1 of 3
Chef Clay Hostetler (Photo by Justin Chesney)
2 of 3
Sea bass with potato, mushrooms, cauliflower, pancetta and celery root puree (Photo by Justin Chesney)
3 of 3
Curry roasted carrots with whipped feta, pistachios and citrus (Photo by Justin Chesney)
According to the League of Extraordinary Chefs, a culinary agency that matches cooks with resort and restaurant employers, the average tenure for a head chef is about three years. Punishingly heated shifts, 50- to 70-hour workweeks, dynamic culinary trends and trickle-down stress beget a high turnover.
At Helen’s, Clay Hostetler has stayed for 20.
In an industry known for brief, combustible affairs, his tenure looks less like a fling and more like a marriage. The youthfully sculpted, generously tattooed 42-year-old has cooked at the Fan bistro for two decades. Before joining Helen’s, Hostetler worked at Amberjack Landing in Ashland, starting as a dishwasher at age 14. Over four years, he learned every station in the kitchen before the restaurant shuttered.
Hostetler, who grew up in Hanover County, credits his family’s cooking, especially his mother’s, for sparking his passion for the line. A voracious reader, he supplemented hands-on training with restless culinary curiosity.
“I was hired as Helen’s full-time pantry cook when I was 22,” Hostetler says. “Nora Hickey was the chef. I already had some cooking knowledge and experience, so I wasn’t completely green.”
The pantry station — responsible for appetizers, salads and desserts — marks the beginning and the end of a meal. It proved an apt starting point in Helen’s brigade. Five years later, Hostetler was promoted to sous chef.
Around that time, Hickey departed and chef John Bullen stepped into the head role. “I was already digging deeper into my relationship with food,” Hostetler says. “John really understood that about me. I’d be lying if I said work wasn’t difficult sometimes, but I learned key things through him, like how to be a sous chef.”
A career spent in the same kitchen is its own kind of partnership. Hostetler credits his longevity not just to stamina, but to trust — particularly from Helen’s owners, John and Leslie Tuite, and their daughter Claire, the restaurant’s front-of-house manager.
“I’ve made some great friends through Helen’s kitchen,” Hostetler says. “My current sous chef, Dylan Slusarz, is patient, composed and loyal. Claire Tuite has worked alongside me for 20 years. We’ve been close friends for most of them. Much of my growth into adulthood happened while working at Helen’s.”
He and Tuite moved through their 30s and 40s together and tend the galley bar and kitchen of the swing-era haunt like co-stewards of a long-running household.
“Clay is extremely caring about his co-workers,” Tuite says. “He’s often my go-to when I need a pep talk. He’s been a joy to watch grow into a thoughtful human being, to become a thoughtful chef. He puts love into his food and gets excited over new dishes, especially provincial and comforting ones.”
That steadiness has given Helen’s staying power in Richmond, even as dining trends tilt toward the novel.
“Since the aughts, changing menu concepts has been like kids playing on a seesaw,” Hostetler says — up, down and in-between. The trick, he says, is balance. “We strive to meet everyone in the middle. To be a restaurant where you can have a drink, family brunch, share an intimate dinner or get a burger solo at the bar.”
Hostetler and Claire Tuite (Photo by Justin Chesney)
Running a restaurant means interminable hours spent creating harmonious experiences. It’s often compared to matrimony. Some nights, everything clicks. Others require patience and hard work.
“I’ve learned a lot over the years,” Hostetler says. “I went from being a line cook, was promoted to head chef around 2016, then studied how to fix and replace parts on a 1960s Vulcan 10-burner during COVID.”
A 20th wedding anniversary is often called the “china” anniversary — a milestone marked by dishes and shared meals. It’s a fitting emblem for Hostetler’s two decades at Helen’s: durable, a little delicate, and meant for both everyday use and special occasions.
Hostetler and Tuite 20 years ago (Photo courtesy Clay Hostetler)
The restaurant’s menu straddles that line, offering workaday comforts — fried Brussels sprouts and artichokes (an homage to the now-shuttered Avalon restaurant), mussels, curry-roasted carrots, and the wagyu bar burger — alongside celebratory plates including duck breast with mushroom risotto, bucatini carbonara, and shrimp and grits.
But Hostetler’s maker’s mark is brunch. Introduced in 2005, brunch is what both he and Tuite call the chef’s “baby.” In many kitchens, brunch is offered begrudgingly — guests arrive hungry and impatient, wanting everything at once; staffing is difficult; checks are lower. But Hostetler’s affection for pancakes and eggs has never soured, even as Helen’s footprint expanded. A 2021 patio enlargement added more than 40 seats, one often occupied by Tuite’s father, a loyal brunch patron.
As a giver in this long restaurant relationship, Hostetler keeps his philosophy simple: “I like making good-tasting food and making people smile. Anyone reading this that knows me is probably craving pancakes right now.”
A lasting union is built on treating your partner right, even giving a little extra. That recipe for success can also be applied to Hostetler’s signature dish: pancakes.
“The batter recipe needs to be correct,” he says. “Then, it’s just a matter of keeping a balanced, medium heat and flipping once the bubbles form throughout.” Patience. Timing. “A little extra clarified butter doesn’t hurt. I add just a touch more after the batter goes into the pan. That’s where the crispy edges come from.”
According to Tuite, Hostetler eschews the crispy-edged, “grumpy” chef mystique. Twenty years in, he’s still kind, still steady and still showing up behind the stove at Helen’s — committed to the work and the people gathered around the table.
