Chef Morgan Stewart:
When I realized in 2010 that my calling was not in academics but in working with my hands to bring people health and happiness through food, I decided to enroll in culinary school. I love food, and people will always need to eat.
I'd been in and out of the food service industry since I was 15, though, working at coffee shops and restaurants but after I started the Johnson & Wales University Culinary Arts program in Denver I was able to come into Two Sisters Bakery in my hometown of Homer, Alaska as a prep cook and quickly became sous chef. I've part-time prep-cooked at Mermaid Cafe in Homer, as well and in Denver I spent a 3-month internship at Lous Food Bar working with a cheese microbiologist and manning the charcuterie station.
From there I have centered my life around food, and growing as a chef & food educator. In 2012 I was the relief cook on board the US Fish & Wildlife Service Vessel Tiglax for 3 weeks, and have now been on board for 5 seasons, cooking in the tight quarters and extreme conditions that an at-sea research vessel kitchen in the Aleutian Islands entails.
The rest of my calendar year is often filled with food & education related travel; I have attended the MAD Food Symposium in Copenhagen several times, been a member of Grrls Meat Camp since 2014 and have attended so many amazing workshops there as well as given demonstrations in wild game butchery. I also spent three weeks in the Gascon region of southern France at Kitchen at Camont with Kate Hill, the founder of Grrls Meat Camp, at her very small butchery & charcuterie school cooking for the students and shadowing them as they learned from Master Butcher Dominique Chapolard.
Of course I love the "hyperlocal" French country cooking of the Gascon Region but my favorite "food country" so far has got the be Vietnam (Pho: 'nuff said). My favorite place in the world, however, is Jonai Farms - a free range heritage breed pig & cattle Farm in Australia where I completed a three month butchery internship and hope to return someday soon! I travel to eat, and stay inspired. My ultimate motivations and guiding food principles emphasize local producers, community, and decreasing food waste across the entire food system from source to consumer. I enjoy working with interesting limitations such as Alaskan/other remote location availability, cold climate resources, preservation and seasonality.
When I realized in 2010 that my calling was not in academics but in working with my hands to bring people health and happiness through food, I decided to enroll in culinary school. I love food, and people will always need to eat.
I'd been in and out of the food service industry since I was 15, though, working at coffee shops and restaurants but after I started the Johnson & Wales University Culinary Arts program in Denver I was able to come into Two Sisters Bakery in my hometown of Homer, Alaska as a prep cook and quickly became sous chef. I've part-time prep-cooked at Mermaid Cafe in Homer, as well and in Denver I spent a 3-month internship at Lous Food Bar working with a cheese microbiologist and manning the charcuterie station.
From there I have centered my life around food, and growing as a chef & food educator. In 2012 I was the relief cook on board the US Fish & Wildlife Service Vessel Tiglax for 3 weeks, and have now been on board for 5 seasons, cooking in the tight quarters and extreme conditions that an at-sea research vessel kitchen in the Aleutian Islands entails.
The rest of my calendar year is often filled with food & education related travel; I have attended the MAD Food Symposium in Copenhagen several times, been a member of Grrls Meat Camp since 2014 and have attended so many amazing workshops there as well as given demonstrations in wild game butchery. I also spent three weeks in the Gascon region of southern France at Kitchen at Camont with Kate Hill, the founder of Grrls Meat Camp, at her very small butchery & charcuterie school cooking for the students and shadowing them as they learned from Master Butcher Dominique Chapolard.
Of course I love the "hyperlocal" French country cooking of the Gascon Region but my favorite "food country" so far has got the be Vietnam (Pho: 'nuff said). My favorite place in the world, however, is Jonai Farms - a free range heritage breed pig & cattle Farm in Australia where I completed a three month butchery internship and hope to return someday soon! I travel to eat, and stay inspired. My ultimate motivations and guiding food principles emphasize local producers, community, and decreasing food waste across the entire food system from source to consumer. I enjoy working with interesting limitations such as Alaskan/other remote location availability, cold climate resources, preservation and seasonality.