Some children want to be doctors when they grow up. Others want to be firefighters or lawyers. At age 12, Mike Lodes knew he wanted to be a hotel manager. When he was just 15 years old, Lodes marched into the Doherty Hotel in Clare, Mich. and told the manager of his dream. He was offered a job as a busboy and dishwasher in the hotel’s kitchen as a starting point. After six months, one of the breakfast cooks called in sick and Lodes quickly volunteered to take his place. By age 16, Lodes was the Doherty’s lead breakfast cook and continued to work in the hotel’s kitchen until graduating high school. “I sort of took to cooking like a fish takes to water,” recalls Lodes, who now serves as the executive chef of Chicago’s prestigious East Bank Club. “From then on, I knew I was meant to be in the kitchen.”

At age 20, Lodes graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, where he learned all aspects of the culinary world. Upon graduation, Lodes returned to his native Michigan to work at the Kalamazoo Hilton Inn in Kalamazoo, Mich. During his three-year tenure there, Lodes spent most of his time in the hotel’s traditional French restaurant kitchen, although he did work with conventions and banquet events as well. Lodes also met one of his most influential mentors here, Paul Schrieck, the Hilton Inn’s executive chef.

“Chef Paul taught me how to organize a kitchen and take care of my employees,” says Lodes. “He also educated me about the importance of checklists, which I still use everyday.” It was also here where Lodes met Mike Romano, the hotel’s food and beverage director. Over the years, the two kept in touch, and eventually Romano helped bring Lodes on board to his current post at East Bank Club, but not before Lodes acquired several head chef positions along the way.

Upon leaving Kalamazoo, Mich., Lodes headed to west suburban Chicago where he worked at a restaurant in Barrington, Ill., and eventually the Sheraton in Arlington Heights, Ill. where at just 24 years old, Lodes became the hotel’s executive chef, which included running the restaurant, as well as the banquet and catering facilities. It was here where Lodes was able to first execute the organizational skills he learned from Schrieck. 

Along with Schrieck, Lodes learned some valuable traits from his father. “My father taught me about work ethic,” he recalls. “He always said to be there, be on time and do more than expected. By remembering and using these rules, I was able to progress quickly at a young age.”

Lodes left Illinois after a year to serve as executive chef of the Ramada Inn in Phoenix, Ariz. The duties were the same as the Sheraton, but on a much larger scale. While in Phoenix, Lodes briefly helped open a small restaurant, where he quickly bored of the seemingly minor duties, and knew he needed to return to the Ramada to run a much larger operation. After four years in Arizona, Lodes returned to the Midwest to continue working with Ramada in Lake Delavan, Wis. For three years, Lodes served as executive chef and operated the hotel’s two restaurants, snack shop, banquet and conference facilities, and corporate operations. 

In 1988, Lodes received a phone call from his longtime friend and colleague, Mike Romano, who was serving as the Food and Beverage Director of Chicago’s East Bank Club. Romano offered the Executive Chef position to Lodes, and the duo has been working together at the club ever since. 

As part of his duties at East Bank Club, Lodes is in charge of operating the restaurant, Maxwell’s at the Club, and the Food Shop, which are both open to the public. Lodes also runs the club’s Grill, Juice Bar and Sun Deck, which are open only for members, as well as all banquet and conference operations. 

Lodes’ food philosophy is clean and simple: Serve high quality food prepared with fresh, healthy ingredients and appropriate seasoning to deliver a pleasurable and wholesome meal.