Erin O’Neill, former culinary director for Warped Wing Brewing Company, has taken on a new challenge, as the Executive Chef for On Par Entertainment. This 33,000 square foot amusement center across from The Greene seats over 500 people, so Chef O’Neill needed to create a menu that could be executed quickly to feed the masses.
The venue includes
- 5 Private Karaoke Rooms (hourly rentals)
- 12 Duckpin Bowling Lanes
- Darts
- 3- 9 Hole High-Tech Mini-Golf Courses
- The World’s Largest Foosball Table (up to 16 players!)
- Other Games
- An Outdoor Patio
- 102 Self-Pour Taps
On Par will be a family-friendly establishment early in the day, but will be strictly 21 and older after 7:30 p.m.
Chef O’Neill has pulled together a menu that includes some over the top appetizers that are great for sharing:
He’s also featuring a variety of creative burgers like his Spicy Elvis Burger which includes habanero bacon jam, fried Plantains, and peanut butter to honor the music legend’s favorite meal!
After several days of soft opening, On Par opens today to the public, Chef took time to answer our 10? interview:
What is your favorite ingredient to cook with? I know it sounds like a cop out but I really like to cook with everything. I am always trying to find new ways to do things or different ways to enjoy an old classic. I do find I like to work with proteins and if I had to give just one it would be pork. Because of its versatility.
What ingredient do you dread?
Not because of the way it tastes but I hate dealing with mayonnaise.
What’s your favorite dish to make?
This is a very hard but gun to my head I would say a big pot of Gumbo. Cooking is the way I express how I feel a lot of the time and I am very big on Sunday meals with friends and family around as much as possible. So any dish or combo of dishes that make the family happy makes me happy.
What’s your favorite pig out food?
Chicken wings and fried appetizers. Give me a plate of good wings and a bunch of battered food to dip in sauce and I’m a happy man.
What restaurant, other than your own, do you like to dine at in the Miami Valley?
I don’t get to go out as much as I like but when I do I like to go to Sea Jax. I also love Hector’s Taco Spot and Taqueria El Paisa. Any time I can get one of Blind Dogs hotdogs is a good day as well. Massaman Thai Food is very good. Dayton has a lot of independent places that are hidden gems. I’m always looking for my next place to make a regular haunt.
What’s your best advice for home chefs?
Don’t be scared of cooking. Season with attitude. Learn technique, not just dishes. Have fun and take chances.
If you could invite any 4 guests to a dinner party who would they be and why?
My wife because she is the coolest person I know and would make sure it was a great party. Since you said any I am going living or dead. I would have Anthony Bourdain for sure. He was the voice of the back of the house for so many people. I find I go back and rewatch his shows many times. He was just a brilliant mind. Michael Jordan. The GOAT. To be able to talk to him and get in the mind of greatness would be awesome. Stephen King. I am a huge fan of his books and would love to talk to someone who has helped me pass so much of my time and created characters that feel like friends.
Who do you look up to in the industry and why?
Matt Pittman from meat church. Love his YouTube channel and the way he approaches BBQ and cooking in general. But really anyone who is out there working long hours, cooking from their heart, missing family and events to feed strangers a lot of the time, I look up to all of them. This is a crazy industry and the ones that are making and influencing it are the ones that I look up to.
What do you do in the Miami Valley on a day off?
I love watching sports and cooking food for my friends and family. I like to Disc golf whenever I can. I love a good nap.
Share a kitchen disaster, lucky break or other interesting story:
I was on the opening team that opened a TGI Fridays in Moscow, Russia. It was the first casual dining full service American chain restaurant in Russia. Very few of the cooks spoke English and none of the opening team spoke Russian. Plus the tickets printed in english. So it created many interesting training opportunities from trying to draw the plates and correct sauces to acting like a chicken to get someone to know what I was talking about. It was a trying but rewarding experience that had a profound impact on the way I learned to communicate and find common ground with people from completely different circumstances than I had ever experienced.
