Food for the Next Generation

Food for the Next Generation: An Inside Look at YV Tech’s Culinary Program

By Sean Fitzgerald

Nestled comfortably just east of State Fair Park is a young and quickly growing culinary arts school. Even in the sleepy winter weather, the main dining hall at Yakima Valley Technical Skills Center is bright and spacious. Lit up by a towering glass wall, the new building highlights the dining area, just to the right of the main entrance. A beautiful view is in every direction.

In its first year at the new location, YV Tech’s Culinary Program is already home to more than 50 high school students. As tourism in the Yakima Valley grows, YV Tech is quietly filling a need by educating young people in culinary arts.

Behind the dining area, the learning begins. Commanding a kitchen full of youthful, exubarant and easily distracted students is no cakewalk, but Ned Walsh, head chef and owner of Yakima’s 901 Pasta, has complete control.

Today, Walsh is giving clear instructions and wielding a rolling pin for emphasis. Behind him, a dry-erase board with the day’s lunch menu is colorfully decorated. The students approach Walsh with respect, calling him “chef.” Though he is firm in his command, a twinkle in his eye gives away the fact that Walsh loves his job. The students seem to connect with his caring and youthful ways. “I’ve always had an interest in working with young people,” he says.

Ivone Petzinger, one of the founders of Essencia Artisan Bakery in Yakima, has recently joined Walsh in the kitchen to lighten the load. Petzinger applies her background in baking, as well as her experience as a local business owner, to the classroom. “At Essencia I needed to train people; it was like a teaching job,” she says.

Each morning, after some announcements, the students split into two groups. Walsh takes half of the class to do a culinary lesson, while Petzinger’s half, referred to by the students as “the bake shop,” preheats their ovens and gets to work.

 

“When I found out that they had started the pastry program, I was like, ‘Oh, Sweet!’” says Melanie Stevenson, a 19-year-old senior from Eisenhower High School. “In my family, pastry is huge.”

The new kitchen, with 40 teaching stations ranging from fast food to a demonstration kitchen, allows for plenty of work space. “We’re not bumping into each other,” Walsh jokes. It is quite an upgrade from the residence hall kitchen at Yakima Valley Community College, where the program began 2 1/2 years ago.

And there are plans to expand. With large movable walls, the dining hall eventually will be able to seat 500 people, and up to three community events at one time. “There is one big floor mixer we haven’t even used yet,” says Walsh. “We haven’t had a need for it yet, but we will.”

YV tech’s hands-on approach has the students fascinated. Gandia Hernandez, a 17-year-old senior from Naches Valley High School, hopes to open her own restaurant in the Yakima Valley one day. “That’s what I really want,” she says.

The students are vibrant and willing to expand their minds. “Some kids are really serious about following a career. Others are here just because they are curious; they want to learn,” says Petzinger.

One of the most amazing parts of the program is the effect it can have on the students. “It’s fun. It’s interesting. But it also provides a career opportunity,” says Walsh. “They find a niche, and all of a sudden it lights their fire,” he says. “Now they’re at school every day. They’re doing their work.”

“They may discover something,” says Wash, excitedly. “It’s almost like a blossoming.”

Dine Out: A Look Behind the Kitchen Doors

Dine Out:  A Look Behind the Kitchen Doors

Have you ever heard, “There’s no place to eat around here?”  If that were the case, we wouldn’t have had such a challenge trying to choose five restaurants to feature in our Food and Wine edition.  Rest assured Yakima, there are plenty of terrific restaurants all over the city…but here are five we wanted to get to know.

Name: Jaime Rincon

Age: 36

Restaurant: ANTOJITOS MEXICANOS RESTAURANT

Address: 3512 SUMMITVIEW AVE

Personal:  I’ve been married to Lucy Rincon for 13 years.  We have a 12-year-old daughter.

Did you cook growing up?

Yes, since I was 17.  I started cooking while working in a Tex-Mex restaurant here in

Yakima.

What is your first food memory?

The smell of homemade corn tortillas coming from my mother’s kitchen.  Wondering when they would be finished and then eating them directly from the comal (hot skillet).

