Meet the Board
The Board for the Portland Culinary Alliance is comprised of a diverse group of professionals representing chefs, photographers, food stylists, educators, authors and entrepeneurs. These board members give selflessly of their time, energy and creativity to help the PCA sponsor educational events, host networking opportunities and provide marketing support for the food and wine industry in the Pacific Northwest.
New Board Members, Winter 2012
Chloe Fennell
Vice President
What do you do for work?
I am the managing partner for Eat Your Heart Out Catering. It’s my mom’s company that has been around since 1975!
What is your favorite thing about your job?
I love working all the fun events we do in catering. It’s fun to see people’s houses and work out of extravagant kitchens in private homes. We mostly work with a wonderful client base and rarely see the nightmare bridezilla.
Can you tell us about a memorable PCA program?
A fixed memory in my brain is the coastal tidewater program that was years ago. I was probably 15 years old or younger! We harvested things from the tide pools and then the Salishan hosted us for preparing and eating it! I also enjoyed the Dungeness Crab program done just a couple years back.
Share your food philosophy, please.
Food needs to be as carefully presented as flavors are created. Finishing touches like the new growth of opal basil finish off a Caprese Bruschetta and bring the bite to another level.
Do you have a favorite seasonal ingredient and how would you use it?
Looking forward to the freshly dug new potatoes that start to appear in Spring markets. I love going about sifting through the market baskets to find the smallest ones I can and I love the ease of simply dropping them in boiling water, pulling out after a few minutes and then rolling them in a dill butter compound.
What do you think is the most interesting thing happening in Portland’s culinary scene right now?
People wanting to meet their chefs, farmers or ranchers. I love how lately a handful of bride/grooms are going to the farm to meet, to see, to harvest what they want to have as part of their wedding feast.
Please name a favorite cookbook.
The Splendid Table by Lynn Rosetta Kasper
What inspired you to join the PCA board?
Who inspired me? Lota.
Jason French
Chef Liaison
Jennifer Bryman
Treasurer
Luisa Simone
Editor, PCA Newsletter and Website
What do you do for work?
I develop affordable Websites for small businesses, helping clients with content development and WordPress design. I’m thrilled to be working with several clients in the food and wine space.
What is your favorite thing about your job?
I love helping my clients grow their business. These days, when so much marketing is done on the Web, a good design has to include things like search engine optimization and social media.
Can you tell us about a memorable PCA program?
I was thrilled with the paella dinner prepared by Scott Ketterman. The food was great, which is not surprising. But my favorite aspect of the evening was standing inches away from Scott and asking him questions about his cooking techniques. I was actually inspired to make paella at home after getting some good advice from Scott.
Share your food philosophy, please.
Food is sustenance, but I mean that in its most inclusive sense. Good food nourishes our spirit and our minds as much as it nourishes our body. Portland’s vibrant food and wine scene is one of the reasons my husband and I moved here from the East coast. The truth is, you can go wine tasting in Connecticut, it’s just not very good.
Do you have a favorite seasonal ingredient and how would you use it?
Right now my veggie for all seasons is kale. It grows here year round, and I’ve been harvesting Lacinato and Red Russian Kale from my garden since the summer. Kale is amazingly versatile; recently, I’ve been doing a kale/onion/carrot stir fry with soy sauce and Sriracha sauce.
What do you think is the most interesting thing happening in Portland’s culinary scene right now?
It’s great fun to see the next iteration of food carts, or what I call, “food carts…version 2.0″. Chefs who have been very successful with carts are expanding into brick-and-morter establishments, which are still anything but traditional restaurants. I’m thinking, for example of Nong Poonsukwattana who now has a take-out window (on SE Ankeny) in addition to her incredibly popular Khao Man Gai cart.
Please name a favorite cookbook.
The Four Seasons of Italian Cooking: Harvest Recipes from the Farms and Vineyards of the Italian Countryside by A. J. Battifarano and Alan Richardson. It’s not a new book, but it really broke new ground when it was published because it pioneered the idea of Agriturismo. The photography is beautiful and the recipes are totally authentic.
What inspired you to join the PCA board?
Just being a member of PCA has allowed me to meet wonderful people in the food and wine business. I just wanted to participate in the community on a different level.
