Cooking with Heart

Rice Krispies Treats Are Just the Beginning for Chef Mark Gonzales

Chef Mark Gonzales and his Rice Krispie Treats | Photo: Ingrid Bostrom

It was a busy day at the Riviera Ridge School. I’d just taught my two morning blocks of 6th- and 7th-grade English, rushed to recess duty, and barely remembered to finish my coffee, let alone find a snack. I stumbled into the teachers’ lounge, hoping to possibly grab a leftover doughnut from a kid’s birthday, but instead, I feasted my eyes on a platter of Rice Krispies Treats. Eyeing the mysterious black specks dotting the perfectly cut, large squares of goodness, I thought to myself, “Is that vanilla bean? Coffee grounds? Pepper?” I knew these would not be your average back-of-the-box marshmallow and cereal recipe. With one bite of the tender and gooey block of heaven, laced with traces of vanilla and brown butter, hitting all those nostalgic cravings yet offering a sophisticated caramelization, my colleague and I locked eyes. Where did these come from? Word spread like wildfire through our halls. These were from Chef Mark Gonzales, who wanted to express his gratitude for teaching his daughter Sofia and excitement for daughter Ava to join us in the fall.

For the rest of the year, the teachers’ lounge surprises only amplified. Charcuterie platters overflowing with a cornucopia of gourmet cheeses, paired with Marcona almonds, olives, and homemade hummus. Our copy room soon turned into a VIP lounge. I’ll never forget coming back from chaperoning our week-long trip in Northern California with Ava’s 7th-grade class. When I got back, Gonzales had made all of the teacher chaperones three-course meals, with wine and enough servings for the whole family so we wouldn’t have to worry about cooking and could recover from the trip.

Rice Krispie Treats are a specialty of Chef Mark Gonzales | Photo: Ingrid Bostrom

As teachers, we’re used to people throwing leftovers of all kinds on that copy room table, and we’ll likely eat it. However, this was different. Instead of stale doughnuts or cold pizza, we had fresh farro salads drizzled with goat cheese, heirloom tomatoes, arugula, and pistachios; parmesan chicken cutlets; and chocolate pavlova crowned with homemade whipped cream, raspberries, and shaved chocolate. We felt like kings and queens, our bellies sated, the question of “What’s for lunch?” conveniently taken care of; but most clearly, we felt taken care of. These offerings were nourishing and aesthetically pleasing, and they reflected a thoughtfulness that only the husband of a teacher could provide.

“I just love teachers, and I know their struggles,” Gonzales said. “Food is the way that I love to talk to people and make them happy.” Gonzales’s wife, Becki, is a teacher at Cold Spring Elementary School, and this was not his first rodeo delivering goodies to hungry teachers. As the executive chef at Folded Hills and private chef to the Busch family, Gonzales uses his talents to feed not only the fine wine crowd. In addition to the lucky staff at Riviera Ridge, he fills his downtime by cooking up and dropping off meals for the staff at San Marcos High School, where his daughter went for a bit, and to Cold Spring, where he started the “Dad’s Pancake Breakfast” when Ava was young.

“Teachers, I believe, are the most appreciative clients that I have,” Gonzales said. He has a real knack for making them feel valued and seen.

“I look back on my life, and one regret that I have is that I didn’t go to college, so I’m going to do anything in my power to get my daughters there,” Gonzales said. He cites a recent luncheon he catered at Carpinteria High School (where Sofia recently graduated and was accepted to Westmont) using fresh local produce and the thoughtful attention he puts into everything he makes, as a highlight of his career.

As he watched the teachers bite into each delicious morsel of food, eyes wide in wonderment, and knowing his daughter would continue her education, he thought to himself, “This is the culmination of everything I want in my life.”

Never charging a cent for these generous offerings, Gonzales shared that he lives by the adage, “Whatever you give, you get back.”

The care he gives so readily to everyone else is now coming back to him in the form of clients looking to sell his magical Rice Krispies Treats to the masses. As word spreads, he’s certain to get even more loyal followers and business partners. What started as a signature item to offer at the Folded Hills Homestead, where Gonzales also curates wine dinners and events, has spread to acquire a cult following for those in the know.

“I’ve done them for weddings, birthday parties,” Gonzales said. “It’s a labor of love.”

In addition to the actual burnt milk solids that give them their caramelized taste and signature black flecks of goodness, love might be the most prevalent ingredient of all.

“I think with cooking it’s the final adjustments, the final coloration — you can’t teach that. The recipe is basically four items, and one is salt,” Gonzales said. “It’s more about the timing.”

Chef Mark Gonzales and his Rice Krispie Treats | Photo: Ingrid Bostrom

Born and raised in Carpinteria, Gonzales got his culinary education at Santa Barbara City College and interned under Mario Batali at the Four Seasons. From there, he washed dishes at the Santa Barbara Yacht Club, working his way up to Head Chef. When a friend suggested that he interview for a private chef gig, he was brought to the Busch family. In 2004, they bought Folded Hills, and the rest is history. The Busch boys were 4, 6, and 8 when Gonzales entered their lives and he was just in the youngest one’s wedding a few weeks ago.

“I work for a great family,” Gonzales said. “I’m able to spread this joy, and they give me time to appreciate life.”

With all of his experience and accolades, Gonzales still cites his mother as his number-one influence in life.

“The way that she showed her love was inviting people into her home and cooking for them, and that’s where I got it from, from my mom,” Gonzales said. “I’m a nurturer by nature; I love to make people happy.”

Now, you don’t have to have a teaching credential or be in wine country to enjoy Gonzales’s big-hearted cooking. Buzz will likely spread as more people try his Rice Krispies Treats at both Third Window locations and Lucky Llama. He also recently began doing pop-ups at The Well home and garden store in Summerland.

The skies are the limit for this wildly talented and generous cook, who remains humble in his sights for the future.

“I just want to keep on making people happy and smile.”

Just like his heavenly squares of nostalgic yet elevated goodness, Gonzales proves it’s the simple things made with love that are the most powerful.