What were the biggest inspirations for your career?

Lucy and I worked in restaurants for a long time.  We knew it was something we wanted to do.

Where were you trained and how difficult was your training?

We trained by doing it.  It was difficult because I was used to cooking food (at other

restaurants) that was almost ready to serve.  You just needed to put it on the plates

and into the oven to melt the cheese and it was ready. The difficulty of Antojitos

Mexicanos authentic food is that we cook the corn tortillas and almost all the meats

and dishes at the time of order.  That’s what makes our food fresh and unique.

Do you have any cooking tips for the novice?

You should cook like the dish is for yourself or for somebody special.

What are your favorite kitchen gadgets?

Tortilla press, grill

What is your favorite food to cook with?

Garlic and spices are in almost every item we make.

When at home, what do you like to cook?

I cook traditional foods that I don’t cook at the restaurant, like ceviche (shrimp)

and chicken with cream.

Are there any foods that you can’t bring yourself to like?

Yes, liver with onions, and cow brains. My favorite food of course is Mexican style like carne (beef) al carbon or azada, and seafood, especially crab legs and shrimp.

Are there any ingredients that define your cooking?

The ingredients that define our cooking are the seven different salsas that we make fresh every day – from mild to hot.

What is your restaurant’s signature or most popular dish?

That is a hard question to answer.  There are many popular dishes from tacos to

tortas (a Mexican sandwich with breaded beef steak, avocado and jalapenos),

pambazos (sliced Mexican bread filled with bean spread, meat and cheese) – maybe

our carne al carbon (marinated and charbroiled steak, topped with grilled sliced

onions).

What do you enjoy most about your work?

What I enjoy the most is when people finish their meal and say this is the best Mexican food that they have ever had.

Where do you see you and your restaurant in five years?

Well, I see myself with more than one restaurant in the Yakima Valley eventually.  But since we opened our

new (Summitview) location, I’m working about 14 hours a day so I’ll stop and see how this goes.

 

Name:  Brad Masset

Age:  39

Restaurant:  Birchfield Manor

Address:  2018 Birchfield Road  Yakima, WA

Personal:  My wife’s name is Erika, and we have two sons, Braedon, 8, and Rocky, 4

Who was the biggest inspiration for your career?

My father was my biggest inspiration.  He founded the culinary arts department South Seattle Community College.

Where were you trained, and how difficult was your training?

I don’t think you’re ever done training, but I do have a culinary degree from South Seattle Community College culinary arts.

Years in the business?  Years in Yakima?

I’ve been in Yakima for 31 years but I grew up in the biz.

Do you have any cooking tips for the novice?

Don’t worry so much about the recipe.  Taste the food as you go and feel free to make adjustments.

What are your three favorite kitchen gadgets?

I don’t think I have any gadgets, just sharp knives.

What is your funniest kitchen incident?

We laugh really hard just about every day, so to pinpoint one incident is impossible.

What is your favorite food to cook with?

My favorite food to cook with is super fresh seafood.

Any foods you can’t bring yourself to like?

I never developed a taste for tripe (stomach lining).

Most overrated or underrated seasoning?

Marinades are overrated.  An underrated seasoning is salt – sometimes a pinch of salt can make all the difference.

What is your restaurant’s signature or most popular dish?

Wild King Salmon wrapped in puff pastry with a Yakima Valley Chardonnay.

What do you enjoy most about your work?

I love meeting new people and making people happy.

Stressors?

The long hours.

What are your opinions about current food trends?

They come and go, but it’s all about the ingredients.

Where do you see you and your restaurant in five years?

Hopefully still putting smiles on people’s faces.

 

Name: Derrin Davis

Age: 32

Restaurant: Tony’s Steakhouse

Address: 221 W. Yakima Ave.

Personal: I have three beautiful girls,14, 6 and 1. Their mother is a great friend, role model and an important part and influence in my life.

Did you cook growing up?

I did cook growing up. I remember helping my sister with a catering operation, the “Pampered Palate,” from as young as 8 years old. Sounds ambitious, I know.

What is your first food memory?

My first food memory is a star-shaped flan being inverted. I thought that was the coolest thing in the world.

Who/what were the biggest inspirations for your career?

My mom, sister, Tom Douglas, Emeril Lagasse and Escoffier all have influenced and inspired me in my career.

Where were you trained and how difficult was your training?

I was trained at Johnson & Wales University in Providence, R.I. It is a four-year university where I received my culinary degree and food service management degree. It is arguably the best program in the nation and very rewarding.

Do you have any cooking tips for the novice?

Let a recipe guide you. Please don’t consider any recipe to be written in stone. There are so many variables. Trust your senses. Don’t be afraid to break outside of the recipe box

When at home, what do you like to cook?

I love to make fresh pasta at home with the family. It’s one of the best hands-on, family activities. It’s fun, messy, with flour from head to toe, and the end product is an amazing one that everyone loves.

Most overrated or underrated seasoning?

Salt: Don’t be afraid of it, but don’t use it to try to cover up either.

What is your restaurant’s signature or most popular dish?

Korean Style Kabobs, the calamari of course, the salmon, pork and our American Kobe Beef. Our sauces are pretty awesome, too.

What do you enjoy most about your work? Greatest stressors? Joys?

The greatest reward of working here is watching the team that I have put together. The way they all work together is one of the many reasons we are the best. I enjoy watching our guests love their experience. I enjoy watching our guests watching the show on the other side of the glass. I don’t have any stress. I don’t know what that is.

What do you think about Yakima’s renaissance?

Yakima has definitely come a long way in the last 10 years. Downtown has made itself more attractive to tourists. There is a lot going on now for young families like mine. None of this would be possible without the amazing network of devoted individuals that we have heading the renaissance. We owe a lot to them.

Name:

Brad Patterson

Age: Over 21

Restaurant:  Gasperetti’s

Address:  1013 N. First St., Yakima

Personal (relationship/kids/animals): I have two four-legged children: champion Clumber Spaniels Clover and Thurber

Did you cook growing up?

Yes, I helped my mother cook for a family of five boys.

 

What is your first food memory?

I loved the Christmas plum pudding made by my maternal grandmother, Margaret Parson, affectionately known as “Grandma Pete” because her husband’s name was Peter.

Who/what were the biggest inspirations for your career?

Growing up with good food, learning from John Gasperetti’s father, Mario, and my first trip to Europe as a young man of 19.

Where were you trained and how difficult was your training?

I’ve had a lifetime of training, starting at the age of 16 at Whistlin’ Jack Lodge with Helen Williams. Then with Mario Gasperetti at age 19 and the Cordon Bleu in Paris to numerous trips focusing on food in major cities here and Europe. I’ve also collected hundreds of cooking magazines and books.

Would you do it again?

I don’t think fate and DNA would have it any other way.

Years in the business?

42

Years in Yakima?

I was born in Yakima.

Do you have any cooking tips for the novice?

Read, travel, have an open mind and eat well.

What are your three favorite kitchen gadgets?

The Alligator food chopper, a quality mandoline and my French pots and pans from Mauviel.

What is your funniest kitchen incident?

One time after I had made a beautiful stock and asked an assistant to strain the broth, he threw away the stock and kept the bones and vegetables.

Favorite cookbook?

My first cookbook, The Great Book of French Cuisine by Henri-Paul Pellaprat to my latest purchase, Stir: Mixing It Up In The Italian Tradition by Barbara Lynch.

Any foods you can’t bring yourself to like? Favorites?

I have tried many times to enjoy the classic French sausage andouillette, but I have a hard time getting past the strongly flavored tripe. My favorite entree is sautéed sweetbreads, which I recently enjoyed with friends in Seattle.

What is your restaurant’s signature or most popular dish?

Several come to mind, such as our Dungeness Crabmeat Salad, Filet Mignon with Marsala wine, gorgonzola cheese and pecans to the Sautéed Diver Scallops on butternut squash puree with brown butter and capers.

What do you enjoy most about your work? Greatest stressors? Joys?

Meeting interesting people and having them enjoy your cooking is a great joy. The most stressful? Having an electricity or plumbing problem during service.

What are your opinions about current food trends?

The shift to fast-food dining has certainly been a sad one now that so many people will never be able to experience fine dining in the true sense of the word. It has become a “lost art” of sorts.

Food Network: Love it, or hate it?

Hate it … for better and more informative food programs, turn on the Create channel!

 

What do you think about Yakima’s renaissance?

I wish I was 19 years old again, to get in on the ground floor. Downtown is looking wonderful again, thanks to many caring community leaders.

Name:  Paul Randhawa

Age:    43

Restaurant:   Taj Palace and Taj Express

Address:  2710 W. Nob Hill Blvd. & 120 E. Yakima Ave.

Personal (relationship/kids/animals): Married to Jessie Randhawa for 18 years.  Three children ages 16, 13 and 8.

(answers were submitted by both Paul and Jessie)

Did you cook growing up?

No, I was born in India where it is traditional for women to cook and men to work outdoors.  When I was 18, I travelled to Belgium where I learned to cook out of necessity.

What is your first food memory?

Aloo Gobi (potatoes & cauliflower) was the first food I learned to cook for myself.

Who/what were the biggest inspirations for your career?

The biggest inspiration to my career were friends and family encouraging us to bring Indian food to Yakima.  We wanted to bring something different.

Where did you train and how difficult was your training?

When we decided to start an Indian restaurant we brought Punjabi chefs from all over to work with us.  I trained with these chefs and learned to prepare the traditional dishes.

Do you have any cooking tips for the novice?

Indian cooking is tough cooking.  In one dish, the tandoori chicken is marinated for two days in yogurt and spices, cooked for two hours in a regular oven and then cooked in a Tandoor (clay oven).  People buy traditional Indian spices from us, spend all day trying to cook a dish at home and come back to tell us that their food had a yucky taste.

What are your favorite kitchen gadgets?

A good knife and Tandoori (traditional Indian clay oven)

What is your funniest kitchen incident?

When I was first learning to make Baingan Bartha (an eggplant dish) I was squishing the eggplant so loudly with a pan and ladle that you could hear it out across the restaurant and many people came back to ask what the noise was from.

Favorite cookbook?

None, we don’t use cookbooks for our foods.

Do you have any favorite foods?

I like everything, but especially Paneer Prantha (a spinach and cheese dish).  I could eat it every day.

Most underrated seasoning?

Chat Masala is a mix of spices and black salt used in tandoori dishes, and we also use it on our appetizers.  It is good for digestion and smells so good.

Are there any ingredients that define your cooking?

Garam Masala is one of the mixes of spices with cardamom, coriander, cumin and ginger that goes into almost every dish we prepare.

What is your restaurant’s signature or most popular dish?

Butter Chicken is our most popular dish.  We have 120 items on our menu, and we change every other dish in our buffet, but we keep Butter Chicken in every day because people ask for it.

What do you enjoy most about your work? Greatest stressors? Joys?

Cooking is stress free, and fun.  The spices we use are from India (and) can’t be purchased here, so we travel to Seattle every two months to pick them by hand at the Indian grocery.  During the winter we can be stuck on the passes for hours.

Where do you see you and your restaurant in five years?

More success, but we don’t want to ruin our family time. We have three children, and after lunch (at the restaurant) we close and eat together as a family so that we have at least one meal together.  It is a busy life, but family is always our priority.

What do you think about Yakima’s renaissance?

It’s good for business.  People have been so appreciative of our restaurant.  They come by and tell us “thank you for coming downtown.”

 

A Calming Color Palette

A Calming Color Palette

By Melissa S. Labberton

Color can set the mood, evoke emotion and bring back memories. (In fact, House Beautiful devoted its entire March 2010 issue to the color blue.) That’s why Sue Fenich and her design consultant and friend, Judy Ausink, felt that choosing the perfect color palette for Sue’s 1907 mock Tudor home on West Yakima Avenue was so important to the overall interior design.

