A not so brief history of Chef Roy
PART THREE
Attending Western Culinary Institute was a dream come true, with an unlimited exposure to Fresh….and …I mean Fresh out of the water that day Sea Food, locally grown produce & wines, and many ingredients that I had never seen, tasted, smelled, or touched before. It was a gastronomical sensory climax. About half way through my degree I started a job at the “Multnomah Athletic Club”. The Club had two restaurants…one of which was rated four stars, a Sports Bar, a Café, and Banquette Hall seating 2000 people where we created 3 course plated meals for 900 to 2000 on a regular basis. Chef Franz Poppel took me under his wing and with his tutelage I learned many of his European cooking styles. While at Western Culinary, I met one of me great friends Peter Jolliffe, who opened my eyes to foods from his travels through, Germany, Spain, Greece, Italy, , and Malta, and my tastes expanded from an Oklahoma farm boy’s to a world traveler in just a few months, by simply meeting, making friends, sharing stories, and cooking meals together.
On through graduation and my next new and exciting job… The Personal Chef/Butler…. Just after I graduated, I landed a job with one of Portland’s affluent families. I was their Chef/Butler/Go-fer/Whipping Boy/Driver/you name it, and I bet I just about did it… It was a 24/7 on call job for 19 long and exciting months. I do not wish the job to sound all bad, because it was not all bad all of the time…just very demanding all the time. It was like having four 12 year old spoiled-rotten brats as a boss, all at the same time; yet, it was like gaining a new family. At times, it felt like I was an older brother for their two children, and at times, I just felt like a paid member of the family. I learned so much about fine foods, fine dinning, fine arts, and managing 5,800 and 19,000sq. ft. estates, that by the end of my 19 month stint, I was spent, wore-out, and completely home-sick for my family, friends, and Oklahoma.
