If you've ever visited the headquarters of SpaceX outside Los Angeles, you may have seen Ted Cizma. He's the executive chef there, making sure thousands of rocket scientists have enough fuel to launch humankind into space. You also may have seen him riding his bike around nearby Redondo Beach, training for Chefs Cycle for No Kid Hungry, a three-day, 300 mile endurance event helping to end childhood hunger. Since joining last year's ride, Ted has become a champion for Chefs Cycle and No Kid Hungry. He was a member of the team representing No Kid Hungry at the Blackberry Farm Pro-Am Classic (they won the title! plus $30,000), and also rode 100 miles at Chefs Cycle Dallas later that year.
This May, once again, Ted will join over 200 chefs on a ride to make sure hungry kids get the food they need.
How long have you been cooking? My father and grandfather were butchers. My grandfather owned a couple of neighborhood grocery stores. They cooked all of the food that was sold in the store (a very early version of a prepared foods section). They were the two coolest guys I knew, they were my primary role models – I don’t think I ever considered doing anything else. I got my first paycheck as a prep cook (following stints as dishwasher and busboy) in 1977.
How did you end up at SpaceX? I got a call out of the blue one day from a recruiter at SpaceX. To this day, I am not sure how this transpired. Over the course of 6 months, I visited SpaceX HQ several times to meet with Elon and in November of 2011 he asked me to become SpaceX’s first chef and to create, build and eventually operate a restaurant in the Rocket Factory for his employees and guests. Today, I have close to 200 staff serving more than 100,000 meals at all of our locations nationwide.
How did you become involved with No Kid Hungry? While meeting with a supplier, Local Roots, I commented on a bicycle set up on a trainer in their conference room. The founders of the company, Dan Kuenzi and Eric Ellestad told me they were training for a three-day, 300-mile ride and suggested I join them. My initial thoughts were: “three days off work riding a bicycle? For charity, so I don’t have to feel guilty? I’m in!” I emailed you the next day and started fundraising. The 2016 ride remains among the most fun and coolest things I’ve ever done.
We love to hear that! What was a favorite moment? The evening of day two on the ride, when we were all together in the parking lot of the hotel as the donations topped $1 million ... that was pretty awesome. Also, crossing the finish line as a group in the Team Time Trial at the Blackberry Farm Pro-Am Classic with my Chefs Cycle teammates was a really special moment.
Why is this mission - ending childhood hunger - important to you? As a father of five children, I am strongly affected by the thought that other kids might not have enough to eat. I feel it’s critically important to protect all kids, everywhere, and future health and development through proper nutrition.
What's been one of the most rewarding parts of that work for you? First, the tangible results of our efforts in ending childhood hunger – the millions of meals provided. Also, I can’t downplay the importance of the new friends I’ve made through Chefs Cycle and the camaraderie and the esprit d’ corps we’ve developed.
Chefs Cycle is just a few months away. Are you training? I have a full schedule with work and family so I fit it in where I can! I cross train every morning, Mon – Fri at 4:30 am (running, CrossFit) and try to ride at least two afternoons a week. I do long training rides on Saturdays and Sundays. As the days get longer and it’s light earlier in the morning, I’ll start adding some early morning weekday rides, too.
What’s your favorite post-ride meal? Post training, I love simple whole foods. Raw cashews, avocado, grapefruit, banana and sprouted raisin bread are among my favorites.
