Joe Benish
Chef, Manor House Restaurant
Pleasant Beach Village, Bainbridge Island
On your nights off, do you stay in? If so, do you cook, does someone else in the family cook or do you go out?
On my nights off, I sleep!
What is your favorite seasonal Pacific Northwest ingredient?
Corn. Fresh corn is one of the world’s greatest ingredients. You can grill it, grate it, and cook it polenta-style, creating an Argentinian humita.
When did you know you wanted to be a chef?
Probably six months after getting into the industry. I went to culinary school when I was 20 years old, thinking I would get into distilling and making spirits. Culinary school was the only way I could find in the short term to achieve that goal, but while I was there, I realized I wanted to be a chef. I’ve been cooking my whole life.
Who was your biggest influence in the kitchen?
Career-wise it would be Thomas Keller, Eric Ripert and Nancy Silverton. I watched a lot of “Emeril Live” and “Essence of Emeril” with Emeril Lagasse back in the day, when I was a little kid. Doc Brown!
Wine, beer or spirits?
I love them all. In order of priority, it’s wine, beer, and spirits is right behind it. I home-brew when I have a chance.
What is the most exciting thing to happen in the world of food in the past 10 years?
The explosion of ethnic-focused restaurants, branching out from French and Italian cuisine to Iranian, Armenian and Japanese food, to name a few. A lot more cuisines have become available to the masses.
Which cooking shows do you watch?
The VICE channel has a couple of good ones. “MUNCHIES” offers some really interesting content. “Chef’s Night Out” is very entertaining. “The Pizza Show” is educational. On mainstream TV, it’s “Top Chef.”
What’s your favorite go-to dish that you cook when you’re in a hurry?
A three-egg omelet, cooked simply with a little bit of butter, salt, eggs and maybe a little cream in the eggs. If I have chives, I’ll fold some into it.
Favorite breakfast place on the peninsula?
Hi-Lo’s 15th Street Café in Bremerton. It’s quirky. They have a nice, effective menu; good coffee and a fun atmosphere, and it’s very consistent.
Favorite dessert that you make or serve?
Sticky toffee pudding is a really good date cake.
What’s the hands-down best thing you have eaten in the last month?
Dulce de Leche Baked Alaska at the Manor House restaurant.
Monica Downen & Mark Downen
Co-owners
Monica’s Waterfront Bakery and Café, Silverdale
What is your favorite seasonal Pacific Northwest ingredient?
So hard to choose. Dungeness crab, oyster, red cherries, tomatoes, all kinds of berries, silver salmon, mushrooms, sturgeon — I can’t decide.
When did you know you wanted to be a chef?
I didn’t know. Rather, I grew into and embraced it as a process. Now I love it so much, I will always do this work.
Who was your biggest influence in the kitchen?
My maternal grandmother. She taught me to be creative, to taste everything, and how delicious homemade is. Mark
What is the most exciting thing to happen in the world of food in the past 10 years?
The whole food awareness movement is pretty exciting to me. It’s the way we have always shopped, traveled and eaten, and now it is known as mainstream to look for things like locally grown, organic, unprocessed foods, no matter where you are. Mark says home pizza ovens! He can’t wait to build one for us.
What’s your favorite go-to dish that you cook when you’re in a hurry?
Lately it’s been olive-oil-poached grape tomatoes and garlic poured hot over fresh greens with some sort of protein, be it leftover steak, chicken, fish, tinned tuna or anything at all, along with a dollop of my homemade mayo for creaminess. The tomatoes melt into the oil while prepping the veggies for the salad and it’s so great! Also delicious on grilled meat.
What’s your favorite dish to have other people make for you?
I love it whenever anyone makes me anything! No matter what it is, I appreciate being served food that others make. Sandwiches always taste better when someone else makes them for me, and Mark’s coffee seems more delicious than when I have to make it.
Favorite place for a cocktail?
Our favorites in all areas change all the time for us; lately it has been Nightshade in Manette for great cocktails. And Moctezuma’s has the best margarita. The jalapeno margarita is my favorite.
What’s the one cookbook you wouldn’t want to live without?
I have a vast collection of wonderful cookbooks, and lately I find myself constantly returning to “Eleven Madison Park” for the beautiful photos and stories. The recipes are not particularly user-friendly, though they are incredibly inspiring for me to try or to use as a base for a new idea. “Baking Illustrated” is Mark’s go-to reference.
