About Chef Josh

My love for food and cooking began as a child, growing up in the Amazon. Being immersed in the rich bounties of the rainforest trained my pallet to the exotic and seasonal products we ate every day. I started to develop my appreciation for what grew in my immediate environment based on the fact that a snack was always waiting for me a short walk away, often right in our front yard. Mango trees grew heavy with golden ripe fruit, quite literally dropping the sweet delicacy at our feet! Knowing what fruit trees were ripe and when, I would spent hours tracking down  and eating the often wild fare. It was not long before cooking, fishing and choosing ingredients became a source of great curiosity for me. I was raised in a family that was always willing to let the cooking responsibility be mine. My mother has always gardened, to this day. One of my very earliest memories is sifting through soil and plucking out potatoes at our little country house in Beaver Creek, Oregon. I was probably three years old. My father kept a steady stream of often Asian influenced food on the dinner table, this stoked my curiosity as well, food did not fit into a box in my experience. Early in life, I developed my philosophy about food:

The ingredient is the showcased event. The preparation should be minimal only making food easier to digest and more agreeable to the pallet and eyes. This has become my understanding of culinary artistry.

I began my professional career working for Chef Chuck Claringbold at the Ringside East in Portland Oregon back in 1996. I learned the subtleties and essentials of many techniques from Chuck that further refined my already intuitive understanding of ingredients and their preparation. I have been blessed to work in many capacities, in many kitchens throughout the years, most of which allowed me the creativity to create my own style, my own unique understanding and relationship with my craft and the ingredients that make it what it is. From these roots I am ever learning, studying and growing in my art. It is with great passion and love for what I do that I wish to touch your lives, to contribute to your wellness in a small yet important way. Thank you. 

"The aim of cooking is to achieve balance and harmony in the body and with the environment. When high-quality natural ingredients are properly prepared in a calm, peaceful and loving manner, the result is balanced food that will foster a healthy, balanced condition." –Michio Kushi