3 minute read
Top of his game
Chef Top Rojanasthien and wife Jenny opened Atlas Fare in downtown Wenatchee on Jan. 1. They also own The Thai Restaurant.
KITCHEN CREATIONS
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STORY AND PHOTOS BY LUKE HOLLISTER
Chef Top Rojanasthien’s Seared Scallops with White Bean & Kale Sauté. This is a good, not-too-complicated fall recipe with savory flavors, he said.
A modern take
Chef Top Rojanasthien’s Atlas Fare offers upscale menu
For Top Rojanasthien, cooking is about people. It’s a way to come together, both inside and outside of the kitchen. His philosophy: “Happy food” equals “happy people.”
Rojanasthien is a Wenatchee-based chef and owner of two local restaurants, Atlas Fare and The Thai Restaurant. His beginnings in the world of food started with family.
Growing up, food was what brought the family together, he said. Dinner was shared every night.
Rojanasthien drew from flavors he liked in his childhood when making Atlas Fare’s menu. Then, he took those flavors and gave them what he described as an “upscale, modern take.”
Rojanasthien tries to shop locally for food as much as he can. This includes buying produce from the Wenatchee Valley Farmers Market or other local stops such as Mike’s Meats and Seafood.
Creating meals that other people enjoy and brightening their day is part of what inspires Rojanasthien’s culinary creativity. He said there is an instant gratification watching people enjoy what they are eating after their first couple of bites.
People “kind of inspire everything I do,” he said.
When it comes to creating new recipes, he said, there are not really completely original ideas, just borrowing and combining ingredients in different ways.
Top Rojanasthien works in the Atlas Fare kitchen before doors open for dinner.
Rojanasthien salts white beans and bacon before throwing in kale at Atlas Fare restaurant in downtown Wenatchee.
Rojanasthien said when he shares new flavors with people, he tries to do it in an approachable manner, with a “modern take.”
On Jan. 1, Rojanasthien opened his newest restaurant, Atlas Fare, in downtown Wenatchee. The restaurant features New American cuisine, reflecting Rojanasthien’s wide array of flavor appreciation.
Atlas Fare’s summer menu included garlic truffle wontons, crab chowder, torchon of foie grass, chicken risotto, clay pot prawns, and shrimp and grits. Cooking, he said, is “a tough job but [at] least I’m doing something I like to do.”
The restaurant’s short-term goal, according to Rojanasthien, is to get through the year and be ready when life returns to normal.
Opening was fun, and “then the whole COVID thing hit,” he said. The
Restaurant staff make last-minute preparations before customers arrive.
silver lining is that a slow start has allowed time to fine-tune and hone skills at the new restaurant.
“I grew up here and I’ve seen the town change in so many ways,” he said.
There’s a good energy in town, he said, with quite a few young people opening businesses in town, he said.
Rojanasthien said he wants to share his love for travel and food with people. “I’m not the most social guy … but I get to meet people through the food,” he said.
Cooking has opened up a lot of opportunities, he said. Last June, he had the chance to compete in the Food Network’s “Guy’s Grocery Games” cooking competition.
As a cook, “I’ll never stop trying to learn,” he said. F
Atlas Fare is in the Metropolitan Building on Wenatchee Avenue, near three local wineries.
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