AS he gets called from the bench and steps on the Filoil Flying V Arena floor for a summer league game in 2011, Jeffrey Salazar would embody the player that you would love to have on your side – and hate to play against – by making his teammates look good and making opposing point guards bleed for their points.
A decade later, the former Lyceum playmaker still has the same calling card – but this time in the kitchen, on the other side of the world.
“I’ve always been a glue guy,” the long-haired Salazar said in a Zoom interview from Orlando last week. “You need guys like that on your team. Not everyone can be a star. I was probably like a Pat Beverley, like a pest.”
Imagine the Minnesota Timberwolves enforcer in a chef’s apron and that’s what Salazar is now. As he makes his way to the pantry, “Cheffrey” – as his Zoom nametag read – would still play pesky defense – by denying fatty foods and sugary drinks – and dish out assists – in the form of healthy food – to one of the NBA’s rising stars.
Salazar couldn’t be more grateful having the best of both worlds as the personal chef of Orlando Magic point guard Cole Anthony.
“I only have two passions in life: basketball and cooking,” Salazar began the interview while still in his chef’s apron just moments after serving Anthony a sumptuous dinner of Filet Mignon and organic Pinoy sinangag with spicy butter sauce.
Jeffrey Salazar lives two dreams
Salazar has been living his two dreams since the early 2000s.
Born to Pinoy teachers in Nigeria and raised in Queens, New York and then in Jersey City in his teenage years, Salazar, the third of four siblings, went to culinary school at Johnson & Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island. Studying in one of the few culinary schools that have a basketball team also allowed him to hone his hoops craft as he played Division III basketball for two years.
Cooking took a backseat in the late 2000s when he decided to go all-in on basketball in the Philippines, thanks to a generous friend in Joseph Rivera, who bought him a one-way ticket to his parents’ homeland.
Salazar had no regrets despite making the sacrifice of leaving his then 2-year-old daughter with his former partner, who was also pregnant with their second girl, on top of his job as a cook in a restaurant.
“I know I left a lot behind, but for me as a parent, like how are you ever going to tell your child to chase your dreams if you don’t chase yours?” Salazar said. “So I could validly tell my kids that I chased my dream.”
Salazar eventually made it to Lyceum, although the 5-foot-9 point guard missed the cut for Pirates NCAA team. But he earned the trust of former Pirates coach Bonnie Tan, who saw coaching potential in him, enough to assign him to handle the Team B as well as the juniors’ squad.
“I didn’t make it to where I want to be, but it helped me grow, helped me become who I am,” Salazar said. “And it kind of worked organically where now I reached another plateau because of what I chased. If not, I probably still would be having that itch to try and go to the Philippines.”
“I would’ve been in a good position if I decided to stay. But I was always taught family is everything, and I had my little girl and I was missing out a lot of her life, so I knew I had to stop that dream and be a father,” Salazar, who now has two more boys with his current partner, added.
After three years in the country, Salazar returned to the States where he has headed the kitchens of some of the fanciest New York restaurants for the past 10 years.
A proud role player in basketball, Salazar took a star turn in the cooking industry when he appeared in “Chopped,” a reality TV show starring renowned American chef Bobby Flay, winning in one episode and taking home a $10,000 prize.
“That’s one of the highlights of my career and it made me feel like I belong,” he said.
One of his stops a few years ago was being the executive chef at Cove Lounge where the manager’s son is a close friend of Anthony, who Salazar first met when the son of retired NBA point guard Greg Anthony was about to play for North Carolina in his first and only college season.
A few months ago, Anthony’s camp reignited that connection and inquired about Salazar’s services ahead of Anthony's third season in the NBA, eager to get in the best shape possible to prove he deserves a lucrative rookie contract extension.
“They always knew Cole’s nutrition was bad and he needed to get better,” Salazar said. “His eating habits were just kind of a lot of pizza. He could eat pizza every day.”
Cooking for Cole
Salazar simply wants Anthony to eat healthier – so the 6-foot-2 combo guard not only can be stronger, but also play longer.
“I told him, ‘Now, you can eat anything because you’re young. But when you're in your late 20s or 30s, or if you want to play like LeBron in his late 30s, diet is everything,” the chef said of Anthony, the 2020 NBA Draft 15th overall pick who just turned 22 on May 15.
Now, Salazar has convinced Anthony to eat whole-wheat pastas and lean protein from turkey, chicken, and organic beef.
One thing, however, that Anthony still can’t eat on its own are vegetables, so Salazar sneaks in those green, leafy nutrient-rich food like spinach and kale inside Anthony’s peanut-butter protein smoothies.
“We’ve definitely made an improvement in his nutrition, just trying different things, making sure he’s eating on time, making sure he’s getting enough carbohydrates in his system, because athletes need to constantly eat,” Salazar said.
“And it’s tough especially for younger athletes to really get on a schedule. And the great thing is, he learned that early. Sometimes they learn too late and by that time, it’s harder to build your palate.”
In just a month cooking for Cole, Salazar can already see the difference.
“Now, when I see him in his shirts, he looks a little bit bulkier, so it’s really going to be a fun year seeing him grow,” Salazar said. “Lean and strong, because we still want him to maintain his quickness and his explosiveness.”
“We’re making sure he’s getting that five or seven pounds just to take those extra hits, so when he’s doing his straight-line drives to the basket, he’s not getting bumped,” he added.
With all the healthy food, Salazar doesn’t mind Anthony enjoying cheat meals from time to time. After the Zoom interview, Salazar served Anthony a midnight snack of fried Oreos.
“If you’re eating healthy, eating clean for the most part, and you’re doing what you’re supposed to do, you deserve a reward,” the chef said. “Food shouldn’t be like a disciplinary action. Food should be fun. You should fall in love with food.”
Salazar even makes Anthony his favorite food – pizza – but a healthier version made of whole-wheat crust.
“After I made him that, he was just like, ‘Jeff, we got to get you here full-time,’” Salazar, who’s based in Rhode Island and flies to Orlando for five days before going back home for the weekend, said.
Training Cole, too?
Before cooking for Anthony, Salazar didn’t forget about basketball as he has been coaching middle school boys and girls teams in Massachusetts. He also earned a strength and conditioning certification - personal training, and sports nutrition – to become arguably one of the first-ever trainer-chefs.
“I knew I always wanted to be a private chef – especially to athletes, because it just makes sense, so it gave me a focus of what I want to do. Especially during the pandemic, I already have all this experience cooking. Now what can I do to level up? So I could be more to an athlete,” Salazar said, explaining why he got the ISSA certification.
“Everyone has a person they go to for either sports nutrition, or culinary, or strength and conditioning, or just basketball work, so I wanted to be a person that could do it all,” he added.
Anthony mainly works with top trainer Chris Brickley in the offseason.
Salazar wouldn’t mind also serving Anthony outside the kitchen.
“If he ever decides to allow me to help him do that, that’ll be amazing, because it’s going to be full circle for me,” Salazar said. “I have gotten all the certifications, so if he ever needs me to pass him the ball, I could give him the best chest passes or bounce passes. One thing I’ve been known for is playing defense, so I could pass him the ball, guard him, force him one way or another.”
“But my goal right now is to just feed him, just fuel the athlete,” he was quick to add. “One thing I know I could do is I could cook and I know what athletes need, because I was a former athlete, one trying to make it to the professional level. And as you know, nutrition is everything. It’s really half the battle or even more than half the battle when it comes to training and stuff like that.”
Former Lyceum captain Aki Lacap attested to Salazar’s innovative mind.
“You could tell from day one that he’s either gonna be a coach or a trainer,” Lacap said. “He’s my teammate and he trains me. I was his guinea pig. He has one of those minds that question bakit namin ginagawa ang isang bagay.”
“I can say na he’s ahead of our time before in terms of training methods. He’s not afraid to try new things. That’s why I’m looking forward to work with him and Brickley soon and learn from the best minds,” added Lacap, who’s also a proven trainer in his own right, being the man behind Kevin Alas’ recovery from his last ACL injury.
For now, Salazar is more than happy to continue living up to the same principles that endeared him to the Pirates community a decade ago – even just in the kitchen, feeding an NBA rising star.
“The experience is really eye-opening and it’s been great,” he said. “I want to continue pushing forward and just showing that just because you don’t make it in a particular route, whether in basketball as far as playing in the league, that doesn’t mean you can’t be involved in basketball is some way on a high level."
“God works in mysterious ways. When one door closes, another opens. It worked out for the best,” he concluded.
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