Cooking Up New Flavors Fuels Chef
Fusion. Chemistry. Chain reactions. Dave Evans lives for such things.
“So many people pair things they like, and that doesn’t mean they go together,” he says in the hushed voice reserved for great secrets. “I can taste things in my head.”
Dave doesn’t need beakers and eye droppers, just bowls and basters. Aromas he creates catapult this 27-year-old chef into ecstasy. A piquant sauce produces rapture. The perfect presentation thrills him to his core.
“I love food, period,” he says, his eyes glowing with reverence. “It has such an effect on people’s lives.”
Like Dave’s, for instance. His knack with cilantro and lamb hooked him a four-month stint this spring as chef on the Northern Song, a luxury cruiser headed from Seattle to Alaska’s Inside Passage.
He plans to cook fish caught fresh from the boat. And he knows what to expect. He worked as a commercial fisherman for 10 years before his mother convinced him to pursue his first love.
“I see four or five courses, nice wine, playing with flavors, giving them some options,” he says, more interested in the cooking possibilities than the cruise. “I get more pleasure out of the ceremony, like sitting and the company, than eating.”
Food brought him from his Seattle training ground to Coeur d’Alene. A friend asked Dave to create a menu for his new lunch diner. Dave was happy to oblige.
Monarch Fisheries’ diner opened last week with Chef Dave wielding the spatula in a kitchen that puts him center stage. That way he can chat with diners about his crab cakes and blackened cod, fruit chutneys and seafood curries.
He can whet appetites for his return from the cruise boat next fall. Then he plans to challenge North Idaho palates a bit with a catering and consulting operation.
“I want to expose people here to a fusion of different ethnic flavors,” he says, with the excitement of someone embarking on a great adventure. “The cooking industry doesn’t offer a lot of benefits. You have to make your own.”
S’nowhere better to live
Snow last month was no problem for Elaine Bradshaw, who lives just off Lost Avenue in Coeur d’Alene. One neighbor, Gene Keevy, climbed onto his riding snowplow and cleared paths for the whole neighborhood. His trusty mutt, Tom Foley, was right behind, dragging his belly in the snow and entertaining the neighborhood.
Another of Elaine’s neighbors, Lakes Middle School teacher Chris Hammons, shoveled Elaine’s driveway for her and didn’t complain at all about his back. Any homes for sale over there?
White bikini
The partiers at the Bayview Schooner rested their eyes on more than television on Super Bowl Sunday. The bar unveiled for their viewing pleasure a life-size snow sculpture of a bathing beauty.
The pale but hearty woman lounged on a picnic table on the bar’s deck. Her luxurious hair draped off the table to the deck. Artist Ralph Jones fashioned every detail with loving care, witnesses say.
The sunbather stuck around so long that last week the bar started taking bets on how long she could last. Trust me, she’ll shrink away silently soon.
Thanks for the memories
Coeur d’Alene’s Dennis and Carolyn Smalley were so grateful that Mike Coffield returned to them their family photos and papers from the landfill that they took out an ad to thank him. They never meant to toss them out.
What has someone returned to you that caused you immense relief? Your wallet? Your dog? Your pride? Share your gratitude with Cynthia Taggart, “Close to Home,” 608 Northwest Blvd., Suite 200, Coeur d’Alene 83814; FAX to 765-7149; or call 765-7128.
, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo