Olympic Restaurant Equipment Cooking Demonstration Stage at the Columbia Bank Gateway Center

Sponsored by:
Jefferson Health Care
Olympic Restaurant Equipment, Inc.
Olympic Peninsula Visitors Bureau
Olympic Culinary Loop
CHEK

Chef Les Chan, Victoria, Canada

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

12pm               Arran Stark
Peruvian potato causa and fresh crab salad
1pm                 Becky Selengut
Cucumber-coconut soup with Dungeness crab salad
2pm                 Jess Owen
Ocean Crest Resort Dungeness crab cakes and the “Culinary Madman's” Dungeness                 crab cocktail with stone fruit cocktail sauce
3pm                 Les Chan
Dim Sum with crab
4pm                 Mona Stone
Pan seared Alaska Weathervane Scallops on a puff pastry with mushroom marsala                    sauce.
5pm                 Steve McNabb
Empanadas filled with crab, cheese and roasted vegetables

SUNDAY

11am                Arran Stark
Something special!
12pm               Michael McQuay
Crispy fresh local whole fried rockfish with a cilantro, garlic, fusion gastrique
1pm                 Dave Senters
Northwest Shellfish Risotto
2pm                 Garrett Schack
Savory Dungeness crab and summer squash doughnuts with spicy bacon aioli
3pm                 Xinh Dwelley
Mussel curry & rice and geoduck seviche
4pm                 Craig Alexander
Fried Tofu Appetizer and a Saffron and Dungeness Crab Risotto.

 

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

Jefferson Healthcare found the “cure” for hospital food with Chef Arran Stark

Jefferson Healthcare began changing how food is prepared and served at the hospital when CEO Mike Glenn hired local rock star Chef Arran Stark in 2011.  Chef Stark and his mission to use local, sustainable and fresh food is one of the service improvements implemented at Jefferson Healthcare that delights both the patients and the staff. 

Jefferson Healthcare has become one of the first, if not the only hospital in the State of Washington that incorporated this more organic approach to food services.  Chef Stark buys local vegetables, fruits, meats and cheeses and transforms those ingredients into the cafeteria style food line up.  And the lunch line starts early and can be long. 

Chef Stark connects the concepts of healthy eating to a healthier person.  By focusing on wholesome meal and food choices, this will produce results in healthier patients and staff.  He is spreading his mission to the community with his future plans to work with kids.  Chef Stark is in the initial phases of developing a program to link kids with fresh food choices.  He wants to teach them how to combine tasty ingredients for meals and snacks for home or to take to school.

“I really want to take the food across the board. I want to take it to the patients. I want to take it to employees. I want to take it to guests of the hospital – good wholesome food that is prepared from the heart."

A current example of how he is putting his mission to action is in August, he officially changed the hospital staple Jello (colored sugar water) to real organic juice gelatin which hasn’t been official labeled, but whether it is something like "jellorganicgoodforu"or "Realjuicello" either way patients will benefit.  Even though this is a small item, it goes a long way with those who have food restrictions in their diet. 

“Eventually, I want to get with doctors and formulate menus and even get to the point of prescribing good nutritious food.  We’re a hospital. We should be building health. The biggest health builder is food.”

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

Chef Becky Selengut, Seattle, Washington

Becky Selengut is a 1999 Seattle Culinary Academy graduate where she was awarded the Outstanding Culinarian of the Year. Selengut's culinary career began in restaurants, with stints at La Medusa, La Spiga and 3 years at the internationally acclaimed Herbfarm Restaurant working under her mentor, Chef Jerry Traunfeld. Since 2004, her career has moved beyond the traditional restaurant into everything but the restaurant, taking on such diverse jobs as cheffing on a yacht tour of the Inside Passage to teaching cooking to immigrants and refugees and finding them work in the food industry. In 2004, she started her private chef and culinary education business, Cornucopia Cuisine, and in January 2006 she founded the educational website Seasonal Cornucopia . A regular instructor for PCC Natural Markets since '04, Selengut is also an adjunct professor in the culinary/nutrition department at Bastyr University. A prolific writer, Selengut
co-authored The Washington Local and Seasonal Cookbook in 2008, and wrote Good Fish in 2011 with wine pairing contributions from her wife, Sommelier
April Pogue. Good Fish was an IACP book award finalist, one of Seattle Magazine's best cookbooks of 2011 and an NPR-notable read. In 2012, Selengut was given the Seafood Ambassador Award by the Monterey Bay Aquarium for her commitment to ocean conservation and sustainable seafood education. A former freelancer for Seattle Homes and Lifestyles Magazine, she currently writes a two time "Eddy" award-nominated humor column for Edible Seattle Magazine . Selengut also runs the blog Chef Reinvented and co-leads springtime foraging tours. Each year she donates cooking classes, demonstrations, dinners and cookbooks to raise money for local charities and non-profits. In 2012 she is working with the Cascade Harvest Coalition, Legal Voice, and Equal Rights Washington, among others.In 2013, Selengut hopes to clone herself so she can find the time to do more of these fun things other people call 'work'.

Chef Garrett Schack, Vista 18 Victoria, Canada

Passion for supporting sustainable healthy local food has always been at the heart of Executive Chef, Garrett Schack’s culinary mantra. Born in Prince George, BC , he originally moved to Victoria from Germany to attend the professional culinary arts training program at Camosun College under the mentorship of Gilbert Noussitou. After he completed his training, he cooked his way through South East Asia and Australia. It was on this journey that he discovered his deep rooted passion for cooking with fresh, local ingredients. Garrett returned home in 2001 and sharpened his culinary skills in several of the city’s top restaurants.

Today Garrett leads by example as Executive Chef of Vista 18 and in the community he loves. He has remained consistent in his local food philosophy since he took the helm at the highest kitchen in Victoria in 2007. He is elated to have found a venue that continually inspires him as a chef by allowing him to work with top quality local ingredients. “ We keep things light and fresh in a way that allows the food to speak for itself” He considers Vista 18 the perfect venue to foster relationships with local farmers and producers, and to celebrate the sustainable food movement every day at work.
Garrett is an active member of the ICC (Island Chef’s Collaborative) and the Chef/Spokesperson for the Pacific Salmon Foundation. Both these organizations exist to support sustained local food sources from land and sea. “ I believe in these organizations and do everything I can to support their efforts.”
Chef Schack feels strongly about his culinary team playing an active role in educating the public by participating in many worthy causes around our community. You can expect to see Garrett or one of his team at great events like Taste, Feast of Fields, Flavour, Brewery and the Beast, Chef’s Challenge at Madonna Farms and Vancouver Island Shellfish Festival to name a few.
Fall 2012 will see Garrett take in a new role as Host Chef for YUM TV in addition to his career at Vista 18. Yum TV, a cooking show in it’s second season, has given him a practical forum to take his message to the general public which he feels can further help in supporting the local food community. The show airs at 8:00pm every Monday night beginning on October 1, 2012 on CHEK TV in Victoria, BC.

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 Les Chan, Victoria, Canada

As a cooking instructor, Chan injects humour into his culinary classes. His sold out classes bring people from all walks of life who are interested in good health and gourmet cuisine. A lot of Chan’s creative juices flow from his natural abilities, along with his easy-going manner, enabling others to become more comfortable with oriental cuisine. Chan encourages acceptance of personal failures and successes in cooking.

Chan also conducts walking tours of the local markets of Victoria’s Chinatown, describing the various staples of oriental cooking as well as suggesting a variety of tips, applications and storage of products.

Chef Steve McNabb, Wine on the Waterfront and 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. He has recently become the owner of Wine on the Waterfront.

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

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 Craig Alexander Executive Chef – Red Lion, Port Angeles

Chef Craig Alexander started his culinary career in the dish room at the Red Lion at the Quay in Vancouver, Washington. He quickly worked his way to being a prep cook where he foundhis passion and ambition to becoming a chef. Craig went through the culinary program at Clark College where hemet oneof his twomentors,Larry Mains a former American Culinary Federation Chef of the Year, and graduated with an Associates in Applied Science for Culinary Arts and Restaurant Management with Honors.Craig was able to steadily advance at the Red Lion at the Quay becoming Executive Chef at the Red Lion in Vancouver at the age of 27. This past summer Craig decided to work as Sous Chef at the DoubleTree Suites at Seattle Southcenter under his other mentor, Executive Chef Jonathan Gilbertson, who was thekey to teaching Craig what he needed to know to take the final step to being an executive chef. Now at the Red Lion Port Angeles, Chef Alexander is hoping to bring a fresh take on food that concentrates on utilizing thefreshlocal ingredients available to the Olympic Peninsula.

Chef Dave Senters, Bella Italia Restaurant, Port Angeles

Bella Italia was born out of a desire to bring friends together around the table and create a restaurant that reminded people of warm, gregarious Italian hospitality. Accentuating the use of fresh local and organic ingredients was paramount from the beginning.