He’s new. He’s green. And he’s always in the weeds.
But Luke Duplaga is supposed to be ceaselessly crazed and humbled and hurried when it comes to working the floor at the busiest restaurant in Wheeling. That’s how his brothers were when they first started their jobs at Generations Restaurant & Pub, and that’s how his sister, Taylor, was, too.
But make no mistake – Luke will deny it. He’ll shove away any notion that he doesn’t already know what he’s doing while acting as one of the eatery’s managers, and that’s OK. The young man is a confident six-year student of the food service industry, and he’s not afraid to assist his servers by taking orders, running food, or mingling with the clientele.
Now, Luke is a fan of THE Ohio State Buckeyes, and he’s followed his father (without claiming unwarranted punishment) with his fandom of the Boston Red Sox and the Oakland Raiders after his ultra-successful athletic career at Central Catholic High School. These days, Luke is learning the game of golf unafraid of playing the most difficult courses and opponents.
He’s even reached some sort of unspoken level of “crazy courage” that permits him to refer to his father and Generations’ owner, Mike, as “old-school,” but don’t worry, Dad just shakes his head while making the toughest of decisions like he always has since opening the business 25 years ago.
So, you see, Luke is just learning by losing like everyone else has. He just does it while wearing that big, broad smile of his.
What are the best and the worst parts about being one of five children?
Some of the best and worst parts … well, I’ll keep it simple.
There really isn’t anything bad about it. I am probably the most street-smart out of any of them. I’ve learned by watching all my older siblings how to go upon being an adult.
I’ve seen all their mistakes and how to avoid making the same. Maybe the worst part is feeling like I can get away with the most, but that always comes back and gets ya.
How has your love for certain foods impacted the menu at Generations?
My love for cooking in the last six years has grown tremendously as I started working as a server my junior year. I made my way back into the kitchen really when Covid hit. I get around a lot and I see the ideas in bigger cities, and then I bring them back to Generations so we can build off of them.
Overall, it is a team effort, but nowadays we try to keep my dad out of the conversation because he’s so old school.
What was the toughest part of running the Ogden Half Marathon?
It was definitely when Wheeling Hill came along.
I felt really good the whole way, but I did really get nervous when I first started up 29th Street hill. Once I got over the top, I put it in cruise control and felt like I just coasted the rest of the way. I put a lot of the run into my Faith and just let God take me the whole way.
But, once I got over Wheeling Hill, my legs started to lock up and cramp for a few minutes, but I didn’t let that stop me from finishing.
Which Oglebay golf course do you find most challenging and why?
I find the Jones course at Oglebay the most challenging, hands down. That’s a pro course, for sure, any day of the week.
The most beautiful course, obviously, is the Palmer course which is also very challenging.
But definitely, if you don’t keep your ball in the fairway at Jones, you are in trouble. I rarely play there just because it’s too much of a beast and I’m simply not ready to be playing there consistently.
Would you beat Bobby Flay in a cooking challenge?
Bobby Flay is a fraud. See, those guys are amazing cooks, and I’ve seen some great cooks, but I’m around “line cooks” and those guys bust their asses.
Chefs are lazy. They could never service, in my opinion, the high-volume operations like Generations when there are 200 people waiting to be fed. So, yes, I would choose myself any day of the week over some guy name Bobby Flay.
Who even would use that name?
