May 27, 2018 8 min read

He may not look it, but Al Collins has been working in restaurant kitchens for the better part of 36 years, the last 10 as chef/owner of Al an’ Ruben’s Bar and Grill, 2390 Jefferson Ave., Washington. With no formal culinary training, Al serves up his version of Italian food with a touch of soul. I sat down with Al to talk about his storied career and all things food.

Where do you go when you eat out?

I’m not a picky person, I like Texas Roadhouse, Lone Star Steakhouse. I go to little places, like in Pittsburgh, I go to Tessaro’s – They make really good steaks and hamburgers. I love their food there. I really don’t get out that much, but when I do, I’m not really hard to please. You really have to mess my food up (for me) to get mad. I go to Markook. I love Markook. I even go to Primanti’s sometimes. I just don’t like their sandwiches. I’ll eat their pizza. (The sandwiches have) too much bread and coleslaw and French fries for me. I like meat.

What’s your favorite dish to make at home?

I like stupid things like meatloaf (laughing). I like home-cooked meals. I like to make spaghetti at home. The way I make it at home, I don’t make it that way at the restaurant. You know when you cook on a grill it has its own seasonings to it. At home, your pans have different seasonings. I just make it differently. Some things you can’t get away with here that you can at home. I put pepperonis in my pasta. I put a lot of meat in it, peppers and everything. It’s just different. You can’t do that here. Well, I guess you could. I cook at home differently.

Who or what inspired you to become a chef and why?

My Uncle Calvin (Blair) … He is my biggest mentor, and my grandmother, who I learned how to cook from, being at home, cooking Thanksgiving and Christmas meals. He died two years ago. And the reason why I was so in touch with him: He worked at a place called Lombardozzi’s in Bloomfield. When I was a kid, Chiller Theater used to be on. It’d be 1, 2 o’clock in the morning, and a commercial would come on, and there would be a big, long table with all this food on it. And half of the food was named after him: Veal al a Calvin, Steak Blairio, this, that and the other, and I thought, you know, you see somebody’s commercial and you think they’re famous and rich. He had a nice house and everything, and I said I want to be that guy. And my other uncles were chefs, too, but he was the popular one.

What is your go-to ingredient?

I love garlic more than anything in the world, (laughing). Garlic and anything. You gotta have garlic. Life just wouldn’t be the same without it.

What dish best represents you?

The Veal Collini – That’s the first award I won with a dish. I came up with that dish on the fly because I didn’t know what to do for the Star Chef event. I came up with that, but I didn’t have a name for, and one of the owners at Big Jim’s (Roadhouse) said, Veal Collini! He took my last name and called it Collini, and we won. It’s on the menu, and, oh, believe me, I couldn’t take it off if I tried. I even have to do it with chicken now. We sell so much veal here.

What dish have you never made but would like to and why?

I haven’t made duck confit. It looks good, yeah, I think I might do that soon, maybe for the holidays or something. I don’t know. It looks so good on TV. It doesn’t look really hard – a duck cooked in a bunch of fat (pauses). That could be really unhealthy. I don’t know if I will make that. That might kill me! (He laughs.) It looks very interesting, put it that way. I’ve made duck, just not that dish. …

What was the first dish a customer ever sent back and how did you respond?

I had an owner send me a dish back (when I was younger). I was trying to be slick, and I cooked her a steak, but she wanted it medium, and it was toward the end of the night, so I threw it in the microwave. I was young (laughing), to kind of finish it up because it was dense, but I didn’t realize that steak cooked from the inside out, but it looked great when I sent it out. I also didn’t realize a steak keeps cooking, so it was kind of well-done when she got it (laughing). She was really mad. I can say one dish here came back, and it was a dish I created, and it was called Penne Leesa. I sent it out, and the woman was like, “this ain’t right.” I created the dish! What are you saying? How you gonna tell me the dish isn’t right? She must’ve brushed her teeth with the wrong toothpaste that day or something ’cause how you gonna tell me my dish ain’t right when I created it myself? It was my creation. I should know more than anybody how to make it. But she told me this dish ain’t right. I did the same damn thing to it, and she said it was great. Some people are just something else (laughing)!

What is your guilty food pleasure?

I loooove beef. I love meat. Meat, meat, meat. You could take everything away – I really wouldn’t care. But I cannot eat a meal – it’s something in my mind – like, say it’s a pasta dish with no meat in it, just pasta with vegetables. I could eat and be very full, but my mind would say, “You’re not full because you didn’t eat meat,” so I have to find meat somewhere. But I love beef more than anything. I could eat steak every day or prime rib. I really love prime rib. I love all meat, but beef is my favorite, prime rib and steaks. Yeah, and it’s bad for you. I eat too much of that. And I love barbecue. I just love meat. I’m trying to cut back. I’ve lost 35 to 40 pounds, but it’s hard. I make a special with steak and then I see them keep going out, and then at the end of the night I just got to have one. Even though I tell myself, “You’re not gonna have that steak.” Just seeing it over and over. I post a picture on Facebook and then I gotta have it. I’m addicted to meat. You can keep all the sweets. Oh, and I love ice cream, too. I will eat ice cream. I love ice cream.

Ingredients 

• 32-ounce can tomato sauce or crushed tomatoes
• 32-ounce can whole, peeled tomatoes, crushed
• 1 cup water
• 3 cups heavy cream
• 1 ounce olive oil
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon fresh garlic, minced
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 teaspoon dry basil
• 1 teaspoon dry oregano
• 2 1/2 tablespoons chicken base or 2 to 3 chicken bouillon cubes
• 1/2 stick butter
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 cups cooked pastina noodles

In a large sauce pan or large pot: Add olive oil, butter and onions. Cook until translucent. Add garlic, bay leaf, basil, oregano, pepper and sugar. Cook for 2 minutes, then add tomato sauce, crushed tomatoes, water and cream.Cook over medium heat for 30 to 40 minutes. Add noodles and cook 10 to 15 minutes longer. Serve.