Lordy, Gordy!

GORDY HEBLER IS SERVING UP PLENTY OF ROCKIN’ STORIES AND TASTY BITES JUST FOR YOU 

By Dan McCarthy
Photos By Gregory Cherin  

THE BERKSHIRES is brimming with locally grown culinary and music talent of various stripes. But, hands down, there’s only one Gordy Hebler.

The Housatonic resident has just launched a catering operation called Your In House Chef. News of a new bespoke mobile culinary and private event management company is fine and good. But it’s Hebler’s winding and storied past of touring with and cooking for a Who’s Who of music and entertainment that is cause for pause. “I come to your house and cook, and I tell you stories from rock ’n’ roll,” says Hebler. Beat that.

Born and raised in the Berkshires, Hebler originally left for a life in Hollywood in 1976 as an idyllic dreamer, his sights set on something beyond the borders of Western Massachusetts. He landed jobs in the costuming department for ABC Movies of the Week; worked for the master behind Barbra Streisand and Neil Young’s live shows; and later ran stage, lighting, and design for power ballad rockers Ambrosia. Hebler then went back to Hollywood to work as the dresser for actor John Ritter for two of his films.

“Ritter told me, ‘Gordy, you’re not happy. You want to go back to the road and do lighting and stage work.’ And that’s what I did,” Hebler says. He was then called by Dinky Dawson, the sound engineer behind acts like Steely Dan, Fleetwood Mac, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Joni Mitchell, and others. They needed someone to be production manager and lighting designer for Hall & Oates.

As one can imagine, there was plenty of big fun and wild times for Hebler in his 20s, driving around the country in a van with the duo behind the hit “Private Eyes.” Once, Hebler was kissed on the cheek by John Belushi at a Beverly Hills Hotel where he was staying with the Hall & Oates crew. What followed was nothing short of mayhem: The band announced their room number on a radio spot, and thousands of people descended for an impromptu party at the hotel. Needless to say, the whole lot was kicked out.

In 1982, Hebler met his future first wife, Carla, who already ran a catering and culinary operation out of Lexington, Kentucky. Their union kicked off Hebler’s new life behind the lines, creating the meals and a sense of home-on-the-road for the rockers and entertainers who would pepper his life for years to come.

Hebler’s first catering company went national in 1984 while on the road with Prince. In the 20th anniversary issue of Rolling Stone in 1987, there’s a feature on the different chefs cooking for rock royalty, and Hebler and Carla are mentioned. Their Lexington-based rock star catering operation was getting acclaim from those who had experienced their abilities under the pressure of touring and performing. Most notable was Hebler’s handling of a delicate matter involving a tiny purple rockstar in need of over 100 steaks. One night while in Cincinnati, Prince’s people let Hebler know that their 20 feet of working kitchen space— essentially the opposite of what a good grilling setup is for a commercial kitchen—would need to supply the entire crew with fresh, perfectly grilled steaks for dinner. Hebler knocked out 167 in an hour and a half.

“What can I say?” Hebler told Rolling Stone. “They love our steaks.” The article went on to reveal Hebler’s crew were adept at meeting all needs of the artists—from Max Weinberg’s adherence to the Eat to Win diet of the day, to veggie-heavy dishes for the Talking Heads. He went on the road with Bruce Springsteen for the Born in the U.S.A. tour, and was adept at whipping up saxophonist Clarence Clemons tour meal of four Cornish game hens to take on the airplane between gigs. Hebler later spent 14 years touring with The Rockettes and has received rock star treatment at restaurants for being Yanni’s personal chef. He has worked menus for Cyndi Lauper and Genesis (Phil Collins era) and learned how to make the favorite simple curry dish by Steve Perry from Journey. He’s also been in a pickup jam session with Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead. And there’s a whole lot more that can’t be printed here, at the urging of Hebler himself. When you’ve gone on tour with the Rolling Stones, one can imagine all manner of things have been seen, experienced, and shared only in confidence. If you are seeking anecdotes while your amuse-bouche is being served by Hebler and his team of five to 20 (depending on the size of the event), you will not be in short supply.

Stories like these are part of the allure to Hebler’s new catering venture. “Everything we have done in food over the years has been customized to the performer or group we were cooking for,” he says. “This new venture will be no different for people in the Berkshires.”

It may seem a touch of a boast to simply proclaim your services are unique due to brushing up with the glitz of music and entertainment. But, as Miles Davis famously said, “It ain’t braggin’ if you can back it up.” At his home in Housatonic, Hebler regales any new guest with memories of yesteryear, ready to pour out of him at any moment like a Spanish sparkling wine poured directly into the mouth via a porrón. He is surrounded by talismans and photographs of a life lived with cultural lions of their day. Above his monitor and all through his house are lined with framed black-and-white images capturing life on the road with Hall & Oates, or Dolle lithographs beside concert posters. Those scenes from his days touring the country with the duo in their 1980s rise to global megastardom is accented by a full drum kit set up in a corner of the room, which Hebler still plays. A signed photo of Dolly Parton framed above the seat triggers a fully formed story to rise to the surface upon inquiry.

“At that point in my career, I had never asked for an autograph or photograph while working,” Hebler says. “I was cooking for Dolly’s show at Radio City Music Hall at the time, and she walks past and yells up to me in that signature voice, ‘Are you the one everybody’s talking about with the food that’s so great?’ She asked if there was anything she could do for me. That was the only time I’ve asked for a photograph from one of the stars.”

Hebler’s cooking journey may have started in Kentucky and traversed the country while touring with rock’s elite, but locals may recall his efforts a couple decades back for bringing his flavors and sense of fun to the old Frazier’s on Wendell Avenue in Pittsfield. Hebler owned both Fraziers and the adjacent tavern, Red, doing all the cooking as owner-operator. Hebler continues to work rock gigs and lately has been making tastebuds happy in the Berkshires through a stint over the last year or so at the Wahconah Country Club in Dalton, where he has brought his signature culinary talents and a few favorite recipes from his career. To this day, the famous Coco Salad that became a mandated nightly menu item for Neil Diamond while on tour is on the menu at the country club.

But, as always, change and artful improvisation in music, cooking, and life are in Hebler’s blood. His new business will yield stories reserved for in-person regaling, and that veneer of fun and functionality under pressure is part of who he is. It’s also afforded Hebler an opportunity to cook for the Holy Father.

“Egg salad with no crust for the Pope,” Hebler says of the sandwich he made for the most popular pontiff of the 20th century, Pope John Paul II. He was cooking for the pope’s visit to Giants Stadium in New Jersey in 1995. As Hebler and his team were clearing plates at the event, the pope walked past Hebler, nodded while holding the rosary, and blessed him.

Hebler, a spiritual man, reeled in disbelief. Afterwards, staff at the stadium and his own crew wanted to touch Hebler as if having just been anointed.

If Hebler has been able to impress Pope John Paul II with his finger food, there’s a good chance your backyard soiree will be in good hands.