Where do you go to get the best steak?
Mark! He grills the best steak around, whether it’s beef, pork, goat or lamb. La Fermata does a darn fine steak as well.
Eddie Williams, Executive Chef
Michael Williams, Sous Chef
JW, Gig Harbor
On your nights off, do you stay in? If so, do you cook, does someone else in the family cook or do you go out?
Michael: I stay in and cook for my family two days a week.
Do your kids cook with you? Do they eat their vegetables?
Eddie: Yes, they all have even worked in the industry at one time.
Michael: Yes, they love pancakes.
What is their favorite dish that you make with them?
Eddie: We love to barbecue. Ribs, chicken, potato salad, etc.
Michael: Anything breakfast.
When did you know you wanted to be a chef?
Eddie: Around the time I was 19.
Who was your biggest influence in the kitchen?
Eddie: My father.
Michael: My dad.
Wine, beer or spirits?
Eddie: Spirits.
Michael: Beer.
What is the most exciting thing to happen in the world of food in the past 10 years?
Eddie: More cooking shows. A lot more interest and respect for what we do.
Which cooking shows do you watch?
Eddie: “Chopped.”
Michael: All of them.
What’s your favorite dessert that you make or serve?
Eddie: Chocolate anything.
Michael: All of them. I love sweets.
Favorite dish to have other people make for you?
Eddie: Anything good. Love it when I don’t need to cook.
Michael: Biscuits and gravy.
Where do you go to get the best steak?
Eddie: My barbecue, Tri City Meats, Safeway.
Michael: My house or JW.
Besides a great knife, what’s the one thing no home cook should be without?
Eddie: Food processor.
Michael: Pots and pans.
Who’s got the best fish and chips?
Eddie: JW food trolley.
Besides your own restaurant, what restaurants do you find yourself returning to and why?
Eddie: Little Jerry’s. Best breakfast in Tacoma. Nothing special, just done right and very well.
Michael Buholz
Chef and co-owner
The Loft, Poulsbo
On your nights off, do you stay in? If so, do you cook, does someone else in the family cook or do you go out?
If I get night off, which is actually very rare, I always stay in. I am totally lame at home and will eat a sandwich or some top ramen. After cooking in a commercial kitchen for years and years, it’s actually very frustrating to cook at home — no commercial mixer, food processor, exotic spices, etc. And at home, I have to clean up my own mess!
When did you know you wanted to be a chef?
I was 19 years old and was on a street corner in Point Loma, California, when I knew I wanted to be a chef. I was raised in a household with garlic and onion allergies, so my experience with food (unknown to me at the time) was very bland and boring. I was in the Navy, and my submarine had pulled into San Diego. I went out walking around and ordered a burrito from this little taco stand called Adalberto’s. The carne asada burrito I ate literally changed the course of my life. I took one bite and that was it — the clouds parted, angels started singing, and the dream of becoming a chef was born.
Wine, beer or spirits?
Wine with food. Spirits for recreation. I truly believe that the right wine with your food can be as important to the dish as salt and pepper.
Which cooking shows do you watch?
I have an addiction to the show “Good Eats.” I love how Alton Brown breaks down the science of cooking with puppets and funny props and characters. I have every one of his cookbooks and have even traveled to see his show live.
What’s your favorite breakfast place on the peninsula?
Hands down, the Big Apple Diner. Love the comfort food and the old-school feel to the place.
What’s your favorite dessert that you make or serve?
I think my favorite dessert I make is my salted caramel gelato. It tastes like you made ice cream out of a Werther’s candy. A splash of cane-sugar caramel and a warm brownie, and you have arrived in chocolate-caramel heaven.
Who has the best french fries?
The Loft in Poulsbo, duh.
Where do you go to get the best steak?
The Loft wins again.
Who’s got the best fish and chips?
This one is hard; of course, I have a biased opinion, but if I’m not making them myself, Down East Fish and Chips in Silverdale. Absolutely amazing.
Kim Campbell, Co-owner (with husband Erik Kleiva)
Scott Wilson, Co-owner (with fiancée Ravenna Iquay
Nightshade Manette, The Manette Daily (opening this spring)
On your nights off, do you stay in? If so, do you cook, does someone else in the family cook or do you go out?
What nights off? Ha. It’s a mix. On nights when I am not cooking at Nightshade, [husband] Erik and I may eat out, go home and cook, or eat at a friend’s house. I say “go home” vs. “staying in” because we never get home before deciding where to eat dinner. Our cooking time is most often in the morning before work. He or I will cook for one another, and often it will be a vegetable hash or roasted veggies, and Erik will add eggs to his.
What is your favorite seasonal Pacific Northwest ingredient?
I can’t say that I have a favorite. Every season and every week from spring through fall, there is always something fun to choose. When I get the produce list from farms or even better, get to go to the farmers markets to shop, I am like a kid in a candy shop.
Do your kids cook with you? Do they eat their vegetables?
I am superlucky to be able to cook with my daughter, Ravenna, almost every day at Nightshade as she co-owns the place with me with her beau, Scotti. Erik’s daughters are also foodies and cook delicious food. I absolutely love to have big family dinners when they all come over, ask if they can do anything to help, and before you know it, I am sitting on a stool with a glass of wine watching them all prepare the meal.
What is their favorite dish that you make with them?
We make different meals almost every time we are all together. Lots of times, they show up with ingredients for things they want to make so it’s always a surprise. It’s fun that way; it’s chaotic and messy and warm and cozy and full of love.
Who was your biggest influence in the kitchen?
My family. My mom has always cooked and baked from scratch, whether for frugality or a love for it, but probably a bit of both. I always wished for the squishy white bread and American cheese sandwich in other kids’ lunch boxes, but once I was able to make my own decisions about food, I quickly learned that my mom’s way was more real and tastier. My father was an influence too. I have memories of sitting around a fire with him while he grilled on a grate over a fire. I love having parties where I cook as much as I can over an open fire. I would have to add my great-grandmother to this list. She would set up an outdoor kitchen in the summers in Minnesota. I remember going to visit my family and there being a big batch of fry bread and soup pretty much every time we were there (at least that’s the memory of my childhood mind).
What’s your favorite dessert that you make or serve?
I have always loved German chocolate cake even though it is a chore to make it, and I have come up with a vegan version that even omnivores love. It’s our house dessert at Nightshade. I also love cookies and lemon bars, which we have at the Port Gamble General Store and will have at our new place in Manette that we are going to call The Manette Daily. My mom is our baker and she keeps those all in stock there.
Robert Mario DeLaura II
Chief cook and bottle washer
Gertie and the Giant Octopus, Gig Harbor
On your nights off, do you stay in? If so, do you cook, does someone else in the family cook or do you go out?
Usually stay in. I rarely cook at home; my wife cooks for us or we order out.
What is your favorite seasonal Pacific Northwest ingredient?
Jacobsen sea salt from Netarts, Oregon.
What is their favorite dish that you make with your kids?
Ashley loves fresh pasta. Kathryn loves gyoza.
When did you know you wanted to be a chef?
While working at an Italian restaurant in high school.
Who was your biggest influence in the kitchen?
Chef/owner Bujar Mamuslari of Bucci Ristorante in Grosse Pointe, Michigan. I was his chef and it was the last chef position I held before relocating to the Northwest.
What is the most exciting thing to happen in the world of food in the past 10 years?
The rise of Israeli cuisine. Americans are learning more and more ethnic foods.
Which cooking shows do you watch?
“The Mind of a Chef.”
What’s your favorite dessert that you make or serve?
Tiramisu.
Favorite dish to have other people make for you?
My wife, Meghan, makes killer tater-tot casserole.
What’s the one cookbook you wouldn’t want to live without?
“Bouchon.”
Where do you go to get the best steak?
Don’t go to restaurants for steak, but I like Painted Hills beef and the guys and gals at Harbor Greens offer a nice butcher’s selection.
What’s the hands-down best thing you have eaten in the last month?
Shakshuka. Eggs poached in a sauce of tomatoes, chili peppers and onions.
Besides a great knife, what’s the one thing no home cook should be without?
Measuring spoons.
Favorite dish to have other people fix for you?
A sandwich.
What’s the one thing people might be surprised to find out you eat?
Liverwurst with Cheez-It crackers.
John Delp
Chef and co-owner
Mossback, Kingston
On your nights off, do you stay in? If so, do you cook, does someone else in the family cook or do you go out?
We make an effort to go out periodically to be inspired by other restaurants but more often, we stay home, and my wife, Christy, will cook something. I have a hard time cooking in quantities less than 30 servings so we end up with far too many leftovers and not enough freezer space.
