Recipe by Dominic Calla, Executive Chef at Round Hill Club, Greenwich, Connecticut, USA
Yields 4
Ingredients Halibut
Saffron Mussel Velouté
Sunchoke Latke
Sunchoke Chips
Garnish
Preparation Halibut Season halibut with salt and white pepper. Place halibut in vacuum seal bag with lemon slices, thyme, and extra virgin olive oil. Seal vacuum bag. Set up immersion circulator at 135℉. Sous vide halibut for 45 minutes. Remove from vacuum bag and flash in 400℉ oven for 3 minutes Saffron Mussel Velouté Sauté shallots in olive oil over medium heat. Add white wine, water, and saffron threads. Bring to a boil and add mussels then cover. Steam Mussels until they just open up and remove from heat. Remove the mussels from the broth and pull the mussels from the shell. Return the broth to the stove and bring to a boil. Make a roux with butter and flour and thicken the mussel velouté. Strain the velouté through a chinois and keep warm. Sunchoke Chips Slice the sunchokes on mandolin 1/16 inch thick. Heat oil to 320℉ and fry sunchokes until golden brown and crispy. Season with salt and pepper. Sunchoke Latke Grate the sunchokes and onions on cheese grater. Squeeze out any liquid in the sunchokes and onion with a kitchen towel. In a mixing bowl add the sunchokes, eggs, nutmeg, salt and pepper to the incorporate. Add enough flour so that the latkes will hold together. Form rectangle cakes approximately the same size as the halibut portions and sear in olive oil until golden brown. Bake in 350℉ oven for 12 minutes. Assembly Pour the Saffron Mussel Velouté in to the bottom of a large deep bowl. Place the Sunchoke Latke in the middle of bowl. Place Halibut on top of Latke. Arrange the mussels in broth around halibut, arrange nasturtium leaves in between mussels, garnish top of halibut with assorted violas and sunchoke chips. Serve immediately after assembly. Wine Match Chanin “Los Alamos” Chardonnay, Santa Barbara, California 2017 
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GRILLED PORTOBELLO MUSHROOM AND EGGS MEURETTE with Foie gras shavings and Tarragon-Nut vinaigrette12/6/2020 
Recipe by Cyril Devilliers, Executive Chef at Oitavos Dunes, Cascais, Portugal - 2013
Serves 1
Ingredients
Preparation Bring the red wine to a boil in a saucepan. Reduce heat, add the egg and poach gently, about 3 minutes. Chef Note: Do not boil the egg. Season the sliced mushrooms with olive oil, oregano, salt and pepper, and grill the slices. Season the slice of bread with olive oil, salt and oregano. Toast the bread and cut into sticks. Assembly Arrange the bread sticks on a serving plate. Drape the slices of lardo over the bread. Arrange the chicory leaves and pickled onions around the bread. Whisk together one part vinegar and 3 parts nut oil and olive oil combined, chopped shallots and copped tarragon to make a vinaigrette. Drizzle over the chicory leaves. Use a peeler to shave the frozen foie gras over the top of the plate. Wine Match Vinhas Centenarias, 2007 
The view of the clubhouse from the 18th hole. -2013
The members at Westchester Hills Golf Club are very proud of young Dan and supportive of his desire to grow
and develop his talent in the industry. Left: Dan Hess, Banquet Chef. Right: Antonio Zepeda, Executive Chef demonstrating a technique with Dan looking on. Dan Hess grew up watching Emeril Lagasse and other famous chefs on The Food Network and the Cooking Channel, they had inspired him from a very young age. Dan went on to complete an Associates in Culinary Arts and a Bachelors in Business Administration at SUNY Delhi, New York. At 22, Dan has a strong list of achievements in both the theatre and the kitchen. ~ Diana DeLucia GK: First of all, tell us about your Broadway achievements. From as young as I can remember, I was interested in musical theater, and I wanted to see Broadway shows. I was involved in the chorus, band, jazz band, concert choir and the performed in an accapella group in high school. I've been in 30 shows. I was part of an off-Broadway acting group, and this allowed me to go to the city and perform with Broadway stars. I can sing, dance, and play almost any instrument. GK: Do you see a correlation between music and cooking? Cooking is considered a symphony. We always have to have our eyes and ears open, and we must be paying attention all the time for the service to come together. If you make a mistake, it can ruin the show or the service. And like a symphony working and playing together with a team creates a master piece and has great impacts on viewers aka membership. GK: What lead you to Westchester Hill Country Club? Tyler Demarest, the general manager visited my school in searching for an intern to run the pool cafe. He hired me the day after I interviewed and I am now in my third season and was recently promoted to Banquet Chef. I started at the pool and ran that for two years before moving to the main clubhouse and getting a full time job as the Banquet Sous Chef. GK: How did you get involved in the ACF competitions? Since my first year of college I have been a member of the American Culinary Federation (ACF) and have taken full advantage of all they have to offer. I