Like many other chefs, I am a geek when it comes to anything that might be used in the kitchen. I’m interested in everything from knives to spoons to clothing made specifically for chefs, especially chef jackets. I discovered Lost Car Chef Apparel about a year ago and was instantly struck by the stylish simplicity of their jackets. Jamie and I had the pleasure of sitting down with the founder and president of Lost Car Chef Apparel, Carlos Garcia and chopping it up about all things Carlos and Lost Car. Before starting Lost Car, Carlos was a working chef for almost 20 years. Working all over Southern Orange County, Carlos had what could be described as your typical chef career with lots of highs and lows (which you can see by watching our interview). Carlos was always an artsy person and would spend his free time sketching coats, always trying to figure out a way to improve this, chef necessity. He did this for almost ten years before deciding to take the leap and change his career path. The proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back was when his oldest daughter left for college. It was at that point that he realized there were a lot of significant moments in her life that he missed. He didn’t want the same thing to happen with his two youngest kids, so he decided to act on his drawings and start Lost Car Chef Apparel. When he started the company, his chef mentality kicked in. He thought, “How am I going to be able to get chefs, who are always busy, to take time out of their schedule to come see my jackets?” So, Lost Car went mobile. They got two trucks and converted them into mobile sales studios complete with embroidery. This way they could literally pull up to the loading docks of any restaurant, sell their jackets directly to the chefs, AND have them embroidered on-site within 20 minutes. Carlos even staffed Lost Car Chef Apparel with people he had worked with during his time as a chef because they had the same drive and hustle like him. They worked six days a week, setting a quota of how many chefs they needed to see each day. The work was different, but it was as if they were back on the line, prepping and cooking unique meals. In creating the design of these jackets, Carlos kept in mind what he didn’t like about current jackets and what he would like to see when shopping for a new chef coat. One of the things that I immediately noticed about a Lost Car jacket are the two pockets on the breast of the jacket. For those not in the industry, all chef coats traditionally have pockets for pens and other tools on the left sleeve. Though most chefs utilize them, they are not optimally placed. Not only is it kind of a pain to reach all the way across your body while busy working the line, items in the sleeve pocket tend to get caught on the plastic flaps while coming in and out of the walk-in cooler. So what a lot of chefs do is put their pens and Sharpies on to the flaps that close the jacket. Although this makes them easily accessible, it is not ideal either. They tend to flop around and fall off, or if you forget to close your pen, you get ink all over your undershirt. Well, Lost Car has solved this problem! As a working chef, the first time I saw the two chest pockets, I said, holy crap, that is genius! It has become their signature feature; you can tell a Lost Car chef jacket just by looking for the two pockets across the chest. Another problem that chefs and cooks have is wayward aprons. The collars on standard jackets are never high enough, and the apron strap always ends up inside your jacket, rubbing against your neck. Annoying as hell! To solve this problem Lost Car made the collars on their jackets a little higher and they also added a magnetic clip to the back of the jacket, allowing the apron strap to remain fixed in one place. Another ingenious solution to a super annoying problem. Beside possessing several great features that make the jackets more comfortable and increasing functionality, their jackets also look absolutely bad ass! And that is not all, there are also many more features that are unique to Lost Car jackets, but I’m not going to tell you all his secrets. You will have to watch our interview to hear the about the rest. Overall, if you are a working chef and are looking for one of the most stylish, yet functional, jackets on the market at a price that is still approachable, you have to check out Lost Car Chef Apparel. Every piece of equipment a chef wears in his daily routine serves a purpose. Chef coats were originally designed for function over form, created to protect the wearer from spills and other potential hazards that could happen in the kitchen. They were traditionally heavy cotton and therefore somewhat flame resistant material and were always baggy, providing a barrier between the wearer and spills, reducing the potential for serious burns. Over the course of time, they have evolved to become more fashion forward, especially with the rise of the TV chef. Chefs are now expected to spend more time off the line and in contact with their dining guests outside of the kitchen. Since Chefs are now consistently in the public eye, they needed to have a jacket that has the same functionality as in the past with added style. These changes in the industry have to lead to the creation of Chef wear companies and have also forced the more established companies to broaden their lines of clothing. Hence, the creation of Lost Car Chef apparel and their top of the line jackets, filling a need that most chefs probably didn’t even know that they had until. I know that I felt that way.
Listen to the Sit Down Interview with Lost Car Founder:
