Podcast #13 – A Taste of Success with Executive Chef Steve Topple
Doug Dvorak (00:02.317)
Good day, Mission Possible podcast community. I’m your host, Doug Dvorak, and I’m so very excited to bring you inspiring stories from incredible guests.
These individuals are on a mission to create remarkable possibilities that not only enhance their own lives, but also make a lasting impact on the communities and individuals around them that they serve. Stay tuned for some truly amazing conversations. My guest today is Executive Chef Steve Topple. Hi, Steve. I’m excellent. I’ve been put on the Chef Topple 5 since you got here. Your food is so darn good.
Steve Topple (00:50.999)
Hi, how are you?
Doug Dvorak (00:59.489)
Thank you very much. Really excited about today’s conversation. Steve hails from Portsmouth, United Kingdom, a naval and fishing port on the south coast of England. For over two decades, Steve has been perfecting his craft in culinary arts by working in a variety of top tier resort kitchens. He’s worked in such cities as San Francisco, Sea Island, Georgia, Lake Placid, New York, McCall, Idaho.
Steve Topple (00:59.534)
thank you.
Doug Dvorak (01:28.513)
Vail, Colorado, Loch Lomond, Scotland, and numerous other restaurants in London, England, and has prepared himself well to open several restaurants in and around the areas he’s worked, but specifically here in Valley County. You’ve got a couple restaurants. You’re also the executive chef and head chef here at Tamarack Resort.
Steve has received several prestigious awards over the course of his illustrious career, including Young Chef of the Year Award from Nestle Food Service. He’s also been featured as a keynote speaker at many events all over the world, including the best of rock resorts and chefs and champagne, and has authored two culinary books. So you want to impress?
and signatures. Chef Steve topple Welcome to the mission possible podcast. My pleasure. Excellent. Chef Can you share your journey into the culinary world? What inspired you to become a chef?
Steve Topple (02:32.759)
Thank you. for having me. Super excited to be here.
Steve Topple (02:44.662)
Yes, so gosh, so I’m originally from Portsmouth, United Kingdom, and I went to culinary school there for about three years. There’s a college called Highbury College, and it was a three year program. The first year was kind of like a basic culinary education, like learning how to do knife skills, you know, how to work in a kitchen. The second year was more advanced. We actually had to do some serving as well as like a restaurant.
We actually had an open restaurant to the public there, which was absolutely amazing as part of the education. So like, you we had a real restaurant open to the public. People came in and ordered food. We ran it like a brigade. And then the third year was kind of a specialized, you know, I specialized in advanced culinary and learned more fine dining techniques. And, you know, I wanted to get into the fine dining kind of world. It’s a long story, actually. I originally wanted to be a pilot.
I’m a commercial pilot. Yes. Yeah. And so I actually had about 15, 16 flying lessons like in Cessna’s and stuff like that. And I went for my medical to get my pilot’s license and…
Doug Dvorak (03:45.474)
Really?
Steve Topple (03:57.486)
I found out was slightly colorblind, red-green colorblind. And you have to take the test of all the dots and you have to find the number or letters in the dots and stuff like that. I was having a real hard time with that. And the doctor was like, my gosh, yeah, this seems like you’re struggling. And so he said that, you your dreams to be a commercial pilot, a lot of the UK based airlines, like British Airways and Virgin, those companies tend to be very strict on their qualifications to become a pilot.
And so I wasn’t devastated. You know, it was definitely a dream of mine. As a young boy, I used to go up to Heathrow Airport in London a lot, and I would always watch these big American jets taking off going, you know, American Airlines and United and stuff like that flying off to the US. And I was like, one day, one day, you know. And so anyway, I loved cooking. My aunt is a chef as well. And so I kind of it’s in the family. You know, I used to cook with my parents in the kitchen. And so, you know,
It was always kind of a natural progression. So when I was leaving high school, I went to like a job recruitment fair and really enjoyed going to restaurants and stuff like that. So I decided, well, I could be a chef, I could make this go. so when, because we finished school at 16 in the UK, so I decided to go to culinary school, go to college and learn the trade from there.
three years of that was amazing. Then I was just so passionate about cooking and love everything to do with food. I always watched TV shows in the UK and then I said to myself, I need to go to London, need to broaden my horizons. So I went to London and worked for a TV chef in London called Brian Turner and he’s a celebrity chef in the UK. I used to look up to him all the time and he was on all sorts of competitions and he was also
a regular guest on live TV in the morning. So was kind of like somebody I looked up to and was like, so I applied to his restaurant. He was hiring an apprentice cook. And so I actually worked for him for almost a year and a half. Wow, was that an interesting time? know, I used to go in in the morning at nine o’clock and, you know, leave at midnight. And I had to run literally every night to go get the last tube train in London.
Doug Dvorak (06:20.353)
Wow.
Steve Topple (06:27.056)
the underground underground system there and it was at like a 12 o’clock and I had to make it by 12 15 to go run that if not you have to use the night bus system in London and it was if anybody’s ever familiar with that it’s a real interesting experience but so you know we’re working in London you know like I you know we’ll take an hour break in between and go sit and hide park and Green Park and you know just enjoy an hour or two away from the kitchen kind of like a split shift kind of
Doug Dvorak (06:40.715)
Hahaha
Steve Topple (06:57.096)
type deal so I really kind of learned long hours it’s not that big of a deal it’s really easy for me to do.
Doug Dvorak (07:04.877)
because you’re so passionate about it.
Steve Topple (07:06.664)
Exactly, absolutely. And then I went to Scotland and worked in Loch Lomond, as you mentioned, and it was an amazing, amazing property. was a Cameron House was the name of the was the name of the hotel. And I worked at a Michelin star restaurant. And it was my very first experience working at a Michelin restaurant. And it was really tough for sure. The chefs were really, really adamant about wanting to do, you know, the highest quality, always trying to push. We only had one Michelin star, which is an amazing achievement. But, you know, the maximum
you can get is three Michelin stars and so they were always trying to push for the second star. You never know when that inspector is going to come in, who could be a Michelin inspector and you know we always wanted to get that second star. think it was always an ultimate goal.
So I was there for about a year and half. kind of loved Scotland. It’s kind of west of Glasgow, so it was away from all the big cities and such. know, a really, really small little town of Ballack. And it was just beautiful, really, really fun experience. And then, you know, I still always had that inkling to come across the United States for some reason. Like, you know, those afternoons when I was sitting in Hyde Park or Green Park in London, I’d see these big jets again, you know, flying over, going into Heathrow Airport and stuff like that. And you can hear them.
the time and I was like you know I still had that passion so I reached out to a bunch of restaurants I created letters I sent them the old school mail and sent them all across to the US and one of them responded back to me and said that they were really excited and that was up in Lake Placid New York in the Adirondacks and kind of maybe where I fell in love with the ski industry and ski resort style towns you know very small very cute style
towns which obviously part of my career has been working in ski resorts and the ski areas and stuff so really fun. yeah Lake Placid was great you know it’s about five hours from New York City I used to go down to New York and kind of like do stages as we call them as chefs like you try to go to a really fancy restaurant I went to La Bernardin in New York and my gosh one of my favorite restaurants I love it and really look up to Eric Ripert is one of my one of my idols I think
Doug Dvorak (09:11.405)
Mm-hmm.
Steve Topple (09:19.032)
I look up to. He’s just amazing, know, very, very hands on, probably one of the best chefs out there for me. And also went to Danielle. And so I would go down and kind of do this on my own time. You don’t get paid for doing these stages. You go in there and just kind of like learn, look around and open your eyes to such a bigger world.
So, and then from there I went to South Carolina. I was in Aiken, South Carolina, which is kind of a horse town right on the border with Augusta, Georgia. So obviously the big masters tournament. we had to have a big influx every year for the masters tournament. And then I went to San Francisco. I worked for Wolfgang Puck in San Francisco. Amazing experience. Like, you know, I feel like you have to associate yourself with the best to be the best.
Doug Dvorak (09:51.34)
Mm-hmm.
Doug Dvorak (10:01.74)
Wow.
Steve Topple (10:09.68)
Sometimes I think you have to outsource the chef in London, working for Wolfgang Puck and working at Michelin Star restaurant up in Scotland. I might personally really feel like you can learn the best you can from those types of chefs. And so it was a really good experience for me. And then from working in San Francisco, just a really expensive city to live. I couldn’t afford to live there. It wasn’t a very dog friendly city and I’m a big dog person. And so I decided to go to Georgia.
to Sea Island, Georgia, which is a beautiful the Cloister Hotel right there just below Savannah and I was at the the lodge at Sea Island which is one of the properties of the Cloister five-star five-diamond but the service you know it was just absolutely incredible you know like what an experience you know it was just really cool and then again I had the inkling of like you know wanting to do travel and see more of the country ended up going to Vail Colorado and
Yes.
Doug Dvorak (11:09.655)
Beano’s, you were at Beano’s for a while. Yeah.
Steve Topple (11:11.79)
Yep, Beano’s Cabin in Beaver Creek. I was there for six years. I loved it. It was actually probably one of my favorite places I’ve ever been because it’s such a beautiful place. in the meadow. You have to take a snowcat with a sleigh ride behind it, which is really, really unique and experience. And from there, I was there for about 12 years in Vale, worked at The Lodge at Vail, Beano’s Cabin, and the Sonobe Hotel. And also Game Creek Club, right on top of Vail Mountain.
A headhunter got in touch with me, saw my resume, said to me, he said, hey, listen, I’ve got an opportunity in the Pacific Northwest. He didn’t really specify where it was. When you think of the Northwest, you think maybe Montana, maybe…
Doug Dvorak (11:50.817)
Ha ha
You don’t think of Valley County.
Steve Topple (11:55.598)
No, no, And so, yeah, we I came out and interviewed at the Shore Lodge in McCall. Beautiful. Yeah, beautiful property. was given the opportunity to be the executive chef there to run the entire property, which was an amazing experience, you know, and private club with Whitetail Club being there. So I loved it. And I was there for almost two and a half, three years. I always had that dream of wanting to open my own restaurant, kind of like I
Doug Dvorak (12:03.511)
Love the Shore Lodge.
Steve Topple (12:25.652)
Dabbled in it a little bit when I was in Colorado. I opened up a soup restaurant, you know I figured I was like, that’s a you know soup and cold and skiing and stuff I get you know be really popular but it’s hard work, know running your own restaurant for sure. It’s running your own businesses super tough. So I drove by this empty restaurant in Donnelly. It used to be called Buffalo Gal. G-A-L. Had a really amazing reputation.
I explored it more. I was able to get some funding, backing to help me to buy the restaurant. Ended up buying the restaurant and changed it. There was a lack of Italian restaurants in the region. Being such a small area, it’s really hard to find ethnic food in this particular region, you know, for sure. So I decided to go for Italian and with the reputation being great of Buffalo Girl, the Italian translation for Buffalo Gal was
And so that’s how that was born. And that was my very first baby, as they call him.
Doug Dvorak (13:30.354)
And I’ve eaten there many times and it was so successful. You opened up, let’s say a sister property before coming to Tamarack. Tell us about that.
Steve Topple (13:38.092)
Yes, yeah, it’s called Casa Rosa. And it’s a 100-year-old…
old school house. Absolutely amazing. It was in really bad condition when we got it. Basically the dirt was showing on the bottom of the school house. The walls were the only thing that was in place. There was no running water, no power, any of that stuff. we had to basically, we actually picked up the house and moved it closer to the highway so people could see it. And the history of this house is that it’s actually been moved around Valley County quite a few times. You know, it’s actually been a school
house they actually taught kids were taught in there and it’s been in multiple locations and then it moved to its current location where it’s now kind of fixed her an anchor we did you know a nice so the nice concrete floor basement areas and now it’s all kind of like stuck down to the ground which is great you know so it’s never going to move again yeah
Doug Dvorak (14:33.645)
location I’ve been and eaten at both of those and really impressed so you open that up they’re both I wouldn’t say on autopilot but then you get a call or somebody approaches you from Tamarack Resort tell me about that journey
Steve Topple (14:49.964)
Yes, absolutely. So the owners of Tamarack came into my restaurants quite a bit, really enjoyed talking with me, explored the opportunity of possibly leasing one of the restaurants up here at Tamarack. deep down, think I was looking for a little bit more of a challenge. As chefs, you always want to challenge yourself. You don’t want to be status quo. That’s not me. That’s not what I want to do. I’m very passionate and goal-orientated.
they said, what about the opportunity of you becoming executive chef up at Tamarack? And I was like, wow, that’s a huge job. We have seven restaurants up at Tamarack. There’s so many other things to it as well. There’s banquets, we have a private club. And so yeah, it’s a real challenge for sure. It’s amazing. I love it. Love the experience.
Doug Dvorak (15:40.813)
Yeah, and I’ve seen the impact, you and your philosophy, your talents, your commitment to excellence. I’m originally from Chicago, and I’m a foodie. Had the high honor and privilege to eat in the kitchen at Charlie Trotter’s like in 88. And this Charlie was on perpetual motion. And they’ve got a great Netflix special. I believe it’s Netflix on Charlie and what happened.
Steve Topple (16:06.126)
it.
I’ve actually watched it. I think it was fantastic. And I have a funny story. I actually met Charlie Trotter and I’ve met lots of celebrity chefs throughout my time. And you kind of cross paths doing food events or stuff like that. So Charlie Trotter brought his kids out to ski in Beaver Creek. And this was at Beano’s cabin. It’s kind of an embarrassing story. Charlie was kind of one of the movers behind banning foie gras in Chicago.
Doug Dvorak (16:08.791)
Yeah.
Really? Tell us.
Steve Topple (16:36.368)
and I totally had to space that and he came in for dinner with his son and his son’s best friend and they were skiing in Beaver Creek and they wanted to come to Beano’s they had heard about it and they didn’t order they only ordered like two courses and I said that’s really odd because it’s like you know we have a multiple course menu and so I sent them out a course of foie gras as a special course and I totally forgot about it
Doug Dvorak (16:58.783)
No. What did he say or what did he how did he react?
Steve Topple (17:05.27)
His son loved and ate it, but he did not eat it because like, you know, I don’t know if he was being set up or something like that. He felt like he was being set up, but, my gosh. Yeah. It was an amazing experience. You know, he was such a humble guy. And we actually exchanged books. You had mentioned in the opening of this, you know, that I created two cookbooks. So I was like, I’m kind of embarrassed to show him my book, you know, cause like Charlie Trotter is Charlie Trotter. He’s one of the most amazing chefs, you know, and unfortunately he’s not around with us anymore, but you know, he’s, anyway, I gave him a cookbook. signed it and then.
Doug Dvorak (17:17.538)
He was.
Steve Topple (17:35.184)
A month later I received this huge box and it was a bunch, like he sent me six books of his own that were all signed and stuff like that and just like we made that connection and just it was just an amazing experience and really embarrassing in a way but pretty good.
Doug Dvorak (17:42.061)
Wow.
Doug Dvorak (17:50.679)
That’s a great story. You know, I’ve always loved fine dining and on occasion I’ve been to Michelin stars. I’ve really enjoyed early watching some of these Iron Chef and, you know, really when I’m in a great restaurant, be it a Michelin star or not, you really see how important it is for the executive chef and
the talents, the commitment to excellence he or she brings, the quality of the staff. And what blew me away was when I read Anthony Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential. And essentially, you as the executive chef in a restaurant or running food service restaurant, banquets at Tamarack Resort, you’re the CEO. And you established incredible high levels of service excellence.
