Chef Lee Vance: Dinner Is Her Specialty

Posted on February 7, 2014 by Adam

: Photo by Carlin Sundell, courtesy of Lee Vance.

Chef Lee Vance abandoned an education pointed toward a counseling career for one in the culinary world. But with Lee, preparing “comfort” food is more like performing food therapy!

Lee grew up in an Italian home, where helping to prepare family meals instilled a deep love of cooking. She would eventually attend the Oregon Culinary Institute, then spend time traveling and trying out various roles in the industry.

Inspiration Behind Dinner

It was in Oklahoma City where she found her passion working as a server at Ludivine, under chefs Jonathan Stranger and Russ Johnson. The restaurant was one of the first organic farm-to-table restaurants in that area. Customers were not used to that kind of cooking.

“Selling something like bone marrow to an Oakie was a huge challenge,” Lee says, “But once I got them, I had them.”

Her experience with these trailblazers piqued Lee’s interest. She returned to Oregon and opened a booth in a farmers’ market, serving whatever she could source from the local farmers on Friday nights. That translated into her restaurant, Dinner at the Nehalem River Inn, where she continued to take local sourcing and superior service to a new level.

That’s where we met.

Dining At Dinner

Lee was working at a bit of a disadvantage that night. I’d just proposed to the love of my life, and the two of us had just experienced one of the best days of our lives, filled with helicopter rides, beautiful beaches and awesome margaritas. Enter Lee, who flawlessly combines stellar cooking with an unblinking focus on guest experience. She was able to put an exclamation point at the end of the perfect day!

Lee surprised us by creating a personalized menu for our private meal at Dinner. Our first course was bone marrow served with mustard and pickled onion. There’s a reason they call it meat butter! It was my first experience with the stuff, and nothing short of decadent. The next course was fresh-caught, meaty steelhead trout with arugula salad with pecorino romano and arugula flowers. The texture of that fish is something I won’t soon forget. I’ve never been much of a trout person, but this experience would influence one of the offerings Amy and I would have at our reception several months later.

The third course was perfectly cooked, fork-tender braised rabbit leg and fluffy gnocchi with a rich, mustard cream sauce and earthy morels.Lee raised the bar with the final course, offering seared duck breast with fiddle head ferns and bacon-braised radicchio. Every bite played off the last, with the earthiness of the duck as the antitheses of the tart snap of radicchio and bright snap of the fiddle heads. It kind of felt like being on Iron Chef, as each course played well with the last, but stood alone as unique and delicious dishes in their own right.

And as if that weren’t enough, this Olympic fare was finished with one of my new fiancee’s favorite desserts: pots de crème. You’ll find Lee’s recipe for that below.

Of course, Lee herself was just as sweet, playing host and server, sparing nothing to make our engagement “Dinner” the most incredible experience. Amy and I have a return trip to the Oregon coast bookmarked, if only to make it back to visit her new space in Manzanita.

Dinner Goes Coastal

Dinner’s new location comes with new challenges. Lee is familiar with breaking new ground from her Ludivine days, but in this coastal location she’ll face the opposite problem: The area is saturated with farm-to-table efforts. To overcome this, she has closely partnered with an organic farm. These days, you don’t have to sell your customers on the benefits of local and organic — the challenge is sourcing it to secure your own stash among many competitors.

Lee says you can’t call “dibs” on your source for great ground lamb. However, since it’s such a small community, there’s still a very cooperative atmosphere amongst the farm-to-table restaurant owners. “There is a lot of support,” Lee says. “You don’t need to be a shark.”

Part of Lee’s mission is sourcing proteins from animals that have been treated ethically. Since she’s going directly to farms to get the meat and developing relationships with people that care for the animals, she gets to see first-hand how they’re treated. On the farms she works with, animals roam freely.

“Tons of acres with sheep roaming … and cattle. And chickens out in a field — they are totally free to just be chickens. When you know the animal was happy you really get to enjoy it.”

Another aspect that helps Lee stand out is her focus on customer service. She worked as a server for so long, her perspective as a chef is different. To her, it’s all about the customer. Lee gets to know her clientele, and they often inspire her menus. That keeps them, like us, coming back for more.

Ultimately, she says, “If you don’t have a guest, you don’t have a business.”

Lee Shares Her Tips

Trust yourself in the kitchen. Trust yourself to know when something is done. And don’t be afraid of butchering — everything is made to be taken apart, she says. Look things up, but understand that a lot of cooking is intuitive.
Having a sharp knife is key. You can’t get anything done without one. Pair it with an appropriate cutting board: There are no glass or marble cutting boards in the real world. It’s not hard to figure out why your knife is dull if you’re cutting on a marble countertop.
Let the season inspire your menus.Know what’s in season, Lee says. Learn about what grows where you live and how to forage. It’s not worth getting tomatoes and berries when they are not in season. If you can learn a couple of local, native plants that you can eat (be careful!) then go for it.

