WaterColor's top chef wants to make diners aware of their food | chef, good, aware - News - TheDestinLog.com
WaterColor's top chef wants to make diners aware of their food
April 22, 2009 - 6:35 PM
Fraser Sherman
Part of being a good chef is believing that he?s not a good chef, Philip Krajeck of WaterColor Inn?s Fish Out of Water says.
?I don?t really think I?m that good,? Krajeck, a semi-finalist in the James Beard Foundation Awards? Best Chef: South category, told The Log. ?I?m not really content with what we?re doing, always figuring out a way to do things better, to find a better method.?
In addition, Krajeck said, he?s ?really passionate about good ingredients and where they come from, and being as connected as possible to where the food we serve comes from. Farmers, cheesemakers, people who make all the different products at our restaurant; the closer we?re connected to them, the better food?s going to taste.?
Although he comes from Fort Walton Beach, Krajeck said, he grew up part of the time in Europe, because his father worked for NATO in Brussels: ?We grew up eating really well, getting into the culture of food. When I came back to the states to go to university, I realized it was something I was missing. I took a part-time job cooking, really enjoyed it, and decided to go to hotel and restaurant school in Switzerland.?
Krajeck said he had returned to the Emerald Coast to cook at a local restaurant when he heard about WaterColor opening up Fish Out of Water.
?I really liked what was going on and was excited about where they wanted to go.?
When the restaurant opened, he was there as a line cook.
In 2008, his work as the restaurant?s chef made him a semifinalist in the Best Chef: South division of the James Beard Foundation Awards, a success he?s repeated this year. The foundation was created by friends and colleagues of Beard ? a chef, cookbook author and a host on television?s first cooking show, back in 1946 ? to ?celebrate, preserve, and nurture America?s culinary heritage,? according to its Web site.
The foundation took 15,000 entries and narrowed them down to 20 semi-finalist spots in 19 award categories, with the list of winners coming out in May. Krajeck said the awards are as important in his world as the Grammies are in music.
One of the connections Krajeck forges with local farmers and supplies is the restaurant?s Farm Dinner: The April 5 dinner introduced the 40 guests to Jeremy and Jessica Little of the Sweet Grass Dairy in Thomasville, Ga., who talked about how the vegetables, fish, meats and cheeses in the night?s meal were produced, harvested and prepared.
Krajeck said the farm dinners are part of an American movement to create better awareness of where food comes from ? and are also fun.
?We try to pick a seasonal menu that?s as intensely local as possible and only make food with those things,? Krajeck said. He added that while that?s good for the local economy, ?the most important thing is flavor. Buying something that?s been put on a truck in California last week is not going to taste as good as something that was picked that morning and brought to the restaurant.?
WaterColor's top chef wants to make diners aware of their food
April 22, 2009 - 6:35 PM
Fraser Sherman
Part of being a good chef is believing that he?s not a good chef, Philip Krajeck of WaterColor Inn?s Fish Out of Water says.
?I don?t really think I?m that good,? Krajeck, a semi-finalist in the James Beard Foundation Awards? Best Chef: South category, told The Log. ?I?m not really content with what we?re doing, always figuring out a way to do things better, to find a better method.?
In addition, Krajeck said, he?s ?really passionate about good ingredients and where they come from, and being as connected as possible to where the food we serve comes from. Farmers, cheesemakers, people who make all the different products at our restaurant; the closer we?re connected to them, the better food?s going to taste.?
Although he comes from Fort Walton Beach, Krajeck said, he grew up part of the time in Europe, because his father worked for NATO in Brussels: ?We grew up eating really well, getting into the culture of food. When I came back to the states to go to university, I realized it was something I was missing. I took a part-time job cooking, really enjoyed it, and decided to go to hotel and restaurant school in Switzerland.?
Krajeck said he had returned to the Emerald Coast to cook at a local restaurant when he heard about WaterColor opening up Fish Out of Water.
?I really liked what was going on and was excited about where they wanted to go.?
When the restaurant opened, he was there as a line cook.
In 2008, his work as the restaurant?s chef made him a semifinalist in the Best Chef: South division of the James Beard Foundation Awards, a success he?s repeated this year. The foundation was created by friends and colleagues of Beard ? a chef, cookbook author and a host on television?s first cooking show, back in 1946 ? to ?celebrate, preserve, and nurture America?s culinary heritage,? according to its Web site.
The foundation took 15,000 entries and narrowed them down to 20 semi-finalist spots in 19 award categories, with the list of winners coming out in May. Krajeck said the awards are as important in his world as the Grammies are in music.
One of the connections Krajeck forges with local farmers and supplies is the restaurant?s Farm Dinner: The April 5 dinner introduced the 40 guests to Jeremy and Jessica Little of the Sweet Grass Dairy in Thomasville, Ga., who talked about how the vegetables, fish, meats and cheeses in the night?s meal were produced, harvested and prepared.
Krajeck said the farm dinners are part of an American movement to create better awareness of where food comes from ? and are also fun.
?We try to pick a seasonal menu that?s as intensely local as possible and only make food with those things,? Krajeck said. He added that while that?s good for the local economy, ?the most important thing is flavor. Buying something that?s been put on a truck in California last week is not going to taste as good as something that was picked that morning and brought to the restaurant.?
I love good positive news for a change! Thanks C2F!