Owners and employees of The Caboose restaurant in McComb are continuing the work of their head chef Parker Voss, who died suddenly on July 3 at his parents’ home.
Restaurant co-owner Lloyd Kinchen said there are no planned changes to the menu.
Kinchen recalls what happened the day Voss died.
“It was about 6 or 6:30 p.m. We were working over the menu. I noticed he was sweating real heavy. He said he felt funny and kind of light-headed. I could tell he wasn’t right,” Kinchen said. “I told him to sit down and take a break. It didn’t get any better so I called his dad and he took him to his house.”
Voss, 39, died later that night.
Kinchen said he sat down with the rest of the Caboose staff after Voss’ death. He said the staff’s biggest question was “what are you going to do now?”
The restaurant industry has a quick turnaround, which oddly has helped Kinchen to manage the transition the best he can, he said.
“One of the things you have to do in this business is be prepared. Someone might get mad and quit, so you have to have a backup person,” he said. “That applies for everybody. You never know what will happen.”
But replacing Voss will be very difficult, Kinchen said.
“We will move forward. Obviously you can’t replace him,” he said.
Kinchen said the restaurant will miss Voss’ contributions to the menu.
“We are going to miss his spin on things, well, his overall presence, actually. He specialized in Cajun flavors and spices and he was very knowledgeable about his profession. He was very, very talented,” he said.
Friends and family have kept Voss’ Facebook profile alive to mourn his passing and honor his memory.
It’s an appropriate venue for the remembrances, as Voss often used Facebook himself to post his own reflections. A random scroll reveals posts that showed more often than not intelligent, creative and a deep care and concern for friends and family, including his pets and stray animals.
Voss had a degree in political science from Arizona State University and Louisiana State University. Before manning the kitchen at The Caboose, Voss served as head chef at the Beau Rivage Hotel and Casino’s fine dining steakhouse, BR Prime. He was sous chef at Restaurant 32 at the Imperial Palace in Biloxi and worked at Gary Danko’s Five-Star Restaurant in San Francisco and Commander’s Palace in New Orleans.
Back in The Caboose kitchen just before the dinner rush, one can hear the clattering of pots and pans, and the focused rush of prepping the night’s food items continues.
Fry cook Shandra Wilkinson shared the line, laughed and sweated with Voss through dinner rushes.
Those moments forged a deep friendship and respect. It’s a common refrain at the restaurant.
Like Kinchen, Wilkinson said she misses Voss for “everything.”
“Man, he had the best sense of humor, too,” she said.
Standing in front of a line of fryers, next to the grill where Voss worked, Wilkinson looked through the server window leading towards the front of the restaurant for a second.
“I still expect him to walk in any moment,” she said.