You can follow Dinner on Facebook and Instagram. You’ll find your mouth watering by visiting their website. A special thanks to Chef Lee Vance for taking the time to speak with us, and for making the day of our proposal so memorable.

Pot de Creme
Recipe courtesy of Chef Lee Vance and her farm-to-table restaurant, Dinner, coming soon to Manzanita, Ore.

1 pound 68 percent dark chocolate pieces
9 egg yolks
3 cups cream
2 cups half-and-half
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup sugar
Pinch salt

In a pan, combine cream, half-and-half, sugar, vanilla and salt and slowly bring to a boil. While the cream mixture is heating, whisk egg yolks in a large mixing bowl until combined.

Add chocolate to hot cream and whisk until glossy and thoroughly melted. Once it has melted completely, pull the pan off the stove and slowly temper the egg yolks with the chocolate mixture. Add very slowly at first, whisking while you pour. Once mixed together, ladle into jars (I use 8-ounce mason jars).

Makes about 12 to 14 6-ounce portions.

Tagged with: Chef Lee Vance, Dessert, dinner, duck, farm to table, Manzanita, Marrow, Oregon, organic, Portland, Pot de Creme, Proposal, rabbit, restaurant, steelhead trout
Posted in In The Blue Corner, Meet The Chef : Your Big Day

Sweet Tomato Chutney, With A Kiss Of Ginger And Tart

Posted on September 13, 2013 by Sarah

Ok, Eaters … hold on to your pants. This is a first for me: I’ve never made chutney, and I’ve never canned anything. But I really want to get into the whole preserving … and pickling … and jamming scene. While it may not be particularly sexy, it’s becoming hipper.

There’s something about doing things by hand — things our mothers and grandmothers did in their kitchens — that warms my heart. The good news is, it’s not that hard. The only thing to fear is … well, botulism. OK, pretty scary! But if you follow the proper sanitization techniques, you wont kill yourself or anyone else.

As I looked for a chutney to experiment with, it occurred to me just how versatile chutneys can be! First, there are so many varieties of tomatoes alone, each imparting different levels of sweetness and texture. Then, by adding other fruits (peaches, dates, raisins) and sweeteners (agave, brown sugar, raw sugar), you can play with that sweetness and texture even more. But don’t neglect spices and savory notes!

The combination I tried had a good balance, perhaps a little on the sweeter side. Luckily, the red-wine vinegar brought in a nice tartness to balance it out. And wow — the ginger gave it a sassy little kick under that sweet veneer.

So, if you’re new to chutneys, what do you do with them (besides spooning them directly into your mouth over and over again)? There really are so many uses. It’s considered a condiment, after all. What can’t you do with them? Use them as an accompaniment to curry, alongside a meat and cheese plate, to top hamburgers … or halibut … or tilapia … or mahi mahi. You can spread on grilled cheese sandwiches, or mix it in meatloaf. The list goes on.

Whew … let me catch my breath! Any other ideas, Eaters?

A Little Sweet, Ginger Tomato Chutney
This is a simple, sweet, but tart version I found in Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food magazine. For the tomatoes, you can use almost any that grow in your garden or from your farmer’s market. You could even use your canned tomatoes from last year!

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, peeled and minced
2 pounds fresh plum tomatoes
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup red-wine vinegar
1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar

Heat oil in a medium to large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, garlic and ginger. Cook, stirring regularly, until the onion is soft and slightly caramel colored — about 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, raisins, vinegar and brown sugar. Lower heat and simmer until mixture becomes thick and jam-like. This takes about 35-45 minutes. Remove from heat and cool completely.

If canning, transfer to sterilized jars.Chutney will store for 3-6 months in a cool dark place. Once jars are opened, use within 2 weeks.

If you don’t want to bother with the whole canning thing (and sterilized jars), simply transfer the chutney to a clean glass jar, cool and store in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. Or, you can freeze up to a year in BPA-free plastic Ball jars, as pictured. I was surprised to find these at my grocer next to the traditional glass. Giving them a try with a little of my chutney!

Tagged with: Chutney, ginger, raisins, red-wine vinegar, sweet, tart, Tomato
Posted in In The Blue Corner

Detroit

Posted on April 19, 2013 by Amy

: Reflections of an abandoned building in Detroit, MI. Photo credit: Martin Gonzales

Having been born and raised in Michigan, I can say one thing definitively: “Awesome” is not used to describe Detroit very often. While it’s an apt word for the hipster Austin music or food scene, when you’re talking about the Motor City, the adjective that comes to mind is “gritty.”

