Presiding over the new, high-tech H?rthRestaurant in Tysons Corner, executive chef Thomas Elder has a quiet charm. Without drama, Elder conveys the fact that he knows his kitchen and his cuisine, and his meals demonstrate that. A native Midwesterner, Elder learned to respect his craft early in life. “My grandfather was a butcher during the Depression,” he said. “And my mom worked for him, plucking chickens. My inspiration for cooking came from his butcher block.” That occurred because when his grandfather closed his store, his mother inherited the 100-year-old butcher block, and as a young boy, Elder helped her clean it.
“I have all these food memories,” he says. “I love food,” adding that since he was 16 he worked his way up from potato scrubber to broiler cook and along the way has enjoyed every minute of the food world. “I fell in love with it, and I don’t know how to describe it,” he added.
