Those smoked tomatoes! If you’re a Charlottesville foodie, you know the ones. The Tomates Asados at Mas Tapas in Belmont are transcendent—warm, zesty, rich, drenched in salty oil. Mas has far more complicated items on its broad tapas menu, but no matter what else you order, the tomatoes are always a highlight.
Hearing Mas’ head chef Mike Ketola talk about his food philosophy these days, it’s not surprising that the restaurant’s more pared-down dishes are among those that shine brightest.
“I’ve found as I’ve grown older as a chef, I have more respect for the simplicity of things,” Ketola says. “Back when I was a 20-year-old line cook, it was like, if I can throw 20 ingredients into this dish then obviously that’s going to make it better. I’ve moved pretty far away from that.”
“Taking five hours to make sure our smoked tomatoes are perfect, melt-in-your mouth delicious—those are the things that satisfy me most now,” he says. “I’m like a mellow old man now, and just try to stay in my zen spot all the time.”
Ketola’s spent much of his cooking career in Charlottesville. He’s got Bodo’s, BBQ Exchange, and Starr Hill on his resume, as well as now-closed spots Blue Light and Rococo’s. Mas, though, has been Ketola’s longest-lasting culinary home. He’s worked in the kitchen at the tapas joint for 15 years, most recently stepping into a new role as the kitchen’s top chef.
He says the restaurant’s “commitment to quality of product and integrity of preparation” attracted him in the first place, and that he’s tried to carry that torch forward in the years since. In his new role, he says he’s looking to preserve the “gregarious, community-slash-dinner party environment that we’ve tried to cultivate here.”
Since opening, Mas has carved out a niche for itself on the Charlottesville food scene. What’s been the key to the restaurant’s success? “Consistency first and foremost,” says Ketola. “The public can always rely on us for consistent preparation, consistent level of quality of our products, consistent variety of our menu, and variety of our wine list.”
Ketola doesn’t spend all his time in the kitchen, though. He has a wife, Jessica, and two young kids. Though working a chef’s hours are tricky for a family man, Ketola says his family is “incredibly supportive” of his work.
He also plays lead guitar in Peen, a local Ween cover band. And on reflection, Ketola says his job and his hobby have certain subtle similarities.
“It’s this need for immediate approval or disapproval,” he says. “I send this dish out to a table, and they’re gonna let me know if they like it or not immediately. Same thing with playing music. We go into a song and the crowd’s gonna let us know if they’re not into it.”
That might be nerve-wracking for some, but for Ketola, the reward is well worth it. “Music and food can be so similar at times,” he says. “It’s all about bringing people together.”