{"id":114602,"date":"2019-08-07T17:09:11","date_gmt":"2019-08-07T23:09:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/?p=114602"},"modified":"2019-08-08T10:22:13","modified_gmt":"2019-08-08T16:22:13","slug":"new-uccs-chef-committed-to-fresh-local-food","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/?p=114602","title":{"rendered":"New UCCS chef committed to fresh, local food"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Chef Mark Painter, who joined UCCS as the new residential chef for the Roaring Fork in June 2019, puts a finishing touch on his vegan “veggies nine ways” plate. The plate calls back to his roots cooking in the classic garde-manger style.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cFood doesn\u2019t have to be complex,\u201d says Chef Mark Painter, the new residential chef at Roaring Fork Dining Hall. \u201cIt can be, but it doesn\u2019t have to be. That\u2019s the Italian mentality, to me \u2013 just keep it natural, keep it as it is.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Later, in the Roaring Fork kitchen, he demonstrates exactly what he means as he saut\u00e9s, flamb\u00e9s, seasons and garnishes a platter of \u201cveggies nine ways\u201d. Each of the nine vegetables in the dish is prepared differently: the carrots julienned and marinated in blue agave, the onions caramelized, a tomato grilled in fennel vinaigrette, mushrooms flamb\u00e9ed with sherry wine. Painter carefully finishes each plate with a crispy waffle-cut potato standing upright in a bright green pea puree, topped with a balsamic drizzle.<\/span><\/p>\n

Painter champions fresh and local produce, prepared sustainably, with less waste. His approach to food is evident in every bite. Many of the vegetables come from the UCCS Farm, and each one is packed with flavor \u2013 yet tastes distinctly like itself.<\/span><\/p>\n

Painter, who started at UCCS in June, is excited by the challenges presented by a student body with changing food allergies and dietary preferences \u2013 partly because they match up with his own values.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf you have allergies, and you eat your local produce, it\u2019s better for you,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s good for you to eat the foods right where you live. We have all kinds of different allergens that we work with, and I think that there\u2019s just going to be more in the future…I like it. It makes cooking a challenge.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cVegan food excites me the most,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s so much more challenging. I\u2019ve done a lot of vegetarian food in my life, but not as much vegan food.\u00a0<\/span>So<\/span>\u00a0I\u2019m learning a lot about what I can do here.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Before cooking, Painter makes sure his ingredients are all “mise en place” – a French term meaning that “everything is in its place”.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Painter is new to UCCS, but he\u2019s not new to the cooking scene in Colorado Springs. The Springs native began his culinary journey in 1974 \u2013 washing dishes at Sambo\u2019s Restaurant \u2013 before moving up to become a line cook within a year.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI was a breakfast cook,\u201d he says. \u201cSpatulas in each hand.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After following the Sambo\u2019s job to Virginia and Idaho, Painter landed back in Colorado Springs. He spent a decade cooking in progressively finer-dