Interview with Allen Routt, Owner and Executive Chef of The Painted Lady
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The following interview was made possible by the NW
Tastemaker, a culinary travel publication forthcoming from Northwest Travel
Magazine. To read more interviews with the best chefs in the Pacific Northwest,
visit Northwest Travel Magazine and
TableTalkNorthwest.com.
Allen Routt, Owner and Executive Chef of
The Painted Lady and Owner of Storss Barbecue
Chef Allen Routt
and his wife Jessica Bagley opened The Painted Lady restaurant in Newberg in
the Willamette Valley in 2005, and with it, they brought haute cuisine to
Oregon. Chef Routt worked beneath Chef Patrick O'Connell, who is famous for
serving incredibly complex, refined dishes in the intimate and colonial setting
of Inn at Little Washington, and the experience fomented Routt's culinary
goals.
The Painted Lady
combines a historical setting and level of service difficult to find anywhere
in the Northwest with astonishingly delectable, worldly dishes. The restaurant
is located inside of an early 1900s Victorian home on a sleepy,
wine-country-town street, and Routt's dishes feature wildly meticulous
preparations that attest to his hard-won inspiration from global cuisine. To
balance his love of refined dining and country living, Chef Routt opened a
casual barbecue joint, Storss Barbacue (also in Newberg), in 2014. The
pinot-noir barbecue sauce is not to be missed.
1. How do you
describe Northwest cuisine?
Having lived and
worked throughout most of our country, Northwest cuisine, to me, is signified
more than anywhere else by terrior. Nowhere else has such a long-standing
tradition of farmers markets and vegetables and fruit stands. In addition, a
lesser-known attribute about Oregon is the broad diversity of the growing
region—the wide variety of products that are specific to Oregon. Additionally,
Oregon farmers grow fruits and vegetables, such as wasabi, that are commonly
only grown in select areas of the world.
2.
Who are six of your favorite purveyors that you regularly work with?
Nevor Shellfish,
for oysters and clams.
Canby Prawns
Frog Eyes, for
their wasabi.
Sudan, for lamb.
Chickadee Farm
Cow Bell Cheese
Co
3.
When you go out for a nice meal, what are two or three of your favorite spots?
I have always
loved the theater of a well-orchestrated dining experience. It’s difficult to
find restaurants in the Northwest that will serve a multi-course, extended
dining experience, without decisions, accompanied by appropriate wine and
beverages.
4. Who are two
other Northwest chefs that you admire?
Chef Tony Demes,
formally of Noisette, and Chef Murata of Murata Restaurant— Both for their skill
level and dedication to the craft of cooking.
5.
Looking toward the future, what are you most excited to do in the kitchen?
I get really
excited about the opportunities to work with a whole new generation of small
farmers and producers. It’s exciting and fun to be in an agriculture area that
produces world-class wines and world-class produce in our backyard. Also,
having gone through really big growths and changes in the last year, it’s
exciting to work with young energetic growers who are excited about their
products.
The Painted Lady
Restaurant
201 S. College
Street
Newberg, OR
97132
www.thepaintedladyrestaurant.com
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