My cred is deeply rooted within a long line of Michiganders. It began with my great-grandparents who emigrated from Germany to the Hamtramck area when their son, my grandfather, was just 2. Like many immigrants coming to America, they chased the dream of something more to a land that promised opportunity. Living in a small apartment above a church, they had very little, but relentlessly toiled away at blue collar jobs, hoping for more.

Opportunity was what many saw in the then-booming metropolis of Detroit, birthplace of the American automotive industry and Motown. Back then, the neighborhoods surrounding the city boasted elegant homes and proud homeowners with meticulously landscaped lawns.

Those times are long gone. For decades now, Detroit has been a city in decline.

The Motor City’s Drive To Decline

In my pre-journalism life, and before my food blogging days, I worked as a real estate appraiser. Though much of my family remained in the Detroit area, and still do, assignments in America’s fourth largest city were among my least favorite. I remember one house in particular. As I walked up to the gate, I looked down to see the ground strewn with hypodermic needles and dog feces. The interior was no better, with six-foot holes in the drywall, rotted doors, infestation … and worse. These once regal homes — only sturdy now due to their brick and mortar exteriors — slowly decay from the inside out.

It’s a metaphor for the city, really.

Apathy and corruption have led to a fiscal crisis, bankruptcy and, last month, emergency management of this once-great city. With an unemployment rate more than twice the national average, Detroit ranks in the top 20 for worst places to find a job. Without jobs, there’s no tax revenue. Without tax revenue, there are no city services. In large parts of this urban center, basic things – like trash removal – have been discontinued. Hospitals have closed their doors. Fire departments have laid off employees. There are too few police and areas of the city those that remain just won’t go into anymore.

: The hallway of an abandoned Motor City hospital. Photo credit: Martin Gonzales

Without the presence of the the latter, gangs have moved in. Crime has skyrocketed. With more than 2,100 violent crimes committed per 100,000 residents in 2012, it’s been ranked the most dangerous city in America for four years running. Many residents who can have made a mass exodus stage left.

Austin Vs. Detroit: Like Comparing Apples … To Elephants

And the elephant in the room? Sure, you can get an apartment for $944 a month in Austin. But in a city as depressed as Detroit, you can buy a house for a fraction of that. In fact, got a dollar I can borrow? The median household income in Michigan’s largest city is half that of the nation, and the poverty rate is three times greater. Sixty percent of children in this city live in poverty. When I saw this article a few years ago, it really hit home … and I mean hometown. How is it possible that five Detroit households could eat for a year on what one Austinite spends on food?

In Austin in 2010, the average household spent $12,477 a year on food and drink. In Detroit, cut that figure to $2,246. Yes, really. That’s $6.15 a day. And while you can pick up an apple at a farmers market on the way home from SXSW in the southern city, that’s not so easy in the Motor City. In visits to 240 grocery stores in the neighborhoods where roughly one-third of Detroit kids live, local radio station WDET found only 25 percent sold the one thing fabled to keep the doctor away.

: One of the city’s many abandoned houses. Photo credit: Danielle Walquist Lynch

People In Detroit Take Food Seriously, Too

Sadly, it’s just that a lot of them don’t have enough of it. But if you squint your eyes really hard, there’s light at the end of this tunnel. Despite the city’s economic hardship, private industry is booming. Revitalization efforts can be found at every turn, including proposals to address the blight and food scarcity issues in creative ways – like large-scale urban farming. A program aimed at stretching food stamp dollars by encouraging recipients to make healthier choices, while supporting local farmers, is gaining traction. Volunteer farmers grow organic produce to help feed the area’s hungry – hungry people trying to feed their families on less than what I spent for lunch today.

And at the heart of this so-called renaissance: Detroiters. People who lost their livelihood – and many, their retirements – when the auto industry collapsed. Who suffered insult upon injury in dealing with the worst of the nation’s recession. They carry on, despite scandal and financial ruin.

Yeah … gritty.

It’s the only way to describe Detroit and its tough-as-nails residents.

Living on any kind of budget isn’t easy, but when it comes to food, each dollar really counts. Food scarcity is a real issue many Americans face daily. Next week, WTE takes a look at the challenges of putting food on the table with food stamps — and offers some strategies to help stretch your food dollars.

Tagged with: budgeting, detroit, food scarcity, food stamps, hunger, Michigan, motor city, poverty
Posted in In The Blue Corner