The Chefs' Warehouse Magazine Winter 2021

W I N TER 2021 / 2022, VOL. 17

A FORUM OF

Inspiration

Dustin Valette, Matheson Restaurant

Reflections upon the menus, artisans and ingredients that ignite palates and lift our spirits.

Ascendant

DESCENDANT Rediscovery in the age of pizza

Photo credit: Michael Woolsey

RENAISSANCE MAN OF

ReikiNa &

GUITTARD

SABITINO TARTUFI

TRIBECA OVENS

Positivity and Reflection

by Bruce Luong CW Executive Vice President West Coast and Canada

OSITIVITY IS SO IMPORTANT right now.

We are very happy to see that the demand for dining out has continued to grow. We are also pleased to report that we have hired some talented new folks to join our CW team. This new staffing is really going to help support us going into the holidays and beyond.

P

and offering meal kits, to adding elements of technology to leverage labor, talented chefs and pastry chefs keep reinventing the culinary world.

Providing exceptional products and service to our chefs is the core of the CW Brand. To add to this, CW values all of our customers no matter the size of their establishment. From multilevel, 3 Michelin Star venues headed up by celebrity chefs, to small family run cafes famous for their signature dishes, we do our very best to make sure everyone gets the products they need so that they can run their business.

We are also seeing fewer product shortages than we have in the recent past. Getting products into the warehouse and out to our customers has improved significantly.

What we’ve accomplished in the past twelve months has been amazing.

This time of year I am truly grateful for our employees, our team members; the folks that have stuck with us through all of the challenges we Despite our imported products being a little more faced. Through floods and fires, and difficult to acquire, we, for the most part, have the ongoing challenges presented by products in the warehouse to accommodate our the pandemic, our team members customers. We also continue to look at new are the heart of our company. To say product lines which helps us fill the gap when that I’m grateful to them is an underthere’s a void. statement because without them we wouldn’t be where we’re at today.

As always, creativity in this industry is often about pivoting. Sometimes there’s a silver lining The holiday season is an opportune having to use a different product or even an alter- time to spend time with family and native ingredient from the same vendor because reflect on what we’re thankful for; to it can allow chefs to discover and be creatively take a deep breath and enjoy what inspired. The most successful chefs get creative we have in front of us. across the board. From providing outdoor dining,

The

Winter

NORCAL

A Forum of Inspiration, pg. 7 Chef/Owner Dustin Valette ignites palettes and inspiration with the ‘Forum of Inspiration,’ that is Matheson Restaurant, Healdsburg, CA.

TEXAS

PORTLAND

LAS VEGAS

4

16 Guittard Chocolate showcases Missionary

20 Cleaver Bartender/Owner extraordinaire

Step inside a world of pure imagination ReikiNa style with renaissance man Chef / Owner Thomas Stacy.

TORONTO

Chocolates’ vegan offerings and founder Melissa Berry, a naturopathic physician.

SOCAL

12 Geographic horizons widen with Chef / Owner 18 Fairmont veteran Executive Chef Atticus Grant

Chris Getchell’s inspired pizzas which are about more than artistry.

2 | ChefsWarehouse.com

shares his stellar team behind the Fairmont’s Lumiere’s anticipated opening.

Nectaly Mendoza shares his raw and rewarding journey to creative fulfillment.

INGREDIENT AND PRODUCT FEATURES Foodhandler, Guittard Chocolate’s Missionary Chocolates brand, Sabatino Tartufi and Tribeca Ovens.

Festive Bûche de Noël LONG AGO IN FRANCE, a huge log was placed in the fireplace after being blessed to protect the house and its inhabitants. It was sometimes sprinkled with oil or wine as an offering, and then burned for the occasion of Christmas Eve. In some regions, the log had to be big enough to smolder overnight and even up to Epiphany day, twelve days later. The symbolic cake substituting the wood log quickly became a success and tradition changed from a real log to the classic Yule log!

Offer your guests a jubilant and delicious ‘blessing’ this year by including a dazzling Yule Log on your holiday menu.

Incorporating CW Pastry Category’s endless options for application and decoration has never been more festive!

As you can see here from CW Corporate Pastry Chef François Mellet’s exciting Bûche de Noël inspiration, the creative possibilities are endless!

Created with CW Ingredients Including: Cacao Barry Whole Fruit Chocolate Cacao Barry extra brute cocoa powder Cacao Barry Grand Caraque Cacao Barry Fleur de Cao Cacao Barry Guayaquil Boiron Raspberry Puree

Winter 2021 /2022 | 3

Renaissance Man of ReikiNa

By Kelli Colaco HEF/OWNER THOMAS STACY of ReikiNa (‘Snacks to pair with Divine Energy,) in Houston, TX, has the sort of ‘come up’ story that has one say, ‘You did WHAT?! HOW?’

C

A lifelong visual artist and musician, not to mention vinyl collector, art curator, plus--he made his own damn tables for his restaurant, Chef Thomas Stacy entered his chef / restaurateur career through an unconventional creative side door. Thomas shares, ‘ People are like, ‘Did you go to culinary school?’ And I say, ‘No, I went to the internet.’ I waited tables during college and staged at my favorite restaurant, Uchi (Houston TX) for almost a year, but mostly I browse the internet, read cookbooks, watch videos and cram ideas together.

Don’t let Stacy’s unabashed modesty fool you, his culinary narrative harks back to his early childhood making eighthgeneration buttermilk biscuits with his grandfather and watching his Dad, a proper Francophile from Louisiana, flambé fancy French sauces.

Further evidence of Stacy’s ‘natural born ‘culinarian’ gave way when in middle school, he and his brother bought their own smoker and smoked pork shoulders and fruit. In high school, Thomas found himself obsessed with making apple pies with his best friend’s mom. Thomas shared, ‘I now realize now how formative these things were. They were cool but super nerdy and something other kids were not doing, like, at all.’

Graduating University of Houston with a degree in Supply Chain Management, Thomas wound up in Seattle, running an Amazon fulfillment center. After three years the realization that ‘fulfillment’ was exactly what his life was lacking became very loud.

Thomas bravely chopped and changed. He moved back home to Houston and committed himself to finding a career in one of his three passions, painting, music, or cooking.

Cooking being ‘the lowest barrier to success,’ Thomas set his intention and sallied forth accordingly. ‘I had to start somewhere’ Thomas offered, so I took my resume, and went to my favorite restaurant in Houston, Uchi, with Chef/ Owner Tyson Cole. Fortunately, they hired me for short stage. ‘Uchi was

4 | ChefsWarehouse.com

HOUSTON

incredible. I had zero kitchen experience and I didn’t realize I would be allowed to create dishes right away.

The first dish I put up for tasting made it through.

It was a garam masala duck confit with persimmon habanero chutney and coconut yogurt. People ate it and I was like, holy crap.’

After working at Uchi for about a year, Chef Stacy was set to help open a new innovative Mediterranean called March, also in Houston. The day after orientation at March, all of Houston closed down due to the pandemic.

After a few months of biding time Thomas was tired of not working. A close friend, reluctant to eat in restaurants when the ‘Nora’ was still unfolding, was enticed by Thomas’s social media posts of his cooking-while-camping exploits. He subsequently invited himself to dinner at Thomas’s which would become the seed to the young chefs’ decision to host tasting menu evenings at his home; a decision that would ultimately change his life.

Thomas explains, ‘My friend who was replying to my story, is a meme guy. He has a lot of followers so this got word of mouth going. I also made a website and started riding my bike to houses that I loved in the neighborhood for their beautiful architecture. I’d deliver a letter saying, ‘I love your house.

I’d like to invite you to dinner, a Japanese-French Fusion Tasting Menu experience.’

I got about a 20% reply rate, which was good.

I really wanted everything to grow by word of mouth so I made these glass tile tokens and I painted a little circle on them and would say, ‘This is a

‘We do a meditation at the dinner every night. I say, ‘I know meditation is not for everybody, and I don ’t care. I want to push you out of your comfort zone a little bit.’

token of referral, a ‘Shokai’ in Japanese (meaning inquiry.) I would encourage people to pass the tokens out to their friends with the information on how to make a booking. This really started working.’ Chef Thomas shared.

‘I would have been booked up by now at my house but I was offered the restaurant spot on New Year’s Eve. Somebody came to eat at my house who had connections with the shopping center, where ReikiNa is now.’

Chef Stacy offered. And the rest, as they say, is ReikiNa’s his-story.

Speaking of story, we asked Chef Thomas, (who intuitively connects everything he offers to personal origin stories, ) ‘Why do stories matter?

Winter 2021 /2022 | 5

He responded,’ When someone drops a dish in front of you, you can eat it and it can taste good. Fine, that’s great. But if they can tell you the story behind it, about the person who created that recipe eight generations ago; something personal and/or specific, you then have further respect and connection, it can taste even better.’

The seasonal private tasting menu highlighting Asian flavors through a European lens’ at ReikiNa benefits nightly from Chef Thomas’s eclectic vinyl selection and Thomas playing piano at the venue. He explains, ‘I’ve been playing piano since I was a kid. I had my piano in my house while we were doing the dinners. I would serve dessert, take off my apron, go in my room and start playing piano and see if anyone would notice… and they did. Then, when we were building the restaurant, which has a lot of space I asked myself, ‘Do we bring the piano? Do we keep that as part of the experience? Or is that going to be weird?’ And then I just decided there’s a lot of weird stuff about what we do anyway so I should just own it. So I decided to keep playing piano during desert. I play Radiohead covers and Bee Gees and stuff like that.

To add to the artistic luster of ReikiNa, the venue boasts a 105 ft. wall that acts as a rotating gallery for local artists curated by Thomas. ‘I was at one of my friend’s galleries and saw this triptych that now hangs in the front of the restaurant. And I was just like, I wonder if he’d want to move it to the restaurant. And so he did. But there was still more space so I asked a couple more artists. And then I realized, Okay, we’re gonna rotate the menu. Why don’t we rotate the art gallery?’

Chef Thomas shares. ‘I’m curating it on a referral. I’ll ask the current artists, ‘Who do you like right now? Let’s reach out to them.’ The deal is the artists have to move everything in and out. I’m not going to hang anything. I’m not going to remove anything. But I’m also not going to take a cut of their sales.’

ReikiNa was manifested from Thomas’s overflowing artistic nature and appreciation for that of others. Chef Thomas shared. ‘We do a meditation at the dinner every night. I say, ‘I know meditation is not for everybody, and I don’t care. I want to push you out of your comfort zone a little bit. I want to invite you to close your eyes and take some deep breaths with me and find your center. I invite some

6 | ChefsWarehouse.com

thoughts of gratitude. Then I walk away and the first course, an East Coast Oyster with Sockeye Citrus Salmon Emulsion, is in front of the guests when they open their eyes.’

What is most inspiring about Chef Thomas Stacy is his parkour level of creative zeal intermingled with a distinct lack of hubris.

Despite his rocket to ‘one to watch’ status’ and relative ‘luck’ of landing a successful brick and mortar so early in his culinary voyage, there’s nothing preachy about him. Instead what you get is a vibrant ‘Shokai,’ that has you want to dance to the music he’s playing; submerge yourself in his tasting menu of the moment. When I asked him if there was anything else he would like his fellow chefs to know about him, he responded cheekily but earnestly with, ‘You can just tell them I said ‘I love you.’

