Chef Roger Papilla of Boscov’s Greenery is small of stature and far too kindly to wind up wielding knives on a TV reality show. But this fully focused, white-haired wonder-chef is solidly packed with a wide, interesting range of culinary talents — and a history to match.
Being a good chef demands equal degrees of creativity, passion and calm confidence, and Chef Roger’s got all three in large measure. He grew up in the Philippines, working in rice fields by the time he was 8 years old, and where — at age 16 — a job in food service led to a lifelong career.
“After the first day,” Roger recalls, “Chef said, ‘Come and see me.’ And he sent me to cooking school.” Thanks to a strong work ethic instilled at home (“My parents were strict,” he says, smiling), the demands of cooking and schooling suited him well. He worked 18 months in a hotel kitchen, and worked on a cruise ship for 11 years in the dining room — the front of the house. “I traveled to 51 countries,” he laughs. “All the good things were coming so soon. I thought, what am I going to do now?”
But the good things — the good work — just kept on coming. The chef shakes his head, thinking back to a time when he went to first grade, in bare feet. His career brought him to the United States, and he married a Pennsylvania Dutch wife, who had been a passenger on his cruise ship. Both of them visit his family in the Philippines whenever they can. In April of 2013, some 1,600 family members gathered there for a giant reunion.
“Fortunately, my family does not live where the typhoon hit recently,” he says.
Remarkably hospitable and attentive to his regulars — including, of course, his favorite patrons, the Boscovs — Chef Roger stands ready at the Greenery stove with capable staff all around him, taking one day at a time, ever-eager to please every palate, in every season.
“Speaking of the season,” he entices, “in winter we make Peach Flambé, Cherries Jubilee and Bananas Foster. Please try them.”
BY MARIAN FRANCES WOLBERS | PHOTO BY HEIDI REUTER
