The Divine Dish

Interview with Chef Mark Ferguson from Spago, Ritz Carlton Bachelor Gulch, Colorado

Chef Mark Ferguson

Mark Ferguson’s passion for the epicurean began as a child while cooking in his mother’s kitchen in Denver, and he used his culinary skills to support himself through Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colo.

After graduating with a degree in business, Ferguson moved to San Francisco in 1989 where he worked as a sous chef for the Gilbert-Robinson Company at Houlihan’s Restaurant.  He later joined master chef Jeremiah Tower at his renowned restaurant, Stars.  While at Stars, Ferguson furthered his cooking skill set by training at the California Culinary Academy and  met Chef David Robins.

It was Robins, also a chef at Stars, who asked Ferguson to join him in launching Chef Wolfgang Puck’s famed Spago in Las Vegas, whose opening sparked the city’s dining revolution which persists today.  Ferguson joined the Spago Las Vegas opening team as Chef de Cuisine.

During his eight years at Spago, Ferguson greatly enhanced his education and knowledge, cooking alongside some of the greatest names in the culinary profession, such as Paul Bocuse, Daniel Boulud, Nobu Matsuhisa, Thomas Keller and Alain Ducasse.  Together with these world-renowned chefs, he participated in numerous charitable dinners and events including Wolfgang’s American Wine and Food Festival, Keep Memory Alive and Andre Agassi’s Grand Slam for Children.  In addition, Ferguson prepared private dinners for high-profile public figures, such as President William Jefferson Clinton and Hillary Rodham Clinton.

When Chef Wolfgang Puck embarked on his first Italian restaurant concept, Trattoria del Lupo, he called upon Ferguson to spearhead the endeavor.  In preparation for his new role as Executive Chef and Partner, Ferguson traveled Italy extensively, cooking and tasting throughout different regions of the country to develop the restaurant’s innovative Italian menu.

During his eight years at Lupo, Ferguson received the 2002 Las Vegas Life Epicurean Award for Best Italian Restaurant in Las Vegas, and in 2003 he was honored by In Business Las Vegas magazine as one of the top forty rising stars in the city.

Nearly twenty years after leaving, Ferguson returned home to Colorado, where his culinary passion was born.  In 2007 as Executive Chef, Ferguson opened Spago, the flagship of Wolfgang Puck fine dining group at InterThe Ritz-Carlton, Bachelor Gulch on Beaver Creek Mountain. The menu features a fusion of sustainable, all-natural and organic ingredients.

While attending the American Wine and Food Festival, I had the opportunity to sit down with Chef Ferguson and chat about his background and cooking philosophy.

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Interview with Chef Ernst Dorfler at Five Sails Restaurant, Vancouver

Chef Ernst Dorfler and Gerry Sayers, owners of Five Sails Restaurant, Vancouver

On my last trip to Vancouver, I visited the Five Sails restaurant at the top of the Pan Pacific Hotel.  The restaurant has amazing views and equally amazing food, which I got to sample in a fabulous tasting menu.   I also got to sit down with owner and Chef Ernst Dorfler to talk a bit about his food.  Our interview is below.

Chef Ernst Dorflers’ diverse career began when he left his home in Sirnitz, Austria at the age of fifteen to become an apprentice at the Four Star Trattlerhof Hotel in Bad Kleinkirchheim. Armed with formal French and Swiss training Ernst left to see the world, enriching his cultural and gastronomic experience in Germany, Switzerland, South Africa and Canada.

Dorfler’s Canadian culinary adventures have taken him from the East to the West Coast. He commenced his Canadian “tour” at the Quebec Hilton in Quebec City, followed by the Westin Hotel, Waldens Restaurant and the Four Seasons Hotel in Edmonton and eventually bringing him to Vancouver in 1988 as Executive Chef of the Five Diamond, Pan Pacific Hotel.

From 1981 to 1992 Ernst competed in the culinary arts locally, nationally and internationally achieving over 30 gold medals. He has been proud to represent Canada at seven international culinary events and was a member of the acclaimed Canadian Culinary Olympic Championship Team in 1992, achieving the highest honor of gold medal for best overall team/country at the World Culinary Olympics in Frankfurt, Germany.

Chef Dorfler has continued to win praise and accolades from Vancouverites and visitors to the Five Sails Restaurant and the Pan Pacific Vancouver – both of which have been consistently recognized with the AAA Five Diamond designation since 1990.

