A surprise in Keansburg soup kitchen: a gourmet chef

KEANSBURG — The chef walked from the kitchen into the center of the dining area to announce the lunchtime menu.

“Today we have herb-crusted roast beef with a mushroom marsala reduction,” Warren Schueler said. “There’s also chunk mashed potatoes with sage butter, carrots and cabbage with butter and a Waldorf salad.”

The crowd of approximately 40 diners burst into applause.

This wasn’t the scene at a four-star restaurant. It was a regular Tuesday in the soup kitchen at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Keansburg. If you tasted Schueler’s concoctions, you wouldn’t know the difference.

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“It’s an amazing treat,” the Rev. Rosemarie Broderick, the deacon-in-charge of the church. “We’re serving food that would be $25, $30 a plate in a restaurant. His creativity is astonishing.”

Schueler, a 74-year-old Middletown resident, is a retired culinary instructor. He attended the French Culinary Institute in Manhattan (now the International Culinary Center) and has studied at Le Cordon Bleu cooking school in London and Johnson & Wales University’s College of Culinary Arts.

His association with St. Mark’s began right after superstorm Sandy in 2012. Hearing of the huge crowds overwhelming the charity, he started cooking on his gas stove — the only working appliance in his powerless home — and delivered the stuff to the soup kitchen.

Soon after he began running the kitchen each Tuesday with the aid of two trusted fellow volunteers — Gary Hamilton of Holmdel and Pam Carlsen of Middletown. So meticulous is Schueler that he brings his own set of knives, including a 75-year-old antique from Germany that is twice as sharp as anything at St. Mark’s.

“Warren makes it interesting,” Hamilton said. “You’re always learning something.”

Flexibility is the key. Schueler adjusts his menu week to week based on whatever ingredients have been donated. Right now there is an abundance of carrots and potatoes. “It’s kind of a mystery basket at times,” he said.

Nevertheless, in recent weeks he’s served coq au vin (stewed chicken), duck, and parmesan chicken (baked in a mayo-basil-garlic-oregano mixture with cheeses — not chicken parm). On Halloween he served Transylvanian goulash, which consists of sauerkraut, pork shoulder and paprika in a chicken broth.

“We come when he’s here so we can learn his recipes,” Keansburg resident Jenny Lewellen said. “Warren is so good. You should try his cowboy stew — it’s spicy and delicious.”

Schueler doesn’t just show up and cook. He’s invested in the soup kitchen’s mission. Last year, after a fundraising drive enabled St. Mark’s to buy a much-needed walk-in fridge/freezer, he hand-wrote thank-you notes to every donor.

“I wish people would realize how much hunger still exists,” he said. “We think people are doing alright now after Sandy, but if you talk to people here, some of them are still not in their homes. Monmouth County still doesn’t have a homeless shelter, which is a shame.”

Schueler has gotten to know the regulars and their stories.

“So many people have said to me, ‘When I was doing much better than I’m doing now, I remember having meals like this,’” he said. “And there are some people who have never eaten like this before.”

He’s taken a couple of them under his wing, teaching some culinary basics. One regular visitor credited Schueler with helping him get through substance-abuse detox.

“One of my goals here when we improve this kitchen (a renovation is planned) is to be able to have cooking classes for people,” Schueler said. “There are people here who don’t have a stove. They’re renting a room, so they have a microwave. It would be great if we had a class on how you can make things other than frozen meals in a microwave.”

After two hours of preparation, Tuesday’s fare was a huge hit. The mushroom marsala reduction on the roast beef, which really set the meal apart, was just right. Schueler seemed satisfied, but for different reasons.

“I get a lot more out of this than I put into it,” he said.

Having devoured lunch, the crowd started to depart. A senior citizen in a motorized wheelchair stopped next to Schueler on her way out the door.

“Those potatoes, they were just awesome,” she said.  

The soup kitchen at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Keansburg is in need of volunteers and donations. Those interested should contact the Rev. Rosemarie Broderick at 732-787-3520 or stmarksccr@gmail.com.

Jerry Carino is news columnist for the Asbury Park Press, focusing on the Jersey Shore’s interesting people, inspiring stories and pressing issues. Contact him at jcarino@gannettnj.com.