Chef Callan Flowers

The Late Bloomer

Callan has always loved cooking.  From the time he was a little kid some of his fondest memories were hanging out in the backyard with his dad stoking the flames of the bbq or standing on a stool stirring a pot of his dad’s DR Pepper bbq sauce.  With two working parents at home his family still managed to eat a home cooked meal together almost every night.  His parents both had very different cooking styles and he enjoyed all the flavors that they both had to offer.  When he became an adult his favorite thing to do was entertain his friends by cooking all day while they hung out and helped. After job hopping for a few years and settling down with his wife he decided he needed to find a craft.  Through the loving support of his wife and friends he realized the only thing that made sense was cooking.  

Older than the normal entry age for people in the culinary world he decided to get a leg up by attending culinary school.  Starting at age 26 he worked hard to set himself apart from the competition. After less that one semester of his three semester program he proved himself and not only took over as Culinary Club President he also hired on to the staff at the school. Assisting the instructor of the first semester class he gained a solid foundation to start his culinary journey.  He continued to excel and graduated at the top of his class.

After culinary school he worked at multiple restaurants before finding the one that would allow him to continue his quest for culinary knowledge. At Chez Melange, in Redondo’s Riviera Village, under Chef Robert Bell he was allowed to constantly come up with new ideas for menu items. Raising through the ranks he landed in the perfect spot for himself, on the grill.  As Chez Melange’s meat guy he learned the in’s and outs of many different meats.  After working there for nearly five years it was announced that after almost 40 years of service to the community they were closing at the end of February.  It was a bitter sweet moment for all of the wonderful kitchen staffers but they all knew they would go on to do big things.

During the last year working at Chez Melange Callan found another niche that just made sense.  He started teaching at the Southbay School of Cooking, under Chef Annette Gallardo.  He took every class as an opportunity to learn more and more about the subject matter being taught.  It was a dream job for him, getting paid to learn about and talk about different foods and cuisines.  He taught there for almost a year before the world went crazy and when it did this job was taken from him as well.

With the world on its side he and his wife thought long and hard about what they could do to make ends meet and then it came to them.  Making Ends Meat was established at the end of March 2020 and through his wife’s social media presence and established network he started to smoke and sell meats to people in the neighborhood.  He had no idea how well it would take off.  He continued to add to the menu and widen his network and after the birth of their first child they are currently working on making an even bigger name for themselves. Happy and proud of what has become of his brand he is ultimately thankful for all the kindness and support shown by his community.