Interview with Davidji at the Chopra Center, La Costa

Davidji is an internationally recognized meditation teacher, life guide, and public speaker. He travels the world sharing timeless wisdom on stress management, deeper life fulfillment, emotional healing, balancing business and wellness, getting unstuck, and taking your life to the next level. He is the author of several books, hundreds of articles, and is the subject of many videos.
Since 2003, davidji has lived and worked at the Chopra Center for Wellbeing in Carlsbad, CA which he refers to as “the sweet spot of the universe.” Having apprenticed under Deepak Chopra and David Simon for seven years, he is the Chopra Center’s lead meditation teacher and ayurveda instructor teaching thousands each month throughout the world to tap into the stillness and silence that rests within.

Davidji

The Chopra Center serves as headquarters of alternative medicine gurus Deepak Chopra and David Simon.  It houses a multitude of classes, daily meditation and yoga, seminars, workshops and treatments based on the principles of Ayurveda, an ancient healing system of India.   The Center combines mind and body techniques with natural spa treatments, including Oshadi, a herbal wrap to eliminate toxins; Pizichilli, a rhythmic therapy massage to enhance circulation; and Abhyanga, a two-therapist massage to enhance the immune system.

I sat down with Davidji, aka David Greenspan, for a chat at the Chopra Center at La Costa in Carlsbad about the center, how he came to teach there, and the mind/body connection.  Throughout our conversation a variety of people walked by and all of them had to stop to chat with David.  He greeted each person with a huge hug and every friend thanked him before leaving.  I also felt better after I talked with him than before our conversation, which I think is part of the reason he is one of the main reasons to visit the center.  He gave me a CD of his meditations and after a week I’ve reduced a good deal of stress following the CD.  You can purchase his meditation CD, DavidJi Guided Meditations, at his website, www.davidji.com.

Interview with Chef Rene Lenger, Switch, Encore Las Vegas

I sat down with Chef Lenger for a short chat before sampling a great tasting menu at Switch restaurant, located at Encore Las Vegas.

 
René Lenger is the executive chef of Switch at Encore, the new signature resort in the  Wynn collection, where he serves modern seafood and steakhouse fare with an  emphasis on the finest market ingredients. Lenger joined Wynn Resorts in 2005 as  executive chef of The Country Club, A New American Steakhouse.

“At Switch, I hope to provide my guests with a truly unique dining experience,” says  Lenger. “The seasonally-inspired cuisine combined with the restaurant’s theatrics offers  an event that’s in a class of its own. There’s nothing like Switch in Las Vegas.”

Previously, Lenger spent seven years working alongside David Walzog, (former  executive chef of The Country Club, now executive chef of SW Steakhouse, also at  Wynn Las Vegas) at Strip House, Michael Jordan’s and Monkey Bar, where they were  both key members of the Glazier Group, a prominent restaurant company based in New
York.   Born in Vienna, Austria, Lenger grew up in a home where food played a major role. The  chef’s father was a professor at the esteemed Culinary Institute of Vienna and taught  Lenger at an early age how to make Austrian specialties such as taffelspitz and gulasch.  By the time Lenger graduated from high school, he was hooked on cooking and applied
to the Culinary Institute of Vienna where he graduated at the top of his class.

Upon graduation Lenger trained at Zu den drei Husaren under three-toque chef Ewald
Plachutta. While working under Plachutta, he would set off daily for the market, choosing
items for that evening’s menu.

By the early 90’s, Lenger seized the opportunity to come to New York to work at the
Rhiga Royal Hotel. To build upon his already impressive culinary background, he
decided to master pastry arts and accepted a position as assistant pastry chef at the
hotel. Lenger returned to Vienna in 1993 where he worked at another three-toque
restaurant, Altwienerhof, and then became an executive chef at Da’ Marcello. By 1996,
the chef was ready to move to the U.S. and was hired as executive chef at Theodore
Restaurant, a critically acclaimed Austrian-American brasserie in New York’s flatiron
district.

In 1999 Lenger was introduced to restaurateur Peter Glazier of The Glazier Group and
was immediately asked to helm the kitchen at the Glazier Group’s Strip House
restaurant in New York City (in addition, he later helmed the kitchens of Strip House
Houston and Palm Beach Gardens).  Under Lenger’s supervision, Forbes magazine named Strip House as one of the “Forbes
2003 All-Star Eateries in New York.” In addition, Time Out New York’s Eating and
Drinking Guide 2001 nominated Strip House as one of the year’s “Best New
Steakhouses.” Lenger is also a published author in Austria and has written several
books on culinary arts used at many schools throughout Eastern Europe.

Lenger incorporates his love for quality products at Switch, where he brings his
trademark flair to this dynamic dining destination.