Saturday, June 18, 7:00 pm
Members $100, guests $125

When it comes to regional, market-driven cooking, many chefs talk the talk, but few walk the walk quite as ardently as Stu Stein. Showcasing the products and artisans of the Pacific Northwest has become a mission for Stein, who was recently named culinary director of King Estate Winery in Eugene, Oregon.

A graduate of the culinary arts program at Chicago’s Kendall College, Stein went on to become sous-chef at La Fontaine, where he was the recipient of the Champagne Mumm Award for Culinary Excellence. He traveled to France to study under Paul Bocuse in Lyon and Francis Garcia in Bordeaux before returning to the United States to work in restaurants in Atlanta, Kansas City, Washington, D.C., and New York City. Stein became enamored of southern Oregon several years ago while attending the Pinot Noir Festival there. In 2000 he became executive chef at the Peerless Restaurant in Ashland, Oregon, where he “show[ed] what Northwest produce is capable of,” according to Gourmet, and earned praise for “expanding the borders of American regional cuisine” from the Oregonian’s David Sarasohn. While at Peerless, Stein became known for his collaboration with local farmers, whom he called each day to see what produce was being harvested so he could plan the restaurant’s menu. Now at King Estate, he will use his connections to enhance the offerings at the vineyard’s new visitors’ center—which is complete with a commercial kitchen and an organic garden—opening this summer.

Stein won a 2004 Agriculture Progress Award for his work, and he has translated his dedication for local, eco-friendly ingredients into his book, The Sustainable Kitchen:Passionate Cooking Inspired by Farms, Forests, and Oceans, which he cowrote with Mary Hinds and Judith H. Dern. The tome was widely praised by chefs and journalists, including Dan Hayes of the Statesman Journal, who wrote, “This is a book you need in your kitchen if you have any interest at all in great food.”

There are few chefs more qualified than Stu Stein to host this Oregon Bounty Dinner, and we can’t wait to see what he makes of the state’s summer abundance.