helped train with the hot foods team in college in hopes that some day I would be able to compete on that student team in ACF sanctioned competitions. I was an apprentice for a year and then eventually earned a spot on that team. I competed in individual competitions, team and then the Student Chef competition. I have always looked up the professionals who compete in different categories trying to learn form them so that some day I can compete at that level too. GK: Does your Executive Chef Tony Zepeda give you opportunities to shine during special dinners at the club? Yes, I have been very fortunate to do some chefs table dinners and create specials during ala carte service on weekends. One of them was special as I was serving two dishes from my ACF competition. One of the dishes was squab, and I found out that the members were not familiar with it. That is the nervous part of cooking for the members, sometimes you get it right and sometimes you don't. Cooking unique foods for members can be a hit or miss. Some of them are willing to try new dishes while others just want the simple meat and potatoes. GK: Tell us about your new role. Back in November of 2019 I was promoted to Banquet Sous Chef. I was three months out of college and I became a full time employee at the club. Due to the time of year I only got minimal experience in the position before the club closed for the month of January. Now that we are open and back in full swing I am getting more experience in the role. I assist Chef Tony and make sure all banquets and events go out as efficiently as possible. I still over see the pool café under Chef Tony’s direction and will be in charge and running a mobile wood fire pizza oven new to the club this past November. GK: What are your long-term goals at Westchester Hills Golf Club? I hope to earn some great new skills and make many connections with other chefs in the area and members at the club. With the new pizza oven I want to master another skill to add to my repertoire. Working along side Chef Tony has been a great time and I hope to continue it for many years to come. I want to continue trying out new ideas for the membership and want to share my ideas with others in the form of food. 
A summer view at Westchester Hills Golf Club. Image courtesy Westchester Hills Golf Club.
Recipe by Anthony Masas, Executive Chef at Casa de Campo, La Romana, Dominican Republic
Serves 4
Ingredients Tomato Water
Tomato Gelee
Lettuce Puree
Marinated Salmon
Iodized Broth
Vegetables (all thinly sliced through mandolin)
Preparation Tomato Water and Gelee Cut tomatoes in quarters and freeze. Once frozen, season with abundant salt and let rest in fine sieve covered in cheese cloth. Let rest for 24 hours and make sure to recover as much liquid from the tomatoes as possible. Add all the Agar to 10% of the water collected and bring to a boil. Take off heat and add remaining water. In 4 rimmed plates, divide water equally and let sit for the tomato water to solidify. Lettuce Puree Boil Lettuce Hearts in abundant water with salt. Once soft, remove and put in ice bath. Once cool, set aside. In a blender, add butter and whole milk and blend on high for 5 minutes. Salt to taste. Marinated Salmon Mix all the ingredients except the salmon and pisco. Cover the salmon with seasoning mixture for 3 hours. Clean off excess seasoning and insert in vacuum bag, add pisco and seal. Iodized Broth Brunoise Shallots and poach in butter. Once well poached, add white wine and reduce till dry. Add fish stock and reduce volume by 50%. Add cream and reduce thicket until desired thickness. Strain and cool. Assembly On one of the plates with the solidified tomato water, add 3 sashimi-style slices of the marinated salmon in the center of the plate. Around the salmon, distribute thinly sliced vegetables and dots of the lettuce puree. Sprinkle micro-greens on top. Wine Match Ruinart Blanc de Blancs, Brut Champagne, France 
The Golf Learning Center at Casa de Campo. Image courtesy Casa de Campo
 New England Clam Chowder Recipe by Michael Ruggiero, Executive Chef at GlenArbor Golf Club, Bedford Hills, New York, USA I have been a professional food photographer for over 15 years and Ripert, Thomas Keller, Charlie Trotter, Joel Robuchon, Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Anthony Bourdain, Alain Ducasse, and many more world class restaurant chefs. Most of them are now hugely successful entrepreneurs and celebrities'. This elite group has always understood the importance of excellent food photography. Why spend all your time creating gorgeous recipes for your menu only to ruin them with less than flattering food photographs? I remember when the first iPhone was released, and the cell phone photography was so unflattering that some restaurants banned their use! Of course, that has changed now, and thankfully some cell phone photographers are getting much better than the early days, still ugly food shots convey the wrong image of your food and are a turn off to many potential diners. When I entered the private golf industry, I quickly realized there was a great need for high-quality food photography whether the golf club, country club or resort was serving hamburgers or haute cuisine. Why spend thousands on your golf course photography, clubhouse, interiors, and exteriors and skip the kitchen? Food is not and should never be an afterthought. When I look for a club to feature in my books or Golf Kitchen Magazine the website is the first place I visit. I can usually tell if the club values the culinary side as they will highlight and compliment their chef, culinary team and services, often displaying the menus and excellent food imagery. However, the website is not the only place a club needs high-quality food photography; there are many places. Food photography draws attention everywhere from social media, newsletters, advertising, magazine and news stories, club banners, posters and more. How to find a great food photographer. Food photography is an art form and challenging to learn; more often it is an inborn skill. The golf course photographer is likely not a skilled food photographer and vice versa. I have never been hired to shoot a golf course, while I might be able to take good enough landscapes, I am by no means a golf course photographer as I do not know the game or what golfers are looking for in a great image. I leave that up to specialized golf photographers like Larry Lambrecht, Jacob Sjöman and Evan Schiller. Look for photographers that specialize in food photography and do your homework. Find out if their clients are happy with their services, word of mouth is essential. Local does not always mean better, hire for talent every time. Reasons to hire a great food photographer to support your great culinary team. 1. Members of upscale private clubs can eat wherever they want. Their palates are advanced. When you produce low-quality food imagery that can be enough for them to go off property to eat, or worse, join a club that values the food and beverage department as much the golf and other facilities. 2. Younger golfers demand higher quality cuisine. This means that you need to hire executive chefs and other culinary team players who match this demand to attract more members to the club, and you will need to support your team by showing off their work with great food photography.  Raspberry Chocolate Pavé Recipe by Dana Iannelli, Executive Pastry Chef at Addison Reserve Country Club, Delray Beach, Florida, USA 3. My first impression as a non-golfer was how do clubs attract new members, especially the ones who have never played golf? Golfers already play so there is no point preaching to the choir; you need other avenues to get them to the club. Food is one of them. If they feel that a club has an excellent food and wine program and a great golf program and other facilities, that could be the drawcard that brings the club to their attention and then they might also take up the game. More reason to hire a skilled food photographer. 4. Food is a conversation topic. The last thing you want as a private golf or country club is to have members, guests, and media trashing the club's choice of cuisine. Poor food photography can be a bad choice as it shows lack of attention to the food and beverage department.  Deviled Eggs with Crispy Leeks and Candied Bacon Recipe by Jason Voiselle, Executive Chef at Naples National Golf Club, Naples, Florida, USA 5. Hiring a reputable food photographer has many other perks. Savvy food photographers are very good at marketing, you will likely have your club featured in their marketing and online social media campaigns as well as your own at no extra cost. About the Author: Diana DeLucia is Founder, President and Editor in Chief of Golf Kitchen Magazine and Golf Kitchen cookbooks. She began her culinary photography career in New York when she photographed for Restaurant Insider Magazine. DeLucia's work was recognized by industry leaders, and she became the food photographer of choice by many. Diana discovered the private golf and country club industry in 2010 and created an entire business surrounding the culinary talent in the industry. DeLucia launched the Golf Kitchen Culinary Excellence Awards on October 4th, 2018 at Edgewood Country Club in River Vale, New Jersey which is in its third year and has a new home at GlenArbor Golf Club. In 2020, she launched the first of its kind Golf Kitchen Certification of Culinary Excellence with 9 Inaugural members.  Honeycrisp Apple And Butternut Squash Salad with Whipped Ricotta, Zhoug, and Pomegranate
Recipe by Jonathan Hancock, Executive Chef at Richland Country Club, Nashville, Tennessee, USA  Recipe by Phil Iannucilli, Executive Chef at Greenwich Country Club, Greenwich, CT, USA Chef Note: Quite often, I like to imagine the best qualities of several dishes and combine them to create a new one. Here, I started with the classic brown butter sage (Cappellacci di Zucca). I added walnuts (Pansotti alle Noci). Then I finished it with cream (Fettuccine Alfredo – although originally without cream) and the black pepper from Carbonara fame (Coal Miner’s Pasta). The spinach and nutmeg are perfect team players in this scenario. Ingredients Handmade Agnolotti (Yield - 1 Serving)
Fresh Pasta Dough (Yield - 1 1/2 lbs.)
The Filling (Yield - 2 Cups)
Brown Butter Cream (Yield - 2 Cups)
Preparation Fresh Pasta Dough Start the dough in a mixer with the dough hook attachment. Blend the flour and salt. Then add all the wet ingredients. Mix for 5-10 minutes until a strong dough forms. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Finish kneading by hand, while incorporating flour until very stiff. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for several hours or overnight. The Filling Mix all ingredients with the paddle attachment until fully incorporated. Roll the pasta dough through a machine, progressively thinner, until almost translucent. Line Tablespoons of filling along the middle of the pasta, approximately 1-1/2 inches apart. Brush the edges and between the filling with a touch of egg wash. Fold the pasta over the filling longways. Roll and cut the agnolotti with a fluted pastry wheel. Set aside for cooking. Brown Butter Cream Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium high heat. Swirl the butter until it slowly and evenly starts to brown. Add the walnuts and then the sage. Add the cream and lower the heat. Simmer gently for 3-4 minutes. Add the cheese and salt, whisking until just melted. Quickly remove from the heat. Assembly Spoon the sauce onto the plate. Arrange the cooked agnolotti in a circle on top of the sauce. Pile the spinach high in the center. Carefully place the walnuts around. Garnish with the fried sage leaves and finish with cracked pepper, olive oil and freshly grated nutmeg. Wine Match Sonoma Cutrer Chardonnay, Sonoma County, California 2016. ~ Jessica Terry, Food and Beverage Manager.   The 18 green overlooking the back of the clubhouse.
Image by Henry Cardenas.  Recipe by Juan Pablo de la Sota Riva, Executive Chef at Royal Poinciana Golf Club, Naples, Florida, USA Image by Stephanie Starr Serves 6 Ingredients Vegetables and Greens
Banyul’s Vinaigrette
Preparation Vinaigrette Preparation Put the honey, mustard, black garlic, salt and pepper in a bowl. Add half of the vinegar and mix with a hand blender. Add half of the oil slowly and then the rest of the vinegar. Finish with the remaining oil, verify seasoning and reserve in the fridge. Preparation Carrot Ravioli Peel the carrots and slice in the mandolin very thin. Blanch the carrots for 20 seconds and shock in cold water. Cut the carrots into 3 inch-long pieces and trim the sides to form a perfect rectangle. Cut a piece of the O’Banon cheese and place it in the center. Add one dot of honey on the cheese and fold all the sides until form a square ravioli shape. Reserve on the fridge. Vegetables Preparation Slice the cucumbers in the mandolin, roll them and reserved. Sliced the jicama in the mandolin, roll it and reserve. Pull the leaves off the chervil and dill and reserve. Cut 2 of the peppers with a small ring mold. Blend the rest of the roasted peppers, strain in a china cap to remove seeds or burned parts and extended the puree in a silpat , dry in the oven at 155 °F for 55 minutes and leave at room temperature. When cold, cut the pepper paper into different shapes and use to decorate. Slice the eggplant, marinate with EVOO, salt and pepper and keep chill in the refrigerator. Assembly Place the carrot raviolis next to the roasted peppers. Add the cucumber and jicama rolls onto opposite sides of the plate. Place 3 of the lettuce in between the vegetables. Add the eggplant fold in between the lettuces. Garnish with the fine herbs and the red pepper paper. Finish with the vinaigrette before serving. Wine Match The Knights Bridge, Pont De Chevalier, Sauvignon Blanc. Region: Knights Valley, Sonoma County California, USA   Royal Poinciana Golf Club.
Painting by renowned Golf Course photographer Graeme Baxter.  Left: Christina Ferraiolo, Pastry Chef at Edgewood Country Club, Rivervale, New Jersey, USA. Right: Oreo Crusted White Chocolate Cheese Cake GK: Tell us where you are from and how you develop your interest in cooking? I grew up in Belleville, New Jersey. My passion for cooking started at a very early age. I can vividly remember my grandparents and my parents always preparing lavish dishes. Food was always the focal point that brought the family together. As a child, I recall being inspired by all of my family members, particularly my two grandmas, Angelica, and Guilia. They always made these amazing, authentic Italian dishes that to this day I still recreate. They both had beautiful gardens and were able to create fresh dishes from the vegetables that they grew. I always admired how they were always able to make anyone who tasted their food feel the love they put into it. I strive to reciprocate that same feeling when people try my dishes. Food has also been a part of my life and I am grateful to my family for always believing in me and inspiring me to fulfill my passion. GK: Tell us about your journey to Edgewood, why work in a Country Club? Three years ago, I worked in New York City as a Sous Chef and came across the job opportunity at Edgewood Country Club. I applied and was in contact with Executive Chef Anthony Villanueva, who offered me the position here. Ever since, I have been the pastry chef, and I handle the Garde manager department. I am thankful for my two mentors Chef Anthony and Ivan Villanueva, who have supported me along this journey at Edgewood. At Edgewood, all of the chefs and kitchen staff treat each other like family. I love to bring Executive Chef Anthony and my Sous Chef Ivan’s ideas to life. I am so grateful that my bosses trust me to bring my visions to life and push me out of my comfort zone. Although I am the only female, I have never felt unwelcome in any way, and hope to encourage other young females to enter this field. GK: Do you enjoy working with Executive Chef Anthony Villanueva, does he give you the freedom to be creative? At Edgewood, all of the chefs and kitchen staff treat each other like family. I love to bring Executive Chef Anthony and my Sous Chef Ivan’s ideas to life. I am so grateful that my bosses trust me to bring my visions to life and push me out of my comfort zone. Although I am the only female, I have never felt unwelcome in any way, and hope to encourage other young females to enter this field. GK: Tell s about your interest in pastry. What is your process when creating a recipe? Edgewood helped make my dreams of making unique pastries a reality. I always had focused on hot food prep in the past, but I wanted to expand my skill set. Edgewood Country Club allowed me to break out of my comfort zone, and I love baking new pastries regularly. GK: What are your plans for Edgewood in the sense of programs you might wish to develop? For example cooking classes, create a pastry shop within the club? I hope to one day have the opportunity to expand the pastry shop. It would be awesome to specialize in our own wedding/specialty cakes and cater to our client’s needs. I love your cooking class idea for members and/or their children and that is something I am going to look into. It would be cool to have these cooking classes around the various holidays and teach members how to bake different dishes. GK: Do you play golf? I am not very athletic and do not officially play golf, but I have some lessons planned. I do enjoy watching the members play and hope to learn a few things. GK: What advice would you give to other young people about the benefits of working at a Country Club. Explain the positive aspects it offers compared to a restaurant? Working at Edgewood Country Club has been a great experience. I enjoy catering a client’s major life event (wedding, party, etc.) and how we can individualize every event to the client’s needs. Weddings are my favorite! It is such a special moment in a person’s life, and I get to be part of it. I am grateful for this opportunity to work at Edgewood Country Club, and look forward to what we cook up next! A note from Anthony Villananueva, Executive Chef I interviewed Christina three years ago for a possible position with us here at Edgewood Country Club. Christina was a graduate of my School at Hudson County Community College in Jersey City New Jersey. She wasn’t very happy at her current position. From the moment I met her I knew she was very special and extremely passionate about her work. I felt she would be a great addition to our team and after several interviews decided to offer her the job. She more than delivered on our investment in her. She brings a certain professionalism and sophistication to everything she does. She has really elevated everything we do here at the club. She is a bright hard-working chef with a tremendous future in front of her. Me and Ivan the Sous Chef have worked together for over 20 years and once we collaborated with Christina, we knew we had a great team together. I always tell her she is great, and she will be famous one day. Her immediate response is always “No Chef We Will Be Famous One Day!” She is a great team player and her drive is second to none. She has the role of Pastry Chef here at the club but is so capable of much more. She currently runs the Pastry and Garde Manger Departments at Edgewood Country Club. Her quest for knowledge and willingness to try new things makes us all better. She hopes to attain the Sous Chef position soon. She will no doubt easily accomplish that goal. Last year we started making our own pasta in house and Christina quickly rose to the challenge by Making fresh pasta at home with her grandmother then bringing her technique and flavor to the kitchen team at the club. All her efforts have been nothing less than sensational and I am very fortunate to be able to work with her and have her on my team. The successes in my career have always been attributed to the fact that I instill freedom in my kitchen team members to practice and try new things. This helps us stay relevant and continually evolving. My philosophy has always been that work should always be productive but more importantly it should always be fun! I am always asked as a chef “What is your favorite dish? My happy response is always to say, “The one we have yet to create!” Onward Creativity!  The popular, award winning ballroom at Edgewood Country Club, Rivervale, New Jersey, USA
Image courtesy Edgewood Country Club  Recipe by Jason Voiselle, Executive Chef at Naples National Golf Club, Naples, Florida, USA Serves 4 Ingredients Tartare
Garnish
Chef Note: Garnish supplied by The Chef’s Garden, Huron, Ohio Preparation Tartare Chef Note: Chill beef thoroughly ahead of service time. Cut beef into approximately 1/8 inch dice. In a small stainless-steel bowl, combine capers, shallot, Dijon and olive oil, mix well. Fold in the diced beef, mix well, and season to taste with vinegar, salt, and pepper. Assembly Place 1/2 cup microgreens in the center of the plate and set the marrow bone over the nest of greens. Gently spoon one-quarter of the tartare mix evenly into marrow bone. Using a small spoon, place a divot into the tartare mixture and place a quail yolk in the hole. Using a microplane grate the cured egg yolk over the tartare. Top the tartare with the freshly shaved truffle. Arrange the flowers and nasturtiums on and around the tartare. Serve immediately. Wine Match Carte Blanche Pinot Noir 2017. ~ Dan Ano is the Food and Beverage Manager/Wine Consultant at Naples National and has developed one of the leading wine programs in the private golf club industry.   Naples National Clubhouse
Image by Evan Schiller, courtesy Naples National Golf Club  Peter Zoole, Executive Chef at Addison Reserve Country Club, Delray Beach, Florida, USA Image by Gideon Heller I initially interviewed Chef Zach Bell at Addison Reserve in 2017 when I first began producing the second Golf Kitchen book. At the same time, Golf Kitchen was growing quite quickly, and I had many dreams of what I wanted Golf Kitchen to be as a business. Since 2017, we have introduced a magazine, events, and a culinary awards program specifically for the Private Golf and Country Club industry. Fast forward to 2020, after many delays, Peter Zoole has taken the helm at Addison Reserve. I have enjoyed the journey and getting to know Peter as much as I enjoyed getting to know Zach. ~ Diana DeLucia GK: When did your interest in cooking arise? I was born and raised in Greenville and Spartanburg, South Carolina, and I wasn’t interested in cooking at all. We had a structured family dinner, but it was meat and potatoes, and I didn’t give it much thought. GK: How were you introduced the the culinary world? I got into the food business in high school at a place in Spartanburg called Heavenly Ham, and I was washing dishes, nothing exciting. When I went off to college at Francis Marion University (FMU) I returned to Heavenly Ham on my summer break. One of my coworkers, Laurel Phillips was opening a restaurant and said that if I wanted a summer job the following year to please come and see her. The following summer break, I worked for her in the front of the house bussing, answering phones, waiting tables, a bit of everything. I fell in love with the whole thing, the pace of service, and the excitement of entertaining guests and everything that comes with it. I was intrigued by what the chefs and the cooks were doing in the kitchen. I was 19 or 20 at the time and had realized my passion. I didn’t want to go back to college; I was not a good student and my grades were poor. I wanted to pursue a career in the culinary field, I needed to tell my parents. My father has a law degree, and my mother has an MBA, I felt that was expected of me. When I told my father I wanted to pursue a culinary career, he was surprisingly supportive, and it was a significant relief. GK: Which culinary school did you attend? I intended to enroll in Johnson and Wales in Charleston, South Carolina, and moved there shortly after making my decision. I needed a job to support myself and got a job at a restaurant called The Library at Vendue, once again washing dishes. I was so fast at washing dishes that the sous chef Chef Brian Kleinbub took me under his wing. I worked my way up the ranks, and the Executive Chef Paul Tinsley, who graduated from the Culinary Institute of America (CIA), told me that I didn’t need to go into debt. I could learn more working for him than from textbooks, and not have a massive liability at the end of it. I was able to work as a waiter several days a week and in the kitchen on other days. I knew both the front and back of the house, which was very advantageous. In 1995, Chef Paul Tinsley had the opportunity to open a new restaurant at Kiawah Island called the Sweet Grass Cafe, and he asked me to work for him there. It was being built from the ground up. I was learning from the consulting chef’s operations, such as purchasing equipment and menu creation. I stayed there for the season and then I had to find work in the offseason. I was on unemployment as I wanted to return to Kiawah the following season, but I was offered a job as a line cook at a restaurant at Folly Beach called Cafe Suzanne, which was owned by Lee and Susan Chewning. It was a casual place and a lot of fun; however, I wasn’t learning much and had much desire to advance. The chef ended up leaving and that is when I got a big break, Lee and Susan offered me the Executive Chef position! GK: That was fast. Tell us about that. I didn’t know what I was doing, but I took the job regardless. I figured the first thing I would do is organize the kitchen and make sure it was nice and clean. I started buying cookbooks and searching for recipes and inspiration. I had a good run at the cafe. I stayed for almost three years and left with a fair amount of knowledge. A friend of mine, Boyd Rose, was working at the Penninsula Grill, which was one of the founding father restaurants in downtown Charleston and one of the best. Boyd and I used to hang out often and talk about anything and everything to do with cooking and kitchens. One day he called me as said, “A position has opened at Penninsula Grill, I am leaving.” He offered to introduce me to the Bob Carter, the Executive Chef. I got the job, and it was big-time for me, it was fancy and expensive. I started out making salads and I began to learn about chefs, chef de cuisine, and sous chefs positions. I worked with Sean Brock, who is a very successful Chef today. We were good friends, and he’s a couple of years younger than me, and he started at Penninsula after me, and I trained him at the salad station. Jacques Larson and Tyler Brown also worked that line, we were all in our mid-twenties, and we challenged each other a lot. Many celebrities and famous football players would dine there - George Clooney, Robert Redford, Martha Stewart, Jimmy Buffet, Dan Marino, John Elway, and Chief Justice Clarence Thomas. It was the hot spot to be, and it was always exciting. My now-wife Jennifer was attending Johnson and Wales and working at Penninsula in the pastry section. We got along really well and began dating. It was about five years since I had made the decision not to go to culinary school. I had learned a lot, but I started thinking that I needed to have that piece of paper to validate my career and keep moving up the culinary ladder. I started looking at different schools like the Culinary Institute of America (CIA), Johnson and Wales, and then Le Cordon Bleu in Paris caught my attention. It was a year-long course, very reasonably priced and the best thing it was in Paris. I applied and was accepted. My parents scraped together the money, and I moved to Paris with my wife and my Labrador retriever Jed. We didn’t know what we were expecting, the apartment was tiny, just 10 square meters. GK: Tell us about Le Cordon Bleu? The classes at Le Cordon Bleu were a very different experience from what they have here in America. There were no textbooks or computers, it was all chef demonstrations that were a couple of hours long, they would show us various techniques, and then we would have to attend small kitchen classes with maybe 10-15 students. We all had a stove and oven workstation, and we would make the dishes that were assigned, and the chef would critique them at the end. It was hands-on learning, they were older teachers, but they were terrific, the techniques that they demonstrated I had never seen before. GK: Did you enjoy Paris? We were relatively poor during that time, but Jennifer and I would go on marathon walks and try to get lost in Paris, we explored every inch of the city on foot and the metro. Halfway through my course, Jennifer was getting homesick, she wasn’t working, and we decided for her to live with her grandmother in California. I would stay in Paris with the dog to finish the year. After I graduated, I moved to California to be with my wife. When I returned, we decided that we wanted to live in San Francisco. Everything we owned was in South Carolina, so we flew back, booked a truck, and drove it to San Francisco. Once we were settled, I hit the bricks looking for a new position. I went to Wolfgang Puck’s restaurant, Gary Danko’s, and a few others. I walked past Aqua Restaurant, and I had heard all about it, so I stopped in to drop off my resume. The receptionist told me that they were not hiring, and I begged her if she could give my resume to one of the chefs. Before I even got home, I had a message asking me to return for an interview as soon as possible. I was super excited to be starting the next phase of my career at Aqua, one of the most excellent restaurants in San Francisco! They asked me what my goals were, and I said, "I didn’t drive a truck 3000 miles to make salads all day. I want to learn.” They put me with sous chef Ben Jenkins that was on loan from the Bellagio in Las Vegas. He was one of the most talented sous chefs I had worked with. I will never forget when I had to make a scallop dish, he grabbed the pan out of my hand and said, “Where the heck did you learn how to cook? Don’t touch anything, just watch, OK?” I was instantly humbled. The Chef / Partner at the time was Michael Mina, who had several restaurants, and the chef and sous chefs would tell me in advance if he was going to be in the kitchen. They warned me not to screw up when he was there. I was terrified as my station was right near where Michael Mina stood, it was so humbling, but I didn’t quit and kept moving up the ladder, each day thinking I was going to be toast, but I figured it out and did very well, and within a year I became the sous chef, I was 29. The restaurant group that owned Aqua had a falling out and parted ways. Some staff followed Michael Mina, and some stayed. I stayed, and a well known French chef Laurent Manrique took over. I was doing very well at Aqua, and during that time, we were awarded two Michelin Stars. The owners wanted to take over a steakhouse that was not far away, the chef who was well known was leaving, and I got offered the job. They called the restaurant C & L Steakhouse. This was a massive deal for my career, Michelin even mentioned C & L in the guide, although we didn’t have the stars there. After a few years I returned to Aqua, I was burnt out and longed for the East Coast. I asked my wife what she thought. She was all for it, and we moved back to Charleston, and I took a job with Mike Lata, who was a James Beard Award Winner. During that time, I had a sidekick job as a restaurant consultant in the Bahamas. That fizzled out, but it was fun flying to the Bahamas in a private jet with designers and engineers! I stayed with Lata for about a year and then began working for the Lowery Group in Hilton Head, South Carolina, with Chef Eric Sayers at the restaurant CQ’s. Eric and I got along great, and we did all kinds of experimentation. It was when sous-vide was becoming popular. We didn’t have a circulator. We didn’t have a fancy cryovac machine or a vacuum sealer, so we made our version out of cheap goods from Target! I called it the hillbilly circulator on the stovetop. We challenged ourselves, and it was a great experience all around. I was working seasonally at CQ’s and would switch to one of the other restaurants in the group in the offseason. I was settling down and needed security, and this is what brought my attention to private clubs. I had always believed that club chefs were making powdered mash potatoes, but was soon to learn differently. I interviewed at Colleton River Club in Bluffton. It was hard to leave the Lowery Group, but we wanted to start a family, and the clubs had many of the health insurance and perks that restaurants didn’t have. I was the interim chef, and I had the opportunity to hire my boss, Chef Robert Wysong. We had the best time in the kitchen there; we got along very well. I desired to become the Executive Chef at a Club, and I knew Robert wasn’t leaving anytime soon, so I hired a chef agency to find me an Executive Chef position. They contacted me and said, “This isn’t an executive chef role, but it’s an executive sous chef job. The club is Addison Reserve Country Club down in Florida, and it’s the best there is. This is better than having an executive chef job right out of the box. I asked the General Manager at Colleton, and he said, “Addison is one of the best clubs there is, I know the GM Michael McCarthy very well.” I told the chef agency that I was interested