Why this award-winning chef at Valentine in Phoenix retired from the industry after 23 years

If you’ve watched the hit show "The Bear," you know that restaurant kitchens can be stressful places. The pressure is high, the hours are long, and perfection is key.

But Chef Donald Hawk was good at it. Really good at it.

Hawk has been nominated for multiple James Beard Awards, his work at Phoenix hotspot Valentine has been recognized by Esquire magazine and The New York Times, and he’s been named Phoenix’s Best Chef in more ways than one. In many ways, he was at the top of his game.

But then he left.

After 23 years in the industry, Hawk announced his retirement earlier this summer. He picked up his life, moved to Las Vegas with his partner and started a new career in wildlife biology.

Hawk joined The Show and talked about his decision, and why he did it for his relationship after seeing firsthand just how difficult it can be to keep one going in the restaurant industry.

Full conversation

DONALD HAWK: Relationships are hard in the industry. They always have, and they always will be, you know, because it's just there's so much time that's required. And, you know, that just comes with the territory.

LAUREN GILGER: Yeah. 

HAWK: And so when I decided to move, I was thinking if I took another job in the industry, it would have been the same thing all over again.

Because for me, it's all or nothing. And so I needed to think, oh, what am I going to do? And she suggested that. And then I went for it.

GILGER: So I'll ask you in a moment about how it's going. But let me ask you first about your decision to leave. Right, like you've done so well at Valentine. You've turned this into this very respected place. You've been a James Beard semifinalist multiple times here. I mean, you were really on a roll. Why leave now? 

HAWK: I think it was just time for me. I was just thinking, like, I really want to continue this relationship, you know, and, after 23 years of it, I was like, I think I need to make a choice for myself. And that was a really tough, really tough decision. And I know a lot of people, pretty much no one saw that coming. Everyone was a little shocked for sure. You know, I made the choice for myself.

GILGER: Yeah. Do you miss it already? It's only been a little bit of time here, but what do you miss? 

HAWK: You know, I miss the people for sure. Do I miss standing in hot kitchens for so many hours a day? You know, with, like, the amount of stress that comes with every day. I'm not missing that entirely right now. It's, it's a little bit of a little bit of a break. And I really, you know, I really loved that industry, but I think it was just, I think it was time I, I needed a break.

GILGER: Yeah. I mean, it sounds like this is something that happens in the restaurant world at some point for a lot of people who have been as successful as you. I mean, restaurants are stressful. They're physically demanding. It's a high risk, high reward industry is how I would describe it. I mean, talk a little bit about your experience in it. And I guess being able to make the leap to to pull yourself out of that.

HAWK: Getting to cook food, getting to create things, getting to make people happy was, it's a really incredible thing, you know, inviting people. I was into our version of our home and taking care of them was very, it's very, it's very fulfilling.

So many of my friends don't have careers that are fulfilling to them, and they always are like wanting more. And for me it was like I really loved every moment of the industry. I'd probably do it again. And I'd be, yeah, I'd change things. But I would go back again.

GILGER: So it must have been something really great to pull you away from something you love that much.

HAWK: Yeah. A lot of people who have been in this for 20 years can understand this. COVID kind of shook things up for people. I had a lot of friends, you know, and they actually got to spend time at home with their partner. And so often that there was like way more time than they've ever spent. And so many people told me that their partner was like, you know what? This is really nice that you're getting to spend time at home, right?

Because it's just, it just didn't happen very much. You'd get like a Monday off. Or I could give you, like six hours here, you know, six hours here. And I told my partner like, you know, I can find a job anywhere that I'm not worried about, but I can't find someone like you.

And so I think it was after going through relationships, I went through, not to talk about too much, I went through a divorce in this industry. You know, it's really tough. It kind of changed the way I'm like, you know, maybe I need to take time and put a little more into that side.

GILGER: And the lucky, unlucky lady, you're with them now?  

HAWK: Yeah. Very fortunate.

GILGER: So, Valentine, as I, as I kind of alluded to, has become a really important place in the Phoenix dining scene. Probably because of what you're talking about and because of the, you know, national attention that you've received there. You've worked with a lot of the best chefs in the Valley over the course of your career I know from Bernie Kantak to Chris Bianco.

I wonder, like looking at the Phoenix restaurant scene over a couple of decades, how far do you think it's come? How far do you think it still has to go? 

HAWK: It's coming up a lot. I remember going to, you know, Bianco when I was younger and seeing what he was doing. And then the scene kind of sat idle.

And I remember going one of the first weeks FnB restaurant was open, sitting at the counter and watching Charleen cook, seeing what she did and then seeing Rene win a Beard Award last year, which was really incredible. And seeing our friends from Lom Wong, "Sunny" win it, is just showing you that Arizona is really, really starting to come up. We're not as big of a slouch as we used to be.

I guess people have said restaurants, but there's always been people here trying to do things. It's now that there's actually more of a spotlight on Phoenix. It's a pretty, pretty incredible thing. I mean, we've had two years in a row, we've had a Beard Award in this in the state we've had the past four years, someone's got Best New Restaurant from Esquire or Bon Appétit. You know LT got Food and Wine's Best New Chef. That's huge for the region.

GILGER: Yeah.

HAWK: You know, our friends Isaac and Courtney at Kid Sister, really pushing a restaurant that hasn't really ever been seen in Arizona. I mean, that's really incredible. And just to see that happening in the state after so many years of us just ... just thinking we're just a cactus town, steak house town.

GILGER: Yeah. Like I mentioned, you have been I think it's twice a semifinalist for a James Beard Award. But you didn't win the top award, at least. 

HAWK: That's OK.

GILGER: Well, is it? I mean, do you regret that? Was it hard to step away from your career knowing that you might have gotten to that level at some point here?

HAWK: I wasn't really ever thinking I would have won that. Not to say it couldn't have happened, but for me, it was just like, it's nice to be invited to the party.

Yeah, it's very nice to have your name on that list, especially with people you really look up to. You know, that's a really, really special feeling. You can't really beat that. But it's also, it's not like I was cooking to win awards. I was just cooking food to be happy.

If you cook food just to win awards, I don't think your cuisine is going to be as good as you think it's going to be.

GILGER: Yeah. OK, so you're leaving Valentine I know in good hands to your sous chef. But tell me a little bit about what's next for you. You're in this new industry in Vegas. You're trying to feel that out. Is it a bit of a culture shock? 

HAWK: Yeah, it's 100% a bit of a culture shock. My days are a little bit different than what they used to be. I still wake up early. I still get ready for work. I still put in my time every day. And then I go home and relax. But It's going to take a second to kind of get used to that. So I can just kind of sit still, relax, don't think I have to do everything all at once. It's a big thing.

GILGER: Are you cooking for yourself at home?

HAWK: No, I know, for the first time in my life, I have to meal prep.

GILGER: Right? 

HAWK: Which seems so exhausting. I just never have cooked at home. I never had time. And if I cooked at home, it wasn't like what people thought chefs eat at home or anything like that.

GILGER: It never is. So you think you'll ever go back to restaurants or is this it for you?

HAWK: I mean, never say never, but for right now, I just want to see how far this career takes me.

GILGER: OK, well, if you do come back. Come back to Phoenix.