Def Chef

By Jere Hough Meteorologist / Feature Reporter

Naman's Catering actively seeks hearing impaired employees. The person who showed them you don't have to hear to cook is Chef Tony Marcopulos, born deaf, but a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America in New York. He heads a crew consisting of hearing and hearing impaired workers. Def Chef

Published: Mon, November 26, 2007 - 7:41 am Last Updated: Mon, November 26, 2007 - 1:47 pm

Jere Hough

As one of the largest Catering Companies in the Southeast, Naman's is a busy, noisy place. Yet while all the employees are busy...only some are aware of the noise, the rest hear little or nothing . Naman's actually asked the State to help identify potential employees who are hearing impaired.
Chef Tom Houle explains, "We found out that some of them really needed a break. We have one on board that's doing a great job that's never had a job before...We work as one giant team. No one's more important than the other. Each one of us backs each other up. So, they just really fit in."
The man who showed Naman's that you don't have to hear to cook is Chef Tony Marcopulos. "I went to the Culinary Institute of America in New York," he says proudly," but his training began in high school.
Smiling, he recalls, "I was thinking about taking home ec. in high school. Everybody thought is was for girls, but I said, 'Naw,' I didn't care...And I was the top of the class. Everything I made was good. I really enjoyed it."
He now enjoys his work as head of the Cold Side Kitchen...where he surpervises a group that is both hearing and hearing-impaired.
He was born deaf...diagnosed at eighteen months with "severe to profound" hearing loss. He mother was determined to give him the ability to talk, and sent Tony to a special school where deaf children were taught to speak. In Naman's kitchens he uses both sign language and speech to communicate. It's serious work, but he has a sense of humor.
"I have a license plate that says, 'Deaf Chef,' spelled D-E-F C-H-E-F," he laughs.
Chef Tony gestures a lot when he speaks...for him, gesturing is a compete second language.
He demonstrates how he signs to his crew.
"Time to take a break."
"Get to work now."
And he taught me a little...I slowly struggle through, "On County Road 5 at Naman's Catering, I'm Jere Hough, News 5."