S. Army, where he spotted enemy planes for gunners to shoot down.
“I wasn’t the gunner, I couldn’t stand that, it was too loud,” he says.
After his service ended, it was 1956 and he was looking for work. A friend recommended him for a busser position at Highland Park Cafeteria, which Carolyn Goodman opened on Knox Street in 1925. Goodman herself hired Mr. B, and on his very first day, he knew he’d fit right in.
“We started each day with a five minute devotion,” Mr. B says, explaining how it helped him to begin the day in a grateful place. “That always helped us out, to think about how the Lord brought us all together.”
Like he had been taught from childhood, he worked his way up, from collecting dirty dishes to manning the drink station to carv- ing meat. Eventually he ended up in the kitchen, where his willingness to do the work, whatever it was, came in handy.
Highland Park Cafeteria loves to celebrate its history, and has walls adorned with old photos, including one of Mr. B’s early years on the kitchen staff. Creative Construction Remodeling Quality Remodeling & Restoration without showroom overhead for over 20 years.
“One night we ran out of meringue pies,” he remembers from his early days. The pastry chef had left for the night, but Mr. B had watched plenty of meringue pies being made, so he o ered to give it a try. Despite his lack of experience, he expertly whipped the egg whites into the sti peaks needed for flu y meringue, a task novice bakers often struggle with. Mr. B’s turned out perfect.
“That was my very first meringue pie,” he beams proudly.
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• teach it to others.
“Everything I learned here, I learned from Mr. B,” says Travis Brown, his voice thick with reverence for his longtime mentor. Brown manages the kitchen these days but he says Mr. B is still the heart of the kitchen, as well as the keeper of the restaurant’s “hold backs,” those little secret ingredients that good homecooked recipes demand. Mr. B calls them his “come backs.”
“It’s what keeps people coming back,” he smiles.
Current owner Je Snoyer once compared the workers whirling around the kitchen to fish in an aquarium. “They’re always moving and they never bump into each other,” he marvels.
It’s an apt description, and Mr. B is definitely the stately elder koi fish that flows along seamlessly through the back-of-thehouse chaos. He is unflappable, keeping an eye on multiple pots, pans and baking dishes while manning the stove, his hands quickly flitting from stirring to sautéing to slicing. He can prep and cook 14 of the restaurant’s vegetable side dishes in three hours.
“He really is an inspiration for others in the kitchen,” Snoyer says. “When a 20-something is complaining about being on their feet all day, it shuts them up when they look over at Mr. B.”
Mr. B just smiles and reiterates, “Work is good, it really is.”
Everything about Mr. B is reminiscent of a bygone era, and like a walking time capsule, he has seen the times change as the years flew by. When he began at the restaurant the New York Times dubbed “America’s Cafeteria,” the kitchen sta was entirely black, while most of the front-of-the-house was white. Over time that changed, although Mr. B can’t remember exactly when that was. While racial tensions boiled all across the south during desegregation, Mr. B says it was not an issue at Highland Park Cafeteria.
“We had no problems, we always loved each other,” Mr. B insists. It’s how the kitchen has always been, close-knit and hard working, he says. “The crew we have, they may not be the best but they stand up against the rest,” Mr. B gushes. “This is a family here.”
Highlander School
9120 Plano Rd. Dallas / 214.348.3220 / www.highlanderschool.com Founded in 1966, Highlander offers an enriched curriculum in a positive, Christian-based environment. By limiting class size, teachers are able to build a strong educational foundation to ensure confidence in academics, athletics, and the creative and performing arts. Highlander offers a “classic” education which cannot be equaled. Monthly tours offered; call for a reservation.
Kessler School
Pre K – 6th Grade / 1215 Turner Ave, Dallas TX 75208 / 214-942-2220 / www. thekesserschool.com The Kessler School offers an innovative academic environment that gives students a solid foundation, confidence, and a love of learning. Located just minutes from downtown Dallas; The Kessler School’s mission is to “educate the whole child,” and provides an individualized approach to teaching – meeting the student where their needs are. Students are educated socially through community time, physically through daily PE, academically through a wellrounded curriculum, and spiritually through a fostering of awareness and individual growth.
Lakehill Preparatory School
Leading to Success. 2720 Hillside Dr., Dallas 75214 / 214.826.2931 / lakehillprep.org
Kindergarten through Grade 12 - Lakehill Preparatory School takes the word preparatory in its name very seriously. Throughout a student’s academic career, Lakehill builds an educational program that achieves its goal of enabling graduates to attend the finest, most rigorous universities of choice. Lakehill combines a robust, college-preparatory curriculum with opportunities for personal growth, individual enrichment, and community involvement. From kindergarten through high school, every Lakehill student is encouraged to strive, challenged to succeed, and inspired to excel.
Solar Preparatory School For Girls
2617 N. Henderson Ave. / 972.925.3306/ dallasisd.org/solarprep An exciting new Choice School in Dallas ISD. Accepting student applications Jan. 6-29 for kindergarten, first and second grade in the 2016-2017 school year. The mission at Solar Prep is to prepare girls to become trailblazers in STEAM-related fields and equip them with a depth of knowledge, capacity for leadership, strength of character, and love of self. Solar Prep offers blended learning, project-based learning, tech literacy and coding, engineering, robotics, integrated art, and drama. Enrollment is open to all girls living within the Dallas ISD boundaries, there are no academic entry requirements, and transportation will be provided. Visit www.dallasisd.org/solarprep for more information and to submit an application.
Spanish House
Four East Dallas Locations / 214.826.4410 / DallasSpanishHouse.com Spanish Immersion Program in East Dallas! Nursery, Preschool, Elementary and Adult Programs available. Our new K-5 Dual-Language Elementary School will be opening in August 2016 at 7159 E. Grand Avenue. Please visit our website (DallasSpanishHouse.com) or call 214.826.4410 for a tour.
ST. JOHN’S EPISCOPAL SCHOOL
848 Harter Rd., Dallas 75218 / 214.328.9131 / stjohnsschool.org
Founded in 1953, St. John’s is an independent, co-educational day school for Pre-K through Grade 8. With a tradition for academic excellence, St. John’s programs include a challenging curriculum in a Christian environment along with instruction in the visual and performing arts, Spanish, German, French, and opportunities for athletics and community service.St. John’s goal for its students is to develop a love for learning, service to others, and leadership grounded in love, humility, and wisdom. Accredited by ISAS, SAES, and the Texas Education Agency.
White Rock North School
9727 White Rock Trail Dallas / 214.348.7410 / WhiteRockNorthSchool.com
6 Weeks through 6th Grade. Our accelerated curriculum provides opportunity for intellectual and physical development in a loving and nurturing environment. Character-building and civic responsibility are stressed. Facilities include indoor swimming pool, skating rink, updated playground, and state-of-the-art technology lab. Kids Club on the Corner provides meaningful after-school experiences. Summer Camp offers field trips, swimming, and a balance of indoor and outdoor activities designed around fun-filled themes. Accredited by SACS. Call for a tour of the campus.
Zion Lutheran School
6121 E. Lovers Ln. Dallas / 214.363.1630 / ziondallas. org Toddler care thru 8th Grade. Serving Dallas for over 58 years offering a quality education in a Christ-centered learning environment. Degreed educators minister to the academic, physical, emotional, social, and spiritual needs of students and their families. Before and after school programs, Extended Care, Parents Day Out, athletics, fine arts, integrated technology, Spanish, outdoor education, Accelerated Reader, advanced math placement, and student government. Accredited by National Lutheran School & Texas District Accreditation Commissions and TANS. Contact Principal Jeff Thorman.
