Clyde's Grill & Pub chef fired up about local culinary scene

If there's a local contest for a chef, you can bet Clayton Lillie of Clyde's Grill & Pub either has, or will, eventually put both hands and spatulas into it.

"Those are usually good charitable causes, so there's already reason to support them," says Lillie, the chef at Clyde's. "They're also good for us (chefs) as we get to show what we can do while sharing things and seeing what others can do."

Lillie has seen much in the Sioux City culinary scene. Although just 30 years old, the Sioux City native has been at work in the kitchen since he was 15.

"I started at El Fredo's Pizza when I was in high school," he says. "After a break, I started working with my brother, Russell Williams, at One Eyed Jack's. Eventually, my brother told me that I should talk to Rick Beaulieu, executive chef at Sioux City's Bev's on the River, because that would be great on-the-job training for me."

It was. Lillie notes that Beaulieu taught him everything he could. He soaked it up and then came to Clyde's when not long after the grill opened. He began as a line cook, earning $10 per hour. He was soon promoted to sous chef and two years ago worked his way into the chef's position, now in charge of his own kitchen.

"I don't have a big head," Lillie says while tending to something simmering on his stove. "I've been at the right place at the right time. And, I guess I've worked hard."

At Clyde's Grill & Pub, part of the Rush Werks entertainment compound near Lewis and Clark Park on Sioux City's southern edge, Lillie has fashioned a menu known for big portions and big tastes.

"I'll also take a menu item and add my own flair," he says.

Case in point, a bread pudding he learned from Beaulieu, and introduced to diners at Clyde's.

"I've played with that bread pudding recipe and have made it something like 30 different ways," Lillie says.

When asked for an "off-the-wall" spin on bread pudding, Lillie thinks and answers, "A weird one might be the pineapple-upside-down version. It was bread pudding that tasted like pineapple-upside-down cake. It worked."

Another wrinkle that seems to be working is a wine tasting Lillie hosts once per month at Clyde's. The event brings wine tasters to Clyde's, while challenging Lillie to come up with entrees that pair well with wines on that night's menu.

Sauces represents another challenging, but fun, food category for Lillie and his staff.

"Sauces can be difficult, as you try to match an herb with what might be in the sauce," he says. "My biggest catastrophes involve sauces, which can be OK, because if a sauce bombs, you still have the main dish and you can come up with another sauce."

Lillie's earliest memories in the kitchen surround Christmas, when he joined his grandmother, Annette Hoefling, of Sioux City, as she made candy and peanut brittle, a treat that led to an accident.

"I had this hot caramel coming off the oven at something like 360 degrees," Lillie says. "I was pouring it and some of it got on my thumbnail and burned it. My grandma told me to keep scraping, because she didn't want the caramel to cool in her pan."

Lillie laughs and says he spent time chipping away the damaged part of his nail after the episode. That part of the nail was lost, but grandma's pan and the peanut brittle were saved.

"I learned early on that you have to get things quickly from oven to cutting board," he says.

Another family influence comes from his wife, Tavita Lillie, who might be the family's best cook.

"Like me, Tavita does everything homemade," Lillie says. "I've done her mole sauce with a braised pork loin and a sweet potato puree. The accents on her sauce make it fly."

Lillie says he loves eating his wife's food. The taste is one factor, the fact he doesn't have to prepare it is another.

"When I cook at home, sometimes it's chicken strips and fries," he says, smiling. "I love serving others here. I've always loved it. But, sometimes when I get home, I take it easy.'

Lillie, who manages a staff of five, appreciates the freedom he is allowed with menu items at Clyde's, items that start with 14-ounce ribeye and prime rib cuts he has seen as large as 30 ounces.

He also likes the Sioux City culinary scene with recent additions like the Hard Rock Cafe and the culinary program in place at Western Iowa Tech Community College.

"What has worked other places, I'll use sometimes," he says, tipping his chef's hat to the successful pizza place that gave him his start 15 years ago.

"If it works, you keep doing it," Lillie says, setting up a remark about a pizza line that has pleased eaters for decades in and around Sioux City.

"Look at El Fredo's," he says. "They're not going anywhere."