What is your favorite seasonal Pacific Northwest ingredient?
The Pacific Northwest is great for so many things but nothing tastes more quintessentially here than a fresh-shucked oyster. Except maybe the mushrooms. No, you know what, scrap that thing about the oysters. The mushrooms. Well, one of those two at least. Eat the forest and drink the Sound with mushrooms and oysters!
Do your kids cook with you? Do they eat their vegetables?
Eli is only 3 and his knife skills are terrible, so I don’t let him do much prep for me. He will play with the pasta dough. As for vegetables, he became enamored with yanking carrots out of the garden and eating them. How big will it be? What color? Is it a sweet one? It’s such a fun, tactile and rewarding introduction to food, and now he loves carrots.
What is the most exciting thing to happen in the world of food in the past 10 years?
The growing awareness of food politics. We don’t need to spend a lot of time and energy telling people why we source locally from small, independent farms with organic and humane practices, and change our menu all the time based on seasonal availability, because most people are already somewhat familiar with the ecological and economic impacts that those decisions make.
Which cooking shows do you watch?
I get plenty of food-related drama in my day-to-day, thank you very much. That being said, however, “The Big Night” is hands-down my favorite restaurant movie.
What’s your favorite breakfast place on the peninsula?
Borrowed Kitchen Bakery starts off my Wednesday mornings pretty well, before I do my food pickups.
Favorite dessert that you make or serve?
It’s hard to beat fresh-made ice cream using good farm eggs. And when you put halvah and rosewater in it and serve it with a caramelized fig — well, I’m all set.
Favorite place for a cocktail?
Is this cheating? Mossback. Honestly, Christy puts so much time and creative energy into coming up with new cocktails, shrubs and mixers based off the ingredients we have lying around, I can never manage to taste them all.
What’s the hands-down best thing you have eaten in the last month?
A raw slice off the belly of a red, fatty king salmon I was breaking down at the restaurant. No soy sauce, no nothing, just a small chunk of the freshest fish you can get without getting your clothes wet.
Dominick Ferrara
Owner/chef (with wife Rosalie Ferrara)
Green Light Diner, Poulsbo
On your nights off, do you stay in? If so, do you cook, does someone else in the family cook or do you go out?
On my nights off, we stay in most of the time. We do eat out a few times per month. I do about 98 percent of the dinner cooking at home, with a little help from my 3- and 6-year-olds.
Do your kids cook with you?
My youngest kids do help in the kitchen because it’s fun, it’s great family time, and it’s important to us for them to learn early.
When did you know you wanted to be a chef?
I’d say my late teens. Whenever I would dine out, I would try to guess the ingredients and I believed I could make the dish better.
Who was your biggest influence in the kitchen?
Growing up in New Orleans, I had plenty of role models to choose from. My parents were for sure my greatest direct influence, though. My father is 100 percent Italian, so my mother had to learn all of the old recipes from my great-grandmother, who didn’t speak English. The prep for Sunday dinner starts on Saturday!
Which cooking shows do you watch?
Back in the day, it was “Yan Can Cook,” “Louisiana Cookin’,” Julia Childs, “The Frugal Gourmet,” “A Taste of Louisiana.” Today, I watch “Good Eats,” “Everyday Italian,” “Triple D.”
Favorite go-to dish that you cook when you’re in a hurry?
Quesadillas.
Favorite breakfast place on the peninsula?
Ha ha! The Green Light Diner, although the Big Apple Diner is a close second.
Favorite dessert that you make or serve?
We don’t serve many desserts, but we do prepare a ton of milk shakes. We have a monthly shake, and I enjoy the creativity of my fountain staff. This month’s is a Gingersnap Shake, which is going over very well and I’d have to say one of my faves.
Favorite dish to have other people make for you?
My dad makes the most amazing fettuccine alfredo.
Besides a great knife, what’s the one thing no home cook should be without?
A pocket thermometer.
Besides your own restaurant, what restaurants do you find yourself returning to and why?
I need to get out more! There are so many places in our county that I haven’t visited, but when we dine out, it is usually close to home. For pizza for the family, it’s Poulsbo’s Woodfired Pizza House, or Sound Brewing if it’s just the two of us. For sushi, we do Origami. I like JJ’s Fish House for the cioppino.
Comments