in the position. It wasn’t exactly what I wanted, but after doing some research on Google about Zach Bell, the executive chef and Michael McCarthy, and the club, I got fired up. Angela Rodriguez is the head of human resources at Addison Reserve and she called me up, and she said, “I have to tell you that I got your resume from Charlie at the agency, and then five minutes later, my boss, the CEO of the club comes in with your resume in his hand. So I had to call you right away.” One thing led to another, and I did several phone interviews and Skype interviews with Zach. I came down for a weekend and toured the property and cooked for everybody and got hired! Zach and I discovered that our backgrounds were pretty similar. We were the same age and kind of came up through the ranks the same way. He worked for Daniel Boulud and, I was in San Francisco working for Michael Mina and Laurent Manrique. I moved the family down here in September of 2014, and it was right before the season started. I had towards the end of September to get settled, and then it started to get busy into October, I had just a few weeks to get acclimated. Before you know it, it hits hard! We got a lot of interns from overseas to work for the season. There were over 20 cooks that dropped in one day, and I had to figure out what their skill levels are and what positions they can fill. The first season for me was a blur. There was so much going on, the volume, with the banquets, the regular dining, everything, it went by quickly. Zach was great to build and grow with. He is one of the most, if not the most incredibly talented chefs I’ve ever worked with and has a wealth of knowledge. Whatever project he works on, he excels. If he is buying a refrigerator, he becomes an expert in that fridge. He learns how to pull it apart and put it back together. He is that detailed. He pushes himself, and he’s incredibly driven. He pushed the rest of our sous chefs and me; he sets the bar high for everybody. He questioned and challenged us to create and come up with new and crazy ideas. Although he was tough on us, it was for our progress. I respect Zach immensely. When Zach left Addison in 2019, I got promoted to Executive Chef; I was nervous. Zach’s gone, and nothing’s ever going to be the same and it’s been quite the opposite. I’m very grateful and very vocal about about his achievements but we were excited for the change, eager for something different at the same time. The members asked, “You’re still going to do The Vault, right?” Of course, we wouldn’t be changing the Vault anytime soon, but I wanted to put my mark on things and my ideas about menus, food, and cooking. When Zach left, it was not widely known that he was resigning, they sent a newsletter out to the members announcing Zach has left, but Peter is here, and Peter Zoole will be the new Executive Chef, and everything is going to be great! GK: What plans do you want to execute on the culinary side that’s coming from your heart and soul and your palette? I typed this long email to all my chefs. It started with accolades to Zach, and I explained that we all agree he was our hurricane force and how great he made us through all of his hard work. I wanted to reach out to the team and explain what his original mission was, as you tend to forget over the years. I wanted to reset that. The next phase of the operation for me was to slowly start to roll out some new menu ideas that were my own. I would run them as specials to start and see what feedback I would receive. At the time, we were also developing menus for our brand new restaurant that was still under construction. Using the membership for a sounding board was how we were going to see the future, mainly working on the menus, and the expectations were extremely high for the new restaurant. GK: How have you grown as a Chef since your became the Executive Chef? In my first season as Executive Chef at Addison Reserve, we had a close brush with Hurricane Dorian, and we opened a brand new restaurant where the expectations were very high. The project was super delayed due to construction issues, opening the week before Thanksgiving was the height of our high season! The restaurant has been wildly successful, exceeding my wildest dreams! We bulled through the rest of our 2019 Season and into 2020. Throughout the season, I kept telling myself that I couldn’t wait until this time next year-there were so many things that I learned on the go. I saw an opportunity for improvements the whole way and I made copious notes, and planned a major overhaul of events, all of which could be structured over the Summer. GK: And then Covid-19 hit. What now? In the beginning of March, we started seeing the first effects of COVID-19. In just a few short weeks we were forced to dramatically overhaul the entire way that we do business here at the club. No department has been unaffected. We quickly shifted our operations to a touchless food delivery within our gates. In addition to a la carte delivery, we offer so much more: from groceries to Trivia night, and live music events via Zoom. As we slowly open our dining rooms to our members, we have learned that our delivery service is here for good. We have been tirelessly working on all new programming that includes exciting and fun events that our members can enjoy while staying safe and practicing proper social distancing. Not only that, but we have also rewritten the book on keeping our staff safe and healthy. Our upcoming season here will be different than anything we have done before. I am fortunate to be surrounded by positive and intelligent leadership that contribute daily to our progress in this new landscape that we all find ourselves.  The lifestyle complex pool at Addison Reserve Country Club, Delray Beach, Florida, USA
Image by Gideon Heller |