A Forum of Inspiration Sonoma County

Dustin Valette Matheson Restaurant Healdsburg, CA

by Kelli Colaco

Born in Healdsburg and raised in Geyserville and Healdsburg CA, Dustin Valette has a rich family history in gorgeous Sonoma country that steeps back generations. In 1900, at the age of 20, Dustin’s great grandfather Honoree Valette, a baker from Southern France, fell in love with the familiar rich terroir of the area and the opportunities it promised.

At seventeen Dustin escaped his small-town roots to New York where he attended the C.I.A. in Hyde Park. A stellar culinary career followed with credits that include: Aqua SF, Bouchon, Napa Valley, Hokus, the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Honolulu, VOX in Las Vegas and most recently Dry Creek Kitchen in Healdsburg. In 2015 Dustin opened his own restaurant, Valette with partner-brother Aaron Gazini in the very same building his great grandfather had his bakery two generations prior.

Coming full circle this past fall (September 2nd, 2021) Dustin opened Matheson Restaurant with partner Craig Ramsey. The Matheson, a

dynamic dining destination also in downtown Healdsburg, shines like a tri-level beacon of craftsmanship boasting a fine dining restaurant, with chef de cuisine Matt Brimer, a sushi counter created by renowned sushi chef Ken Tominaga, two bars, a rooftop lounge, an 88-bottle cuvée system and a selection of over 400 local wines, including Valette’s own label Valette Wines.

Just in time for the season of light, CW Magazine had the distinct privilege to sit down with ‘king of multitasking’ Dustin Valette to zone in on the greater mission he’s aiming to procure, like precious seeds in his hometown’s still fertile soil.

Winter 2021 /2022 | 7

What’s gonna make us happy? What’s our dream job?’

What came up for us the most was that we wanted to keep our family tight. We wanted to be part of a community. We wanted to be a part of something special.

So we moved back to Healdsburg to be closer to my family; my mom, my dad, and we moved my mother-inlaw up from the East Bay and started a new life. This is the best move we could have made.

Matheson Restaurant (and Valette) is steeped in layers of craftsmanship. Can you speak to how this in line with your greater mission?

A Conversation With Chef / Restaurateur Dustin Valette: Your parents played a big part in how your dreams took flight?

Both of my parents worked a lot and long hours. They were both pilots. My mom was a chief pilot for Reach Air Ambulances and my Dad was an aerial firefighter working for CDF. My two brothers, sister, and I grew up with a sense that no matter what went on in my parent’s busy days, we’d always have a guarantee that at some point in the evening we would sit down to dinner together as a family. Sometimes that wouldn’t be until 9:30 at night, but it would always happen. I remember loving this so much as a kid. It was this love that kicked off my career in the culinary arts. The knowing that food is more than just the consumption of calories. Food is about coming together, breaking bread together.

Food is about us staying around the table talking, enjoying ourselves, appreciating life.

When I was about 13 my parents separated.

We lost that sense of coming together at the table. It was at that time, at 13, that I started working professionally in restaurants. Looking back, that was my yearning for that cohesion, that coming together for dinner.

You chose the road less traveled in terms of your education and some of your people thought you were crazy. Please explain.

Well, I turned down a few scholarships to great universities to go to culinary school.

Alot of my friends and family were pretty confused as to why I would turn down full scholarships to pay to train in a blue-collar

8 | ChefsWarehouse.com

career. It was the 90s and pursuing a career as a chef was not considered a legitimate choice.

However, when I told my Dad about my choice he said,’ You have to follow what’s calling you to get where you want to be.’ Dad had always told me from a very young age, ‘If you do what you love, you never have to work a day in your life.’ I was very fortunate that both of my parents taught me this by example.

The majority of people do not find their way into something that they love. It’s so important to know that you can keep searching if it doesn’t come to you right away.

You have to keep looking. Don’t just fall into something to pay the bills. Of course, there is the burden of reality, we all have monthly bills. But if you keep insisting that you will find a job that will pay you for what you love to do, you will find it.

You were on a very bright culinary trajectory on a national level and you chose to bring all your gifts and experience back home. Please expound.

While working at VOX Restaurant near Las Vegas, the stock market crashed and the Vegas market wasn’t as ideal.

I asked my wife ‘What do we want in life?

From our handmade tables by Andrew Somawang, amazing photography by Andy Katz, the art on the walls painted for this venue by Jay Mercado, to our handmade plates, we seek out people who are passionate about their craft. It took months for Jay Mercado to create these beautiful renderings that represent who we are as an agricultural community.

Who we are is a collection of people passionate to showcase their craft. We also showcase farmers, ranchers, and grape growers. We want to create Matheson as a forum; a place to inspire others.

We happily commissioned the pieces of art by Jay Mercado at Matheson. We paid for somebody’s craft because it has value. It has function and makes our souls content. I think this is what we have to focus on; what we need to excite the next generation about.

You like to say Matheson offers a seasonal menu of what ‘farmers can create.’ What do you mean by this?

We’re stewards of what our ranchers have, what our fishmongers have, what Chefs’ Warehouse has.

Working with what is available now, for this season

SONOMA COUNTY

feels honest and integral. Like the awesome Flannery Meat which we buy from CW. Here’s an amazing vendor that we’re able to use and showcase and pay homage back to the Flannery family to mine back that dream. And our CW Rep. Sheri Barrows is amazing.

Your neighbor fellow Chef/Owner Kyle Connuaghton at Single Thread is your competition, but reportedly, he’s also your friend?

You could literally throw tomatoes at the two businesses. But we’re not fighting each other. It’s the opposite. If he needs something he calls me first. If I need something, I call him first. We share liquid nitrogen! We want each other to be highly successful. We want to come together in this way. I probably get less of what I want because he is taking some of my clientele and he probably gets less what he wants because I’m getting some of his clientele but the sum of the parts are greater than anything we ever imagined because we work together.

Can you speak to the responsibility of supporting our local farms and entrepreneurs?

We’re part of an important movement.

We help sustain new farms, farmers, and ranchers. We’re able to help sustain people who would become a dying breed

without this support. We also want to support entrepreneurs. To help people see there’s a path forward. You don’t have to come from large amounts of wealth or work for a large corporation. You can be a crazy entrepreneur and move forward. This type of movement enables us to play on the same field as Applebee’s because we’re able to buy a product at a good price, and sell it at a good price. And because of that profitability variable, we’re able to utilize that capital to pay our employees a fair wage. We will use this capital to pursue our dreams. We simply have to have more entrepreneurs. We have to have fewer regulations to make us successful and keep the American Dream alive.

Tis, ‘the season’. What are you most grateful for?

My wife and I are living in this magical time raising our beautiful five and six-year-old daughters. This time of year inspires me to reflect on how beautiful and gorgeous life is. After such challenging past two years, I am happy that we can have 20 folks together for a festive dinner. I’m looking most forward to being able to embrace people again; to stop by a friend’s house for a glass of wine, give a neighbor a hug and high-five a person walking down the street. That’s what I personally look forward to.

Winter 2021 /2022 | 9

Sabatino Tartufi is well known for being a family-owned truffle company focused on bringing their love of truffles to the world. For 110 years, Sabatino Tartufi has been the truffle supplier of choice for the world’s best chefs.

With this being the season of the much sought after fresh White Truffle and Black Truffle, and so many questions about supply and application ideas, CW Magazine went straight to the source. Read on for everything you need to know now about Sabatino Tartufi truffles and truffle products for your glorious winter holiday menus.

10 | ChefsWarehouse.com

Please share the Sabatino family business story.

How did it all start and how has it maintained its level of success and unity all of these years?

Sabatino Tartufi started in 1911 when Sabatino Balestra and his wife Giuseppina opened their first store in the heart of Umbria, Italy and began distributing specialty food products. One of those specialty products was locally-grown truffles that grew naturally on their land.

How specifically are Sabatino truffles sourced?

The vast majority of our truffles come directly from Italy, many of which grow naturally in our own estate forests.

In order to meet the global demand for truffles, we also source from other regions of Italy, France, and Spain. When sourcing truffles outside of what can be found on our land, quality is always first. We have built a reputation for being uncompromising when it comes to the quality of the truffles we source.

What should chefs know about Sabatino Truffles this season?

This holiday season may be one of the most challenging seasons for white truffles on record. Because of drought conditions and warmer temperatures in Italy, there are a limited number of truffles available, especially white truffles, the most prized and prestigious species. Our customers choose us because we stand behind our products 100%. We always focus on bringing the best quality, all-natural products to market, because that’s what our customers expect from us. There may be less expensive products on the market, but very few can compete with us in terms of quality and value. What we offer is better quality truffles and more authentic truffle products at fair prices.

Everyone’s dreaming of a White Truffle Christmas / Holiday Season. Will there be enough to go around?

This is a tough one. We hope there will be more white truffles harvested this season, but Mother Nature can be fickle. You can trust that if there are white truffles available, Sabatino Tartufi will do everything in our power to get them to our customers.

Please share a fact about truffles that most chefs do not know.

Most chefs don’t know that while all truffles grow sporadically, black truffles are cultivated and can be grown on truffle plantations, like on our estate in Italy. We take

great care at Sabatino to inoculate and nurture each new sapling we plant on our estate, but that’s no guarantee that truffles will grow. Meanwhile, white truffles cannot be cultivated, which increases their cost because they are more difficult to find.

Can black truffles replace white truffles in a recipe?

Black winter truffles can absolutely be substituted for white truffles, however, the flavors and aromatic profile of the dish will change slightly due to the richer, earthier flavors of black winter truffles, as opposed to the more focused, complex and nuanced flavors of white truffles.

2021 has been the year of supply challenges.

Can you speak to the challenges Sabatino Tartufi is overcoming?

The global pandemic and supply chain constraints that are prevalent throughout the world have certainly affected Sabatino Tartufi because we are a global company. Supply chain issues have made it more difficult for us to source some of the materials we use to package and produce our truffle products. However, because we are vertically integrated, and produce many of our products here in the United States, we have been able to avoid many of the issues other food companies may have faced.

Please share a few innovative applications for utilizing Sabatino Truffles and Truffle ingredients.

Right now we are seeing truffles used across a wide range of cuisines that we never thought possible. As today’s chefs continue to innovate and find new ways to cook and prepare dishes, the creativity with which they incorporate our truffles and truffle products is mind-blowing. We are seeing our products used in tacos, ramen bowls, poke bowls, baos, sushi and sashimi, as well as on chicken wings and fried chicken.

Everyone deserves to celebrate this year more than ever before. Is there a Sabatino Truffle Cocktail we can share with our chefs and bar directors?

One of the products chefs and bar directors have gravitated towards over the last few years is our truffle honey, because it adds an earthy element to cocktails. It shines alongside Bourbon in our Truffle Gold Rush cocktail where we use it in place of simple syrup to create a new twist on a classic cocktail. You can check the recipe out on our website: SabatinoTartufi.com

Winter 2021 /2022 | 11

TORONTO

ascendant descendant Rediscovery in the Age of Pizza with Chris Getchell

by Sean Jeremy Palmer

P

izza has been the big culinary success story of the pandemic and raves for Toronto’s Descendant Pizza, commonly referred to as the BEST pizza in Canada, has seen unparalleled success.

Their secret? I sought to find it with my scheduled call with Chris Getchell, Descendant’s chef, founder and owner.

Put aside the brick cheese, artisan sausage, sherry vinegar and the like, Chris’s vulnerability disarmed me as he leaned in to grace, sharing with a stranger a glimpse of his personal challenge at a time when his business has never been better.

12 | ChefsWarehouse.com

“Testing, testing, I am recording this,” I begin. “Let’s get started. So where are you right now?” I ask.

“I live in Markdale,” he replies. Markdale is a community in the heart of central Canada cattle country, population 1,216.

“It’s a couple hours north of Toronto. I go in a few times a week right now, kind of in the middle of changing my life. And yeah, just trying to figure out what my next steps are as we’re growing the business.”

“These last two years, I think many of us are at a crossroads,” I reply. “Are you open to discussing the challenges you’re facing? I was thinking we’d talk about pizza, but life may be a bit more interesting.“ “What kind of questions?”

“You said that you’re at a crossroads, making some different decisions and figuring out what’s next. I’d like you to expand on that if you can.”

“That’s a tough one without getting too personal. It might be best to stick to the pizza.” Chris pauses then continues. “I just had to get out of the city for a little while, you know, I’ve signed only a year lease just to see if it’s something that I’m interested in; it’s farmland, right. I, you know, I, had to make a change. The pizzeria’s running really well with the great managers we have down there now.

We actually grew during the shutdown, by 20-25%. It was a lot of pressure. And, you know, everybody here’s kind of beat down by this whole pandemic, and the morale is different. Yeah, it’s just – I don’t even know where I’m going with this.”

“Yeah, that’s the point of the conversation.” I reply. “You have a long history in pizza from Pizzeria Libretto, and the Davenport Pizza House, which led to you creating Descendent. Tell me about what brought you to a culinary career and what’s behind your pizza calling?”

“I started cooking fairly late,” Chris responds. “I didn’t start cooking until I was in my early 30s.

It was just something that I always loved. Here I was in between jobs, and one day the thought, I think I’d like to start working in restaurants and moved to Nova Scotia. I had a restaurant contact and one day I happened to bump into him, Chef Craig Flynn, and I just asked him if there was a chance that I could come in and work for free. He said, sure, and a week later something opened up and he offered me a job.”

“How do you define Detroit-style pizza and how have you made it your own?” I ask.

“It’s like a thicker, Sicilian style-like dough.

That’s one of the characteristics in addition to the cheese, that is baked into steel rectangular pans which goes in a little bit deeper and allows the cheese to go edge-to-edge, caramelizing to

the edges of the pan, making a crispier pizza all around; it’s just fresher and brighter,” he continues.

“If you look at some of our posts on Instagram, you can see we create everything for our pizzas from scratch. We roast our mushrooms and puree our garlic and use things like sherry vinegar. There’s culinary technique applied to everything we do, and everything is made in-house.”

“Pizza has been the big success story of the pandemic, as you know,” I say. “In terms of your rolling with life’s punches, I find you very fortunate to have been able to to have been in that sweet spot where many restaurants haven’t been—your business is still in place while many restaurants have had to close or completely change their business model.”

“Yeah,” Chris says. “It’s a very, very sad thing to see. Places closing while we were doing really well almost felt bad at times. You know, I didn’t want that. At times it felt so bad and it really took us all a bit of patience and perspectivre... to be honest.”

Winter 2021 /2022 | 13

FOR THE LOVE OF CHOCOLATE : Missionary Chocolates and Guittard Chocolate Company

G

uittard’s craft is as much about making beautifully tasting chocolate as it is about supporting the people and preserving the places behind what they make. As a fifth generation family company Guittard continues to find ways to support explore and grow and is filled with gratitude for their longstanding partnerships with pastry chefs and chocolate makers around the world.

Guittard Chocolate Company and Missionary Chocolates Missionary Chocolates, owned and operated by Dr. Melissa Berry in Portland, Oregon, exclusively uses Guittard Chocolate for all of their amazing handmade chocolate offerings. With the captivating, health-nurturing narrative behind Missionary Chocolates, and Melissa’s longstanding love of Guittard, we have a cross-over feature made in chocolate heaven.

Missionary Chocolates began in 2008 when Melissa Berry, a naturopathic physician, was in her last year of medical school.

What started out as gifts for her vegan mother, quickly became an award-winning company.

Missionary Chocolates are allergy-friendly and ideal for the final touch to a satisfying dining experience. They can easily be incorporated in pastry and dessert applications and added as customized restaurant shop merchandise. Missionary Chocolates also offer a myriad of semi-savory treats and snacks, ideal for bar and cocktail creations.

But don’t take our word for it. Read on for the ‘low down’ straight from Dr. Melissa Berry of Missionary Chocolates.

Guittard Chocolate Company has earned a place in professional kitchens all across America with its broad range of high-performing chocolate that deliver excellent flavor and consistency. For over 150 years, pastry chefs, bakers and confectioners have come to appreciate the versatility that Guittard’s traditional and artisan lines offer. Preferred by confectioners like Dr. Melissa Berry at Missionary Chocolates, Guittard offers Keto and Paleo-friendly chocolates along with Organic options that are suitable for a variety of applications. Both the 64% Etoile du Nord couverture and the 55% Organique Chip are standards in Melissa’s confectionery kitchen as well as professional kitchens ranging from four and five star fine-dining operations to large-scale manufacturing of baked goods and candy. Guittard’s artisan Collection Etienne line delivers sophisticated flavors with state-of-the-art performance.

Guittard Chocolate Company’s range includes chips, chunks, powders, and couverture, along with chocolate flavored compound products. The Guittard team is eager to support you’re R&D process with every menu change. Like Gary Guittard’s father used to say, “Guittard Chocolate Company is about people working with people; we just happen to make great chocolate.” Reach out to your Chefs Warehouse sales professional for working samples and spec sheets.

14 | ChefsWarehouse.com

Beyond making lovely vegan chocolate gifts for your Mom, what inspired you to jump from being in the medical profession to being a chocolate maker?

Having a one-and-a-half-year-old and being a single mom. It was a proper plan B in case I didn’t get licensed, pass my boards or find a job as a doctor. I was a full on single mother and I had to find something to fall back on, otherwise I could have been washing windows. My son was oneand-a-half when I started the company and now he’s 15. Missionary Chocolates is turning 14 years old as a company this year. And now we have 2 and 1/2-year-old twins! Life is very full and fun.

How has being a doctor benefited your business?

The classes that I had to take to become a naturopathic doctor and to obtain my undergraduate degree really helped me understand the chemistry of chocolate making. I’m definitely more of a chocolate maker than I thought I’d be. It is a lot of fun. And I still offer supplements and talk to people about different health conditions and give free advice. My mom, who suffers from chronic Lyme disease, is also my patient. I started the CBD Chocolate line for her. I finally convinced her that CBD was beneficial and worth trying.

She’s liking it a lot and is finally off all the Tylenol.

What should chefs and pastry chefs know about Missionary Chocolates?

free. So it’s incredibly helpful for chefs and pastry chefs to have inventory on their shelves that caters to all of those things. We also offer logo customizations.

Missionary Chocolates use Guittard Chocolate exclusively. Please share why.

Guittard Chocolate is amazing. In blind taste tests over the years, everyone always likes the Guittard Chocolate more than any other brand. When we taste everything side by side, we always choose Guittard. It’s incredibly high-quality. The chocolates melt beautifully. It incorporates our flavor so well. I often say that chocolate is like a blank canvas. You can flavor it with almost anything. We also use very high-quality organic coconut milk for the fat base for our ganache. With chocolate, you’re flavoring the fat that you put into the chocolate and so the chocolate is like a canvas.

Missionary Chocolates has more riding on what they offer than just being top-tier delicious.

I’ve been using Guittard since the very beginning.

I’m in communication with Guittard and confident in their management of allergens in their facilities because having an allergy-friendly product line means I have to present a product that I can look somebody in the eye and say, ‘This is safe for you, and it’s also the damn best.’

If I didn’t know would I be able to tell Missionary Chocolates were vegan?

We will happily send you a blindfold and a box of our chocolates. You start munching and you tell me okay?!

You named the company Missionary Chocolates in homage to your grandparents who were both physicians and missionaries all over the world. How did that impact your life?

My grandparents were phenomenal and very philanthropic. They were an inspiration for me.

They lived in Thailand for a lot of years. They started a hospital there in Bangkok. They spoke fluent Thai. These are two Caucasians from Modesto California. Their impact on my life was extreme. I ate a lot of coconut milk growing up, so it just seemed like a no-brainer to put coconut milk in the chocolate because it’s good fat from a medical and chemistry perspective.

What do you look forward to in the holiday season?

Hopefully being able to get orders out on time.

I hope people are really busy. I hope every restaurant is packed to the gills and that people are just so excited about being in the world and celebrating. That’s ultimately where chocolate fits in. To be able to gift and eat something and have it be yummy. Missionary Chocolates are a celebration of life.

Everything that we make is gluten-free, and soyGuittard Chocolate Company manufactures products that are made on equipment that also produces milk chocolate; as such, our dark chocolates are not suitable for individuals with milk allergies due to cross contact with milk allergens. Guittard does not use the term ‘Vegan’ to describe any of our products.

We understand that the term Vegan does not have an FDA legal definition; this is separate from the legal requirements for allergen labeling.

Winter 2021 /2022 | 15

LOS ANGELES

The Keystones of an Icon with Executive Chef Atticus Garant Fairmont Hotel, Century City When CW Magazine reached out to award-winning Executive Chef Atticus Garant to request his participation in a feature on him and the recently opened Fairmont Hotel in Century City, Los Angeles, he replied, ‘I will happily participate but I would like the feature to focus mostly on my stellar team.’

Read on for the LA skinny on Chef Atticus Garant and how relies on his killer team of keystones to invigorate and reopen the icon that is the Fairmont Hotel, Century City.

The Fairmont Century Plaza was initially scheduled to open on April 20, 2021 and didn’t open until the following September.

Was there a silver lining to the delay?

I always say the journey starts with people. The greatest benefit to us having that time was that we were able to find incredible people.

I’m a huge believer in people and culture.

We can’t get anywhere anymore in this industry without a positive culture and strong relationships.

Having the time to work on menus and collaborate, has yielded a better product and also refined as a unit.

What is something essential that you have learned in this experience of opening this particular property for the iconic Fairmont Hotel brand during these unprecedented times?

I’m always learning. If we are not learning we are dead in the water, right? Of course, Covid has changed everything. Today’s chef is a lot different than the chef of a year and a half ago. We’re in much different waters. We’ve had to get really good at pivoting and adapting. That’s the new superpower chefs must have if they want to succeed.

Speaking of superpowers, tell us about your stellar team.

There are five divisions in what I call our ‘Keystone Team.’ If you’re not familiar with the term ‘keystone’ it’s the last piece that is put in an archway that locks the whole archway together. It is the crucial piece needed to complete it. The players we have here at Fairmont Century Plaza are truly keystones. Without them, we just would not be who we are.

The Stewards The general public doesn’t truly understand what a steward does.

First and foremost, without our Executive Steward Haydee Tapia and our Assistant Executive Steward Emmanuel Gomez, we would we have been nothing, we would be literally just a bunch of chefs running around the house. These two leaders have been pivotal in making sure that the systems that we put on paper have come to fruition.

Heart of House / Back of House We call our back of house, the ‘heart of house.’ We have to keep our heart of house sparkling. We have a term we like to use within our kitchens and that’s ‘surgical.’ We want the kitchens to be stainless and the floors polished, the corners scrubbed, (i.e. surgical) so that we can make the magic happen. This is the superpower of the ‘heart of house’ team.

The Lumière Team Our Executive Chef Ramon Bohorquez has worked in some phenomenal restaurants and has an awesome reputation. He’s brilliant at sourcing amazing local ingredients and has a breadth of knowledge about the LA food scene. He’s got a huge task as Century

16 | ChefsWarehouse.com

Plaza is not known as a dining destination, but he’s done a phenomenal job and is well equipped for the challenge.

Paul Quinn, The General Manager of Lumière at The Fairmont is an industry legend. Former GM of Quince in San Francisco, Daniel Boulud’s restaurants, and Service Director at Eleven Madison Park, there is no one better than Quinn for this position.

Ramon and Paul’s task is to bring the community and new people traveling to LA to the Fairmont Century City to have dinner at Lumière. Lunch and breakfast business will materialize on their own because of where we are, but we really want to see how we can drive our dinner business.

The Three Pastry Chefs Our Executive Pastry Chef Michael Aguilar (formerly of The Absinthe Group in SF, The Beverly Hills Hotel, Wolfgang Puck andThe Ritz Carlton, St, Regis Monarch Beach Resort) and his team. Chef Michael has been on board since November of 2019. He knows Southern California like the back of his hand and has a great pedigree here. Chef Michael and his pastry team including Nancy Guerrero and Lena Kim, are a bunch of ‘monsters’ are a bunch of ‘monsters’ at what they do, seriously incredible.

the flow of everything is under control. I look at everything that we do and judge it from a standpoint of ‘How can we do it better?’ ‘How can we show LA something that they’ve never seen or they’ve never had?’ I have this rockstar team that can help bring the vision to fruition.

Any words on The Chefs’ Warehouse?

I’m a huge believer in people and culture,. We can’t get anywhere anymore in this industry without a positive culture and strong relationships. Our CW Rep. Orazio Afrento has been unbelievable since day one. Not just about what he’s been able to get for us (we love Flannery Beef and the CW Farmer’s Market Program) but I’ve never felt like we are just customers.

We’ve literally gotten rid of certain suppliers because the rep has just been awful or their delivery has been terrible or whatever the case might be. It’s the same message I share with every vendor. You sell apples, they sell apples. There’s a lot of people in the city who sell apples. It’s going to come down to how the rep handles our people. Orazio never, ever makes us feel like we’re a number. We never feel like we’re just account 42. You know? It’s a very personalized service. And that goes for everyone at CW.

Events Chef Recently promoted to Events Chef, Chef Jose Sanchez is the newest leader on our team, joining us back in August ’21. He will oversee all of the events and programming here at the hotel. Obviously, that’s a very long list of high-caliber events. Chef Jose is a pivotal team member and has also really helped get all the systems set up for the lobby and the bar for the great food program we have in those areas.

What is your superpower as Executive Chef?

I tend to always be looking to help everyone and to make sure that

Winter 2021 /2022 | 17

WORKING WITH INDEPENDENT RESTAURANTS has been at the heart of what we do, and our current circumstances have made that no different.

Tribeca Oven started as a small artisan bakery in New York City, over 30 years ago. After relocating across the river to northern New Jersey, we have maintained our commitment to simple ingredients and a traditional bread-making approach. You won’t find any bioengineered ingredients or preservatives in our bread; our unique process is responsible for creating the signature flavor that our customers cherish.

18 | ChefsWarehouse.com

Today, we understand the need to deliver quality products that can handle being delivered, picked-up, and photographed for Instagram. Our dedicated bakers are steady at work, transforming premium ingredients into the flavorful, hand-crafted loaves, buns and sandwich carriers that you experience today. From the kneading of the dough to the final loaf of bread, our team has committed themselves to an intimate baking approach to ensure that our precise quality standards are always achieved.

Thanks to their commitment to new ideas and creativity, our bakers are the masterminds behind our new products, such as the Olive Oil Panino, that push the boundaries of Tribeca Oven. Through our innovative efforts, we offer you the best bread available while staying committed to our artisan roots.

Looking to the future, Tribeca Oven is working to adopt more eco-conscious practices and operations in an effort to contribute to an environmentally-friendly tomorrow. We believe that helping the environment is crucial component of being truly clean label.

From our ingredient sourcing to our operations and packaging, we are continuously seeking ways to improve so that you can take pride in enjoying an artisan product that is also good to the environment. We invite you to share in join our artisan journey filled with a vision of quality and a passion for excellence. With Tribeca Oven, you will enjoy an elevated bread experience that will keep you and your customers coming back for more.

Visit tribecaoven.com to learn more about our products and artisan process.

Winter 2021 /2022 | 19

LAS VEGAS

Bartender / Restaurateur Story:

Nectaly Mendoza of Cleaver – Butchered Meats, Seafood & Classic Cocktails

vast range of sauces and rubs for every palate, is already an L.V. off the Strip favorite.

LAS VEGAS LEGENDARY BARTENDER and restaurateur Nectaly Mendoza and his Cleaver team rose like Phoenixes above the challenges of Covid, and a dramatic fire that nearly ended their new restaurant venture before it even began.

With smoke and water damage from the fire that raged in the building upstairs from the venue, Cleaver was meant to shut down for repairs for nine months. The resilient team however turned things around in three weeks. Owner Nectaly shared, ‘We have a lot of people on our team with children and even children’s children who depend on us. To keep that many people out of work was just not an option. We just had to get everybody back.’

Cleaver, which opened in early September, boasts an impressive 8,000-square-foot corner space with several dining rooms and an idyllic horseshoe bar. Its to die for wine list and tantalizing cocktail creations, along with high-grade comfort food menu stunners like bone marrow with blueberry demi-glace, cherry lamb chops, a raw bar and surf and turf with a

20 | ChefsWarehouse.com

Nectaly offered, ‘Due to our reputation and success with our first venue Herb&Rye, we were able to do everything we wanted to do with Cleaver without financial limitations.

We wanted to have a high-end steakhouse without the high-end stuffiness. Cleaver is more than a restaurant, it’s a meeting ground. We get everyone from Marshawn Lynch, to school teachers, to priests, to nightclub organizers. We get all walks of life and they all want to be seen and not be seen in the same place at the same time. We joke around and say ‘Cleaver is a place where you can go to celebrate a wedding or a divorce. There’s nothing you can’t do at Cleaver!’

Beyond his wildly successful venues and unique mixologist/bar program talent, Nectaly Mendoza, (like so many of the food industry greats CW Magazine highlights,) inspires us past the procuring and splendor of indulgence to something even more compelling.

– Zen and the Art of Bartending with Nectaly Mendoza, Owner/Bartender Cleaver Las Vegas Bartending is one of the purest forms of how to reflect your artistry.

The world looks at bartending as a stepping stone job. In reality, this is a beautiful career path. Bartenders are everything; every walk of life, every race, color, creed. They reflect who and what they are, from behind the bar.

Bartenders are artists in their own right and the crowd is their instrument.

The music they play is how they make everybody feel. The open-minded-

ness and compassion of a bartender and their willingness to not be one-sided, is really a craft in itself. Anybody can be a bartender, but to master your craft, it takes a lot of practice, it takes a lot of knowledge, and it’s one of those few crafts that never ends. It’s impossible to learn it all. You have to stay humble and just do your best every day.

The Beautiful Sober Truth Building up yourself mentally is the best gift you can give yourself.

I’m a recovering drug addict as well as an alcoholic. I still go to bars and hang out with my friends. I have zero issues. I’m not triggered like that because I built myself to have the mental strength to say I can handle any situation. When I started my path to sobriety, I thought the industry was going to cast me out for it. Actually, it was the complete opposite. The human race as a whole is amazing. You’d be amazed at what people can accomplish through empathy, forgiveness, and understanding. I think that when it comes to sobriety, and having the clarity of what you do in life, it really boils down to how much

positivity you give yourself. I simply cut all negativity out of my life, and it’s worked wonders for me. Don’t get me wrong, it’s always good to have ‘good times.’ But I think we’re kind of confused about what pleasure is in life sometimes. You know, pleasure is longevity, it’s family, the people around us.

We live in a very unstable world and we all want stability. I don’t know what other people are going through. It’s easy for us on the outside looking into to say ‘don’t do this or don’t do that. But we don’t know everybody’s individual situation. Regarding getting sober, I’m willing to help anybody who’s willing to help themselves. But I don’t feel like anybody’s ever missing out on their life if they enjoy a drink. However, my heart does go out to people who I see that don’t achieve the success they should because they don’t know how great they are. But the individual has to make their own choices. It’s our job as people to pick people up and help them move forward. But it’s not our job to drag them.

Winter 2021 /2022 | 21

OVER 50 YEARS AGO, FoodHandler® was the first company to focus on developing solutions specifically designed for safe food handling. Today, we continue this focus to lead the way in keeping food safe with ingenuity and innovative products for the foodservice industry.

22 | ChefsWarehouse.com

KEEPING YOU SAFE AND PROTECTED THROUGH IT ALL. WE RISK NOTHING®.

In 1969, the company known today as FoodHandler® formed as a market leader in foodservice poly bags.

Years later, FoodHandler® expanded their offering to pioneer the foodservice glove market along with other foodservice protection items such as aprons. This market-leading company set forth to change the industry and paved the way for ingenuity and innovation in foodservice operations.

Food contamination poses a serious and costly threat to all aspects of foodservice operations and with the Coronavirus Pandemic, foodservice operations must be even more vigilant to protect their operation, employees and their customers. With innovative products and programs that leverage the latest technologies to protect workers and consumers alike, FoodHandler® remains committed to helping our customers reduce risk.

“Food safety is an important aspect of any foodservice operation. Customers want to know they are being served quality, safe food and are more vigilant about cleanliness in light of the Coronavirus pandemic than ever before. Owners and operators need to ensure employees follow sound food safety practices and have the knowledge and tools to do so. FoodHandler provides both the knowledge and the tools for operators to find success in their food safety endeavors.”

– Kevin Roberts, Ph.D.

We give you access to information and industry insights related to food safety and are committed to helping keep our customers up to date on the most advanced processes for assuring safe food handling.

Your FoodHandler® representative is always available to provide a food safety consultation and coordinate worker training to ensure that your business is protected.

At FoodHandler®, food safety is our top priority, which is why we offer a no-cost, educational experience with our SafeBites® Webinar series. Our team of experienced industry professionals deliver quality messages, rich content and relevant insights to the foodservice industry.

SafeBites® allows participants to earn continuing education credits in order to maintain annual eligibility status.

SafeBites® presents some of the most notable experts in the foodservice industry. Each presenter provides a wealth of knowledge and experience that will help foodservice operators address and overcome the challenges associated with keeping food safe.

Webinars are open for registration on: www.FoodHandler.com/education-training.

Winter 2021 /2022 | 23

Your partner on all your culinary creations.

With over 50 years of culinary expertise and innovation, we’ve been baking different types of dough from shortcrust pastry, puff pastry to choux pastry. Our products are mainly made in the USA with local sourcing materials, fresh butter and cage free eggs.

The Pidy spirit is based on passion, innovation, chefs’ satisfaction and support while respecting an environmentally sustainable approach. website: www.pidy.com linkedin : Pidy USA