Chef Demonstrations

Sponsored by:
First Federal
Olympic Restaurant Equipment, Inc.
Olympic Cellars Winery

 

The Festival is proud to share this sense of place with you through a fantastic Demonstration Stage line-up of chefs from around the Olympic Peninsula and beyond. Each chef will use fresh, local ingredients to prepare mouth-watering Olympic Coastal Cuisine

Chefs and their Food Demonstrations

Saturday

11:30 Graham Kerr

12:30 p.m. Doug Metzger, executive chef for Red Lion Hotel
Preparing: Crab and artichoke crostini, fresh crab served open faced on a toasted crostini with melted cheddar, avocado and tomato

1:30 p.m. Kaleb Wallace, chef for Michael’s Seafood and Steakhouse,
Port Angeles Preparing: Dungeness crab salad with heirloom tomatoes and pear vinaigrette

2:30 p.m. Michael McQuay, chef for Kokopelli Grill, Port Angeles
Preparing: Moqueca, unique Brazilian style fish stew. It includes Dungeness crab legs, cod or halibut, salmon, cilantro, coconut milk, green onion, garlic, rice and tomatoes.

3:30 p.m. Jess Owen, chef and owner at Ocean Crest Resort, Moclips, Wash.
Preparing: “The Culinary Madman’s Hot Dungeness Crab Dip” and “The Culinary Madman’s Salmon au Poivre with Maple and Balsamic Glazed Strawberries”

4:30 p.m. Steve McNabb, Olympic Coast Consulting
Preparing: Northwest paella  A pan cooked over coals filled with Spanish bomba rice, Dungeness crab, shrimp and topped with an assortment of veggies

5:30 p.m. Mona Stone, chef, and Jim Stone, wine drinking sidekick, Alaskan Weathervane Scallops Preparing: Pan seared Alaskan scallops with marsala sauce

Sunday

11 a.m. Arran Stark, chef and owner for Cultivated Palette Catering and executive chef for Jefferson County Healthcare, Port Townsend
Preparing: “Everything Salmon... Methods Class”

Noon David Senters, chef at Bella Italia, Port Angeles
Preparing: Crab ravioli

1 p.m.Luke Griffin, executive chef at Pescatores, Victoria, B.C.
Preparing: Dungeness crab and avocado salad with truffle mayo, celery hearts and oven dried roma tomatoes

2 p.m.Umut Cetin, chef at the Oyster Bar at Pescatores, Victoria, B.C.
Preparing: Fresh shucked oysters topped with Dungeness crab and béarnaise oven baked

3 p.m.Steve McNabb, Olympic Coast Consulting
Preparing: Northwest paella  A pan cooked over coals filled with Spanish bomba rice, Dungeness crab, shrimp and topped with an assortment of veggies

Chef Xinh Dwelley, of Xinh’s Clam and Oyster House, Shelton will not be with us this year as her husband passed away.Our thoughts go out to the family.

 

 

Meet our wonderful chefs

Emcee for the Food Demonstration Stage

Chef Arran Stark, Cultivated Palette Catering, and Executive Chef for Jefferson Health Care, Port Townsend

His culinary career began as an apprentice at Atlanta’s Le Petite Auberge under Chef Wolfgang Gropp which led to working with French Master Chef Bernard Goupy at the famed Le Clos at Chateau Elan. Chef Arran career journey took him from the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston to the Hotel Wheatleigh in the Berkshires and on to Atlanta as Executive Chef at Glen Arven Country Club, the 3rd oldest golf club in the U.S. Then in 2005 as Executive Chef of Andina it was awarded Oregonian’s Restaurant of the year. Arran and his wife, Micaela, moved to Port Townsend in 2006 where dreams of a sustainable farm to table business took root in the form of Cultivated Palette Catering and Brassica Restaurant. As emcee, Chef Arran will share his knowledge about the Olympic Peninsula farms, local crops, seafood and the culinary bounty of the Olympic Peninsula. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pN_IXeqv9Vs  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbHoEWiqVEc&feature=related

Jess Owen: Chef and Owner at Ocean Crest Resort in Moclips Washington

In the dining room Jess is known as a Certified Culinary Consultant™. In the kitchen he is known as The Culinary Madman™ for his unique creations like Chai Halibut and Roosevelt Elk and Berry Soup. Jess’s philosophy is to keep dishes as simple as possible. He is inspired by the bounty of the Olympic Peninsula and the blank canvas that is the plate. Jess is known for his gregarious sense of humor and abundant knowledge of food. His menus feature beautiful simple food you want to eat again and again. One of his favorite things is to serve is a new and very creative dish, such as chocolate soup, and see the skeptical look on a guests face change to a look of pure happiness with that first bite.“The Ocean Crest Resort in Moclips has a great restaurant. Whenever I go there, I have to have the spinach salad and Grandma’s Famous Clam Chowder.” – Olympic Gold Medalist Apolo Ohno, Chicago Tribune 02/07/10.

Chef Kaleb Wallace, Michael’s Seafood and Steak Restaurant, Port Angeles

Kaleb discovered his love for culinary arts while working in the kitchen at Michael’s Seafood and Steakhouse in his hometown of Port Angeles, WA. Encouraged to continue his education he enrolled and graduated from the Le Cordon Bleu Institute in Portland. True to his northwest roots Kaleb loves seafood, especially salmon and its versatility in Olympic Coast Cuisine. In addition to his passion for food, Kaleb loves music and enjoys unwinding at night’s end playing his cello and bass guitar.

Chef Steve McNabb, Olympic Coast Consulting, Port Angeles

Steve is a local chef that specializes in menu conception and recipe development for local businesses. Helping make connections with artisan producers & specialized purveyors, and showing people how to take those ingredients and create dishes that satisfy.

Chef Xinh Dwelley, Xinh’s Clam and Oyster House, Shelton

Xinh T. Dwelley, chef of Xinh’s Clam and Oyster House, started cooking as a teenager at a mess hall in her native Vietnam for an entire battalion of American soldiers. Dwelley married an American GI and immigrated to the states in 1970. Prior to taking a job with Taylor Shellfish, Dwelley, from the small Vietnamese village of An Hoa, did not even know what an oyster was.“First day, I did about eight pounds. I picked it up pretty quick though. [The] reason is that I know what hard work is because I plant[ed] rice in Vietnam,” Dwelley said.

Given time with the shellfish, Dwelley started winning cooking competitions with her soul-settling oyster stew. VIP buyers of Taylor Shellfish were also won over by her exuberant personality. Her employers took her dream of having her own restaurant seriously. In 1996, Xinh’s Clam and Oyster House in Shelton, Wash. was born.

Xinh’s food is neither Vietnamese nor American, but rather cooking from the heart as she expresses the flavor memories of her homeland with the shellfish grown in nearby waters. Imbued with her special warmth and wit, Xinh’s food is known to her many loyal fans, simply and uniquely, as “Xinh’s food”. Some call it “Xinhful”. Xinh has indeed found her natural talent… making people happy with her food.

Five-time West Coast Shucking Champion, a woman beating man's-men at their own grueling game.

Xing was made an Honory Lifetime Member of the American Culinary Federation Washington State Chefs Association in 2010.

http://www.forbes.com/forbes-life-magazine/2009/0626/places-we-love-lifestyle-travel.html

Chef Luke Griffin – Executive Chef, Pescatores, Victoria

Chef Griffin b egan his kitchen quest at the age of 14.  Discovered his passion for food at a young age, at various local restaurants in and around Toronto, Ontario.  Started as a dish washer and worked his way up through George brown culinary school in Toronto.  Which lead him to various “stage” positions and working for the oliver and bonaccini group.  Moved to the west coast of Canada in 2003 where he finds himself leading the brigade at Victoria’s Best Seafood restaurant, Pescatores.

Umut Cetin, Chef, Oyster Bar @ Pescatores, Victoria

Preparing: Fresh shucked oysters topped with Dungeness crab and béarnaise oven baked

Bio:Started up at Kempinsky hotel chain in Istanbul.  Came to Canada and worked competitively at Rodneys in Vancouver, became a champion oyster shucker, western Canadian shucking contest.  Rocky mountain oyster shucking contest in Calgary Alberta.  Now leads the brigade at The Oyster Bar at Pescatores.

Mona Stone (chef) and Jim Stone (wine drinking sidekick), Alaskan Weathervane Scallops

Alaska Scallop Association's mission is to be vigilant stewards of our Alaska Weathervane Scallop resources and the environment, provide economic stability to our vessels and crew and produce premier products for our American and global customers. Part of this mission is to create public awareness of the superiority of the sweet, all natural Alaska Weathervane Scallop over other better known Scallop lesser quality species. Creating public awareness is done in part, through cooking demonstrations and Festivals, such as the Dungeness Crab Festival in Port Townsend, WA. Our demonstration team consists of Alaska Scallop fishermen, their families and friends.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_Ecorydn7o   (good video)

 

Chef Michael McQuay, Kokopelli Grill, Port Angeles

Michael and Candy McQuay Opened Kokopelli Grill in December of 2009. Both Husband and Wife team have extensive restaurant background. Michael is classically trained chef who grew up in the Northwest and after many years living in the south, Candy and Michael returned to the Northwest and opened the grill, specializing in Northwest fresh Seafood, Steaks and Pasta all with a Southwest Twist.

Chef Doug Metzger, Executive Chef – Red Lion

Used to work with Graham Kerr.
Considered a culinary innovator, winning numerous prestigious awards. Awarded by the Chaine des Rotisseurs “Dinner of the year” and chosen as one of the “Best Chefs in Los Angeles”. Worked with and apprenticed under renowned Master Chef RaimondHofmeister, CMC at the Century Plaza Hotel and again at the Los Angeles International Culinary Institute.