And when we talked initially beyond everything you have to do to have a great restaurant, a great food value, great guest or customer experiences, love, love. And unpack for me, because that really touched me. You said you and your team add love in addition to the best ingredients. Tell us the importance of love in your cooking management, et cetera. What is that love philosophy? What love do you bring? And I see the passion you bring, but the quality of every dish I’ve had from you is out of the park, just incredible.
Steve Topple (19:41.326)
Yeah, honestly, Doug, I think it starts from the basics of buying the best product, right? It’s like we have to source finding the best products out there. We don’t want to be…
accepting the general stuff. know, think, you know, Tamarack is such an amazing resort. Like we want to be the best, you know, we, we want to offer the best food. Um, you know, so I don’t want to offer, you know, beef that is, uh, you know, select program, for example, like, you know, we actually want to offer prime in our steakhouse restaurants. So we have USDA prime. We’re actually incident agreement with certified Angus beef, which is a national program. Um, and actually
out to their facilities in Ohio and actually went through a school schooling of certified Angus beef. And again, it’s one of those things as a chef, like you always want to be the top of what you can be by going to the certified Angus beef houses and learning what it takes to be a certified Angus cow. It’s really, really important and understanding the basics of that. back to the original question, the love is finding the best products, finding the best stuff.
Doug Dvorak (20:31.885)
Mmm.
Steve Topple (20:54.576)
that will cook and have passion to inspire them to cook and be the best that they possibly can.
Like letting your, you know, chef de cuisines kind of own their own restaurants. And, you know, I’m a great believer in wanting them to succeed and taking them to the next level. You know, who knows if I open up another restaurant down the road, you know, then I’ve got this army of chefs that I can call upon that will be my chef de cuisines. And, you know, I’ve taught many of chefs back in Vail, Colorado, that have become executive chefs now, but I stay in touch with to this day.
and they always reach out to me, hey chef how’s it going, wanted to touch base and so I’ve got that love with my employees, I think that that’s really, really important. The love of food and for me, if a menu item isn’t selling very well, I change it out, rotate the item out, do something fun, new, something exciting. I think my staff will say that I’m always trying to be, maybe I change the menus too much, but it’s fun.
Doug Dvorak (22:00.695)
You
Steve Topple (22:03.024)
to be creative and find the best ingredients. So that’s where the love comes from. It’s really important to emphasize that with my team, as well as show them that there is a lot of love you can put into food. You’ve got to love what you do. And that’s what I really enjoy in my career.
Doug Dvorak (22:21.171)
And obviously you’ve been doing this for decades, a love and passion for being a chef and then a love and passion for finding A players, because I ascribe to this when it comes to finding talent. A’s hire A’s, B’s hire C’s, and C’s put you out of business. So finding those talented A players that are part of your team, sourcing great organic, the best ingredients, and then really have a passion and love of
food and giving creating that experience for your guests. Steve what were some of the biggest challenges you faced in the early days of your career?
Steve Topple (23:00.396)
Yeah, definitely. think…
Trying to establish myself, think, you know, definitely one of the hardest things to be seen. You know, like I was always one of those guys that was, I’m a quiet guy by nature, kind of like shy, but I wanted to be seen by these celebrity chefs. You you want to be picked up by them. You want to be taken under the wing as such, you know, and it’s just like, I think that was really important to me was, you know, just to be noticed. And I think I certainly got into
It’s people’s, you know, eye frame and stuff like that. think I was definitely, but you know, I think it’s a hard industry for sure. Being a chef, being a cook is really tough, but it’s, yeah, no life. Yeah, outrageous.
Doug Dvorak (23:46.497)
nights, weekends, long hours, food costs, eggs, know, outrageous. So trying to do that with a sense of passion, commitment to excellence, you know, making money, making money. So Steve, you’ve worked in some incredible kitchens. What are some standout experiences that shaped you and your approach to the profession of being an executive chef?
Steve Topple (24:01.986)
Yep,
Steve Topple (24:13.646)
Yeah, think, you know, going back to working in Scotland at Loch Lomond, you know, at the Cameron House, was a really eye-opening experience for me as far as like, you know, the fine, the ultra fine dining kind of Michelin star restaurant. I’m working at another restaurant in London called Grumbles, which is still around to this day, which is amazing. I actually look it up often to make sure and read reviews and see what happens there. But I was actually a server there.
Doug Dvorak (24:42.977)
Really?
Steve Topple (24:43.6)
Yeah, so it was just an amazing experience. It was a really small, cute restaurant. I think that’s where maybe I got the passion for smaller things. The smaller restaurants can… If you have too big of a dining room, 300 seats, then it’s definitely a lot more challenging to control that. I go to Vegas often because I like to re-energize myself.
I love to see what’s happening in Vegas and all the celebrity chefs and what new concepts are coming out. It really opens my, everybody’s like, you just like to go gamble, you want to go have that. And I say, no, I love Las Vegas because it really, really does show me what the industry is doing. And I try to stay up on that and see what Bobby Flay’s up to or Gordon Ramsay’s up to and seeing what new places they’re opening up. And it’s really inspiring for me. I come back from that and like, know, and everybody’s
no, Chef’s going to change the menus again.
Doug Dvorak (25:46.253)
So it inspires you to see what the best of the best are doing. So you sort of touched on the next question I’m about to ask you, but who were your biggest culinary influences and how they impacted your style in the kitchen?
Steve Topple (25:49.963)
Exactly.
Steve Topple (26:00.374)
Yeah, I mentioned earlier Eric Ripert from La Bernardin in New York. my gosh, what an amazing experience. know, like I said, you know, he won’t know me from anybody, but you know, I went in there met him and I was just blown away. you know, it’s like God to me. Honestly, seeing these celebrity chefs and, you know, Gordon Ramsay is another chef of mine I really, really look up to because of his dedication to, you know, making the very best
Doug Dvorak (26:18.199)
Hahaha
Steve Topple (26:30.288)
of excellence, know, Grant Achatz in Chicago, Alenia is another one of my, I love that restaurant, my gosh, like I had to say something. Yeah. Yep.
Doug Dvorak (26:35.81)
Yes.
What a story from him. He worked with Charlie, then went out on his own. They had some friction. He got tongue cancer or throat cancer and just an incredible story. What was his name again?
Steve Topple (26:51.95)
Grant Grant s I pray butcher his last name, but it’s good grant s-chess and yeah, just an amazing story Yeah, he yeah, had tongue cancer and but he’s Wow, he’s a very powerful chef and now I think he’s got two or three things going in Chicago Which is which is great, But I love again. It’s one of those research things I said to myself I’m gonna go to Chicago and you know went to Chicago and kind of like, know I go there for like two or three days and you know, again, I’m looking for that inspiration, know, if like, know where
where I can be or what you can be, that type of thing. I think it’s really important. Being a good chef versus being a great chef is a really, really, there’s a big difference to that. If you don’t inspire yourself to go out and see what other people are doing, then you’re going to be that mediocre, okay chef. I want to be a great chef. Like I say, I’ve touched hands with so many chefs from
that have been part of the James Beard Foundation. They invited me out to New York and I’ve done two dinners at the James Beard Foundation house. Looking up at the wall and knowing the history there of James Beard, it’s just incredible. We went to the Chefs and Champagne event in the Hamptons in New York and again it was just a really, really amazing experience. Rubbing elbows with Marcus Samuelson.
absolutely amazing experience. The whole team of cast were actually there at that event, chopped. It was really nice to rub hands with those guys.
Doug Dvorak (28:32.863)
Excellent. know, top of mind, at least in this country, the average American diet is not very healthy. It doesn’t use local sourced farm to table quality ingredients, fast food. Some fast food can be good. However, you know, the vast majority of the American diet is not healthy in its processed food. In your opinion, Steve, what role does sustainability
and sourcing quality ingredients play in your cooking.
Steve Topple (29:03.564)
Yes, it’s a huge, I’m a really, really big fan of local, supporting local. I think what comes with that is like, you know, we have an agreement with a local bison, it’s called Shoemaker Bison Ranch and they’re in New Plymouth, Idaho. Absolutely amazing company. They came to me, I was their very first chef.
Doug Dvorak (29:14.829)
Mmm.
Steve Topple (29:22.976)
to actually put their bison on the menu up in this region. And we still have that relationship to this day. for me, I think you’re right there. Fast food culture is maybe too much here in the United States. And I really think that using fresher ingredients make the difference when it comes to good quality food. You know, the fast food world is there’s nothing wrong with it.
a niche for that right people everybody craves a really good burger sometimes or chicken tenders or you know that type of thing but you know if you can find a restaurant that offers that just fresher products I would totally support you know local is the way to go and again you know searching out the best products like you know you don’t always go with a generic food companies and what they offer you want to find local small companies because you’re
supporting that circle in my neighborhood of like, if you support a local bison company in Idaho, then that money stays within Idaho and so on. the sustainability of that is really important to me. You know, I wish that we had a better produce selection in the summertime to pick from and it was more abundant for us to have, you know, I struggle, I’d love to go to the farmers markets, but I can’t get
Doug Dvorak (30:33.367)
Right.
Steve Topple (30:52.666)
to go very often, but maybe I should just have the farmers come and see me directly and just buy it from them instead of having to go to the market and so on. So I’d like to explore that a little bit more for sure.
Doug Dvorak (31:05.357)
Yeah, and I’ve had your bison filet at the reserve and it’s outstanding. Steve, the restaurant industry is known for being fast-paced and demanding. How do you manage the stress and maintain a work-life balance when you’re in 10 to 16 hours a day, nights, weekends? How do you maintain that work-life balance and deal with that level of stress?
Steve Topple (31:09.539)
Nice.
Steve Topple (31:25.954)
Yeah, it’s definitely a challenge. You always have to think to yourself of how you want to plan trips. Like, you know, I’ve planned a trip to go to Europe in the spring, so I’m super excited about that. I’d to research, you know, again, where I’m going to go. I’m going to Sicily and to Puglia on this trip, so I’m super excited about that to go keep my Italian kind of learning experience and…
actually have been connected with some mushroom people in Sicily. so, for sure. no, I, it’s really, again, you know, like you’ve got to have inspiration, you know, like go into Las Vegas or go into Chicago or go into Seattle, which I just did recently. And, know, to, find.
Doug Dvorak (31:58.317)
So you’re going to Sicily on mushrooms? Just kidding, Steve. Little humor there, not implying.
Steve Topple (32:19.878)
other restaurants and see what other chefs are doing. You know, you’re not the only chef in this world and you you want to see what other people are doing and it gives you inspiration and you need to have that. I do work long, long days. Luckily, I’ve got two amazing spring and spaniel dogs that are my kids, as I call them, Lily and Jack.
Doug Dvorak (32:37.473)
What are their names? Lily and Jack.
Steve Topple (32:40.726)
Yeah, and so they’re absolutely amazing. And so I get excited to go see them and I see how excited they are when I come home. I mean, like, you know, they talk to me and they, the bodies just move in. They’re so excited and, you know, for me to come home. So, you know, I definitely look forward to that moment every, every day I come home and I like it. Just, it’s a new day, daddy’s home and you know, for sure.
Doug Dvorak (33:04.512)
You you mentioned Sicily. My wife and I did a self-guided biking tour of Sicily about three years ago. And we stayed at family-owned B &Bs where they actually had a restaurant. And it was somebody in the family. And the merging of culture, good food, taking time with the best ingredients, recipes that were passed on to generation, it’s an event.
and it’s not rushed, but culturally, the importance of good ingredients locally sourced, made with love, you can just taste it and it’s not rushed. These were like two hour experiences where the pasta was just so fresh, everything, the cheese. And I think some of that is already here in the US and we want more of it. But talk to me about
What advice you would have to aspiring chefs who want to make a name for themselves or get into? To doing what you’re doing
Steve Topple (34:08.802)
Yes, so we’re actually working with a local culinary program here. We’re actually trying to create, going back to the original apprenticeship kind of deal. So with the McCool College, I’m actually on the board of directors there and we are creating a culinary program where they actually can work at Tamarack and then get their education through the McCool College and actually learn some of the basics.
Doug Dvorak (34:19.789)
Mmm.
Steve Topple (34:38.796)
But to it’s so, so important that we have.
generations of people coming into the kitchens because it’s been hard to last like five years or so to get people inspired to be cooks. If you have a passion for it, then you’re going to go a long way in this industry. Like I said, you want to be inspired by watching Chopped or any of the Food Network programs these days and stuff like that. I think it’s really important to learn, see what else is happening out in the industry.
But we certainly are trying very hard to bring younger generations of cooks on board. And I know Tamarack is a really huge fan of this program, and as is Shore Lodge, which is another local resort here in McCall. And so there’s lots of little independent restaurants that would benefit from this program. It’s a two-year program, so they would learn a lot about the industry and then do their college program.
as well doing the education side of it. And we would actually teach, we were actually going to teach that program, so myself and a couple other chefs. So think it’s really, really, really important.
Doug Dvorak (35:53.271)
So it’s a good, honorable profession with a living wage. There is need for professionals at every level in fine dining or in the food industry. And to your illustrious career, if you have talent, hard work, honesty, integrity, and love, it’s a long-term career that pays a very livable wage where
you can really have a great career and great benefits and living wage. Is that a fair statement?
Steve Topple (36:30.126)
Yeah, absolutely. you know, but being, I think being part of the resort world, you know, as such, you know, like Tamarack Resort and, you know, working in Vale and stuff like that. Like we have employee housing that we offer to people, which is like such a huge bonus, you know, but within the last five years, like, you know, me personally at my restaurants in Donnelly and, and at Tamarack, we’ve increased that wage from the beginning. Like, you know, it was like 12, $13 an hour. You know, we’re paying people $25 to $30 an hour now in the kitchens. And, you know, it’s,
It’s definitely a changed industry. We have to keep up with cutting edge and paying people the right amount of money to do this job. It’s not an easy job anymore. you know, like I said, we’ve definitely made a huge increase and then working for a resort is even better because then you get discounted housing as well. So that’s kind of great.
Doug Dvorak (37:18.699)
And one thing that I was, because I travel quite a bit and I have for 40 years and I eat out a lot. And one of the chefs said, if you want to see the cleanliness of the kitchen, go to the bathroom. And I remember how focused you were on a clean bathroom at both of your restaurants here in Donnelly. But there’s two things that really are off putting to me when I go to a great restaurant or any restaurant is the bathroom clean.
Because if it isn’t, that probably speaks to what the kitchen looks like. And restaurant staff smoking in public where the public can see them. I don’t smoke, but those are two things, a dirty bathroom and people that are handling my food smoking where I can see it. What are your thoughts on that?
Steve Topple (38:11.18)
I agree completely, I think that those are really important points. I’d like to emphasize that I think the…
I think if you as cooks, know, if they, I’m really hard on my cooks, making sure that they run clean stations, you know, my health inspections at both my restaurants came in at a hundred percent. you know, I’m really proud of that, you know, like the fact of, you know, I, so I, I, when I’m, I go home, I always do my dishes before I go to bed and put them in the dishwasher and, you know, clean up. So I have an empty sink, you know, and that’s how I liked my kitchens to be exactly the same way. Like you can eat off of the floor.
My regards to Buffalo because I’m so proud of like every night they have a routine that they have to do but I was trained the same way when I went to culinary school and I forgot to mention that when I was going through culinary school I also had multiple jobs at the same time. I actually worked at McDonald’s. Can you believe that? But I actually yes, yeah, but then so I I learned a lot of the basics there of hygiene and I really stuck with me to this day like I was responsible. They called it dive and so you had to go in the sinks and
Doug Dvorak (39:04.587)
No.
Steve Topple (39:17.872)
you had a free compartment sink and you had to wash everything. Then you had to walk the rinse set. Then you had to sanitize it and then let it air dry. And while I was doing that, at the same time, I was going to culinary school and I also worked at a fine dining restaurant. It was called Beach Drummond Panasse in Portsmouth. And I didn’t have a car at this time. And so I biked around the entire city of Portsmouth. I was kind of I had set myself up for knowing working long hours anyway. You know, it was just kind of in my blood, guess, at that point, you know, working multiple places.
Just the back to the hygiene thing, that’s the reason why I wanted to bring it up was because working for McDonald’s, think that they really do have some of the very highest hygiene standards that are out there and I try to institute that in my guys, know, like label and dating everything, know, rotating your products out and stuff like that. So it’s super important for sure.
Doug Dvorak (40:04.789)
Steve, do you have a signature dish or one that holds special meaning for you?
Steve Topple (40:14.156)
Yes, I think at my restaurant in Donnelly, regards to the buffalo, it’s the slow braised beef bison short rib. It is amazing. It’s really, really cool.
Doug Dvorak (40:23.181)
It’s excellent.
Steve Topple (40:24.05)
And a lot people don’t realize this, but my passion is truly seafood. Seafood is my specialty. I love cooking seafood. When I interview people a lot, I ask them, what’s your favorite station in the kitchen? What do you enjoy cooking the most? So most kitchens have three stations in the kitchen. Grill, sauté, and pantry. Gare-manger, we call it. And so the grill station obviously is mostly steaks.
fish occasionally on there. The Sauté Station is you know very active. It’s a lot of pan work and you know it’s the pasta station for example. So you drop your pasta in, your saute in, your scallops and your shrimp and all that stuff and then the salad station is you know where they’re building all the salads, the desserts, that sort of stuff from there. My favorite station is the Sauté Station and I ask this question to every time I interview somebody I’m like you know what is your favorite station because I like I want to know. It’s like well I can do it all but no I want to know like what is your
passion behind it, what station do you enjoy the most? And so I love asking that question a lot to a lot of people but that is my specialty is seafood because I love cooking seafood just perfectly like scallops is another one of my favorite dishes I love to cook.
Doug Dvorak (41:38.539)
Yeah, we were up deep sea fishing in Alaska a few years back and just the king salmon and the shrimp, just you can taste the freshness and I love great seafood. Steve, if you could cook a meal for anyone past or present, who would it be and what would you serve?
Steve Topple (41:48.686)
Yeah.
Steve Topple (41:56.718)
That’s a great question. Well, I’ve cooked for quite a few celebrities. I’ve cooked for the Queen before, Queen Elizabeth. Yes, I’ve actually done that. We did a big D-Day celebration in Portsmouth every year. There’s the big celebration. It was the 50th anniversary of the D-Day celebration when they went to Normandy in France. so the Queen was there. President Clinton was there. There was all sorts of dignitaries from around the world, all the leaders from around the world. So that was a really, really special occasion. And we actually prepared all the
Doug Dvorak (42:03.147)
No. Wow.
Steve Topple (42:26.772)
for that and then we actually had to serve it as well but we had to go through like all the FBI background checks and there was dogs around like you know sniffing all the drains and but so that was a really really cool experience and pretty pretty up there as far as like who to cook for but gosh I would personally love to cook for a celebrity chef like you know Gordon Ramsay or you know
I would love to see them judge me kind of like where I am at, know, and stuff like that. think that would be kind of a really important one for me.
Doug Dvorak (42:59.147)
Yeah, cool. What’s a misconception people have about being a professional chef? Or misconceptions?
Steve Topple (43:05.602)
If
Yeah, I think the biggest thing is like, you see all these celebrity chefs on TV and think how easy it is to be that role, you know, and how easy it is to be, to be a chef. It’s as we’ve explained during this podcast is it’s not easy. It’s really difficult. It’s a long hours. It’s grueling. you know, there’s a lot of work involved in, in what we have to do. Like, you know, I’m in charge of, you know, hiring and firing everybody. I have to do all the ordering for all of the resort. you know, so it’s a big, it’s a big job. There’s a lot of challenges that come with it, you
So it’s definitely not easy, but it has its rewards as well.
Doug Dvorak (43:44.333)
Steve, if you weren’t a chef, what do you think you’d be doing other than a colorblind pilot?
Steve Topple (43:50.605)
Well, that’s exactly it. I was going to go right there. That’s a tough one. I don’t know. Gosh, it’s going to take some more time to think about that one. Yeah.
Doug Dvorak (43:52.843)
Hahaha
Doug Dvorak (44:02.349)
That’s okay, but you wanted to be a pilot that didn’t work out and now you’re just really into being a chef and creating these incredible experiences and working with some great team members. Final thoughts, what’s next for you? Any upcoming projects or goals you’re excited about? know, many of these incredible chefs from Ramsay to the gentleman, the Spanish gentleman, I can’t recall his name, who was just an incredible
Steve Topple (44:08.622)
Yeah.
Steve Topple (44:29.058)
Who’s the Androids?
Doug Dvorak (44:31.091)
incredible chef but is now you know working in these you know disaster areas what’s his name José Andrés they’re branching out into media tv shows what’s next for you any upcoming projects or goals you’re excited about
Steve Topple (44:38.574)
José Andrés. Yeah. my god.
Steve Topple (44:47.624)
Yeah, no, always thinking, I’m always wondering what’s out there next for me and stuff like that. I’ve got another idea or two in my head for another restaurant or two possibly down the road. I think that those are exciting for me. I like to keep myself challenged and I think that keeps you fresh for sure.
Doug Dvorak (45:10.382)
Steve, what’s the best piece of career advice you’ve ever received?
Steve Topple (45:15.566)
Just dedication to the job, know, like, you know, always willing to be there, you know, willing to step above and, you know, I think you have to give it everything you’ve got, you know, this is, it’s not an easy task, you know.
Doug Dvorak (45:30.199)
Yeah, yeah. Steve, lastly, this will be the last question before we get into the rapid fire round. If you could leave our listeners with one piece of advice about food, cooking or life in general, what would it be?
Steve Topple (45:36.396)
Okay.
Steve Topple (45:43.566)
I think.
When you’re cooking at home, don’t overthink it. Keep it simple. I have a rule when I write a menu. Basically, I try to keep it at five ingredients. You’ve got your main ingredients. So say it’s Chilean sea bass, for example. You don’t want to overpower it with too many sauces and too many accompaniments. Let the star of the show shine with a little bit of citrus and with some sort of starch that’s kind of… Too many people put in… You look at the menu and…
There’s so many ingredients in it, it really complicates the dish and I’m like, why would you do that for? So I think keep it really simple. Don’t over estimate what you can do. If you’re doing a dinner party, plan it all out. You want to make sure you write yourself a prep list. It’s really important to write down everything you want to do for the day. And you can prepare some items the day before to get ahead of the game. And then when you have people come over, they know what you have do is do finishing touches to the dishes.
Doug Dvorak (46:43.213)
Excellent. Okay. I’ve been waiting long for this. Rapid fire round. One word response or short phrase. You ready, Steve? Sweeter savory. Favorite midnight snack.
Steve Topple (46:43.714)
Yeah
Steve Topple (46:52.012)
Yeah, let’s do it. Sweet.
Ice cream?
Doug Dvorak (46:59.592)
one ingredient you can’t live without.
Steve Topple (47:02.222)
Tomatoes.
Doug Dvorak (47:05.805)
Gordon Ramsay or Anthony Bourdain.
Steve Topple (47:08.792)
Gordon Ramsay.
Doug Dvorak (47:10.145)
Biggest pet peeve in the kitchen.
Steve Topple (47:12.577)
Untidiness.
Doug Dvorak (47:14.165)
A food trend you love.
Steve Topple (47:18.469)
sous vide.
Doug Dvorak (47:20.375)
sous vide, a food trend you wish would go away.
Steve Topple (47:23.854)
That’s a tough one. Too many.
Doug Dvorak (47:28.361)
Okay, fair enough. Favorite guilty pleasure, fast food or something else.
Steve Topple (47:34.702)
I don’t know.
Yeah, I’m guilty. do like your fast food occasionally, you know. Yeah, I think fast food is definitely probably my guilty pleasure.
Doug Dvorak (47:45.047)
Have you ever had a In-N-Out burger?
Steve Topple (47:47.502)
Not very often, no, because unfortunately, mostly being a West Coast company, but I know they’ve opened up a couple of restaurants in Idaho now. Yeah, right. I need to check it out for sure. And I’ve heard really good things about it. I need to get in. Thanks.
Doug Dvorak (47:55.117)
in Boise and we’ve been.
Doug Dvorak (48:00.855)
Yeah, that’s one of my guilty pleasures. If you had to eat one dish for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Steve Topple (48:06.606)
That’s another tough one, you know. I think it would have to be seafood. Like I said, I just love seafood, you know. Wine.
Doug Dvorak (48:16.335)
wine or whiskey.
What’s one kitchen tool every home cook should own?
Steve Topple (48:24.814)
Can opener.
Doug Dvorak (48:26.605)
Steve, if you could have dinner with any chef past or present, who would it be and why?
Steve Topple (48:33.518)
Eric Ripert, I’d love to sit down with him. Just his passion and dedication, he’s a real mentor for sure.
Doug Dvorak (48:37.741)
Excellent.
Doug Dvorak (48:44.343)
great. Steve, if our listeners want to get a hold of you, how can they get a hold of you or visit some of your restaurants?
Steve Topple (48:51.628)
Yeah, no, it’s really simple actually. We have a really easy website. It’s cheftopple.com, which is my two restaurants in Donnelly. And then we’re up at Tamarack as well. So tamarackidaho.com is another one and you can see the restaurants up there. I’m on Facebook as well and Instagram and also on LinkedIn. have a pretty nice profile on LinkedIn as well.
Doug Dvorak (49:14.995)
And that’s CHEFTOPPLE.COM, where did this hour go, Chef? It’s been incredible to learn more about you and see the genius behind all these incredible dishes and commitment to excellence. Thank you for what you’ve done at your restaurants, also here at Tamarack Resort. Thank you Mission Possible podcast nation. Check us out at mission possible dot biz. Thanks for your time and Carpe diem.