Sue, a 52-year-old community volunteer, and her husband, Randy, a 51-year-old managing partner of Moss Adams, acquired the property in 1980. They loved that they were only the fourth owner and that the home’s 5,100 square feet allowed room for a growing family. Located in one of Yakima’s oldest and most gracious neighborhoods, the property encompasses just under 1 acre of land. As an added bonus, the 4-bedroom, 3-bath home came with a delightful guesthouse in the backyard.

The couple made updating their two-story home a priority from the beginning, hoping to have it placed on the National Register of Historic Places. However, they never could have predicted the 1991 fire that started in an electrical panel, gutting the basement and causing extensive damage throughout the main floor. They lived with family for nine months until their home was made livable again by Frank Fitterer Construction.

But over the past several years, Fenich has remodeled and redecorated parts of the home, working by herself and with Auskink to refresh some of the original remodeling done almost 20 years ago. “Judy was very reassuring and supportive and helped me achieve my vision,” said Fenich.

The first step was choosing the home’s silver sage color scheme.

“A soothing color palette was chosen by Sue for her living room. That became a jumping-off point for the re-do of the kitchen, family room, hall and bath,” Ausink explained. “We were both in agreement that the same color scheme needed to be used throughout the home.”

 

 

 

For years, Fenich compiled an “idea book” full of decorating ideas that would work in her house. But it was a wrong turn on a trip to Bellevue that landed Fenich at Calico Corners, where she discovered the fabric that inspired her silver sage color palette. That fabric became her custom living room curtains, and coordinating fabrics cover furniture that she’s used throughout her home.

“Sue’s strengths include her ability to design gorgeous window treatments that are embellished with all the bells and whistles,” Ausink explained. Fenich chose an elegant Empire-style valence, patterned with tiny fleur-de-lis, for the large front window in the living room, which complements the plush sofa and contrasting wingbacks and Oriental rug. A pencil drawing of Fenich’s great-grandfather over the fireplace mantel makes a perfect focal point for a formal, but comfortable, room.

 

With two teenage children, creating a family room on the main floor became a priority, so the couple decided to remodel the first-floor master bedroom for that purpose. By opening up the old bedroom’s large walk-in closet, they created an office alcove adjacent to the warm and welcoming family room. Matching Calico Corner sofas from the same silver sage palette were coupled with side tables and accessories purchased from many local merchants such as Fiddlesticks and The Village Shop, and make the room a perfect place for casual entertaining with family and friends.

Although the kitchen went through a total renovation in 1991, Fenich felt it needed refreshing after so many years of wear and tear. “We wanted to bring new life to the worn out kitchen we spend most of our time in,” said Fenich. “Randy loves to cook, and I love to have friends and family over, so our kitchen had seen a lot of use and was just very tired.”

In 2008, the couple hired Kline Construction to take on the project. “The first priority in the kitchen was to update the space while using (the) existing cabinets and floor plan, without losing the flavor of an older home,” Ausink explained.

A second priority was to rebuild the existing island with new countertops and paint, making sure to allow for Randy’s new wine cooler. Keeping the same color palate in mind, new appliances, flooring, sink and hardware also contributed to the kitchen’s updated look. Painting and reglazing the existing kitchen cabinets — instead of replacing them — became one of the most cost-effective aspects of the project. Kline’s painters worked their magic on the original natural wood cabinets, transforming them with Navajo White paint and glaze. The result gives them an elegant, old-world charm.

A mantleless fireplace on the northeast wall of the kitchen proved the most complex piece of their remodeling puzzle. Fenich drew a sketch of what she wanted, and the contractor created a fireplace that looks almost exactly like her drawing. Now framed by an exquisite mantel and two bookshelves for her cookbook collection, the fireplace has a comfortable tiled hearth, which serves as a cozy place to sit and enjoy the warmth of the flames. They also added French doors that open onto a back porch and a stairway that leads to the manicured backyard and swimming pool, allowing for seamless summer entertaining.

Sue and Randy Fenich are far from done when it comes to updating their beautiful old home; in fact, Sue is already scouring decorating magazines in search of the perfect dining room.