Winemaker’s Dinner: The Trilogy Winemaker’s Dinner will kick off the wine festival season with delicious food prepared by local chefs and served in the beautiful setting of the Allison Inn and Spa Resort. Guest will embark on a culinary journey as they experience the finest cuisine Oregon’s Wine Country has to offer. At this year’s event, the executive chefs Chris Czarnecki, Daniel Mondok, Sonny Jin, and Shelly Du Plessis will prepare a four course meal that will leave nothing to be desired.
Chef Chris Czarnecki of The Joel Palmer House
As 4th generation restaurateur and chef, I am honored to be carrying on the family tradition and proud to share our family’s passion for fine dining. I’ve spent the majority of my life in and out of kitchens (Pennsylvania, Germany, France, Oregon, and Iraq). And upon my return home from my service in the US Army in 2006, my father asked me if I wanted to join The Joel Palmer House kitchen. In 2008 my folks retired and it has been my goal to build upon my family’s rich traditions and continue to deliver superb cuisine and outstanding experiences to our guests.
Our cooking revolves around wild mushrooms and truffles which we gather ourselves and with friends. We have always endeavored to obtain locally raised ingredients in our cooking, and we use many locally produced greens, herbs, and vegetables, many of which come from our own culinary garden. We frequently draw inspiration from the cuisines of Mexico, China, Thailand, Poland, and India, so we call our cooking, “freestyle”. Of course, we work hard to create dishes that complement the glorious wines of Oregon, especially Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, and Chardonnay.
Daniel Mondok
A graduate of the European culinary tradition of learning his craft through experience, Chef de Cuisine Daniel Mondok will soon open his brand new restaurant Paulee in Dundee in a few short weeks. Since moving to the Northwest in 2003, Daniel has been delighting Portlanders to his vision of fine dining at such notable restaurants as The Heathman, Carlye, Genoa and his award winning Sel Gris, Willamette Week’s Restaurant of the Year 2008. More highlights from Daniel’s long list of accolades include being named Oregon Iron Chef three times (’05-’07) as well as garnering national attention in 2009 as a James Beard Award nominee for Best Chef/Northwest. Daniel lives with his beautiful fiancé and 2 year old son.
Sunny Jin, Executive Chef, JORY Restaurant
Graduating at the top of his class from Portland’s Western Culinary Institute where he received the Grand Toque Award, Chef Sunny Jin went on to complete his externship at Napa Valley’s famed French Laundry working for three years under renowned chefs Thomas Keller and Corey Lee. In this capacity, Jin created and executed new menus every day at the highest level of quality. Following this experience, Jin took the opportunity to work at the top rated restaurant in the southern hemisphere, Sydney, Australia’s Tetsuya’s, working alongside eponymous chef owner Tetsuya Wakuda. His experience was heightened by side visits throughout Australia, New Zealand, Vietnam, and Thailand, where he was able to experience explosive and diverse cuisines. His return to the U.S. was marked by the rare assignment of preparing for a season at El Bulli, the world’s top rated restaurant, located in Catalonia (Spain). He worked at El Bulli for the 2009 season under Ferran Adria and Oriol Castro and, thereafter, traveled throughout Europe to explore the culinary cultures of France, Italy, Germany, and the Netherlands. Upon his return to the U.S., Jin remembered with fondness his formative school experiences and recognized the emergence of Oregon as one of the country’s preeminent food and wine destinations. “Oregon’s commitment to seasonality and local produce most resembles European culinary communities,” notes Jin. His search for a position amongst this emerging scene led him to JORY at The Allison Inn and Spa which has been among the state’s best reviewed new restaurants since its opening. “I wish to be a part of the continued growth of this extraordinary area and have always felt proud to call Oregon home,” notes Jin.
Shelly du Plessis, Pastry Chef, JORY Restaurant
JORY’s pastry chef, Shelly du Plessis enjoys the bounty of the Chef’s Garden. “Good pastry starts in the ground,” she says. Fresh Allison strawberries, raspberries and all kinds of herbs find their way into her delectable dessert creations. du Plessis can appreciate the finer points of the quality that an on-site organic garden imparts to the cuisine. Before chef school, du Plessis graduated from UC-Davis in plant biology and did a fellowship at Harvard. “I like the ingredients to be able to speak for themselves.” One of her Chef’s Garden-inspired trademarks is lavender crème caramel with primrose sauce.
Prior to joining JORY, du Plessis worked at restaurants in Bend as pastry chef, responsible for aspects of the pastry department including rotating monthly dessert menus and daily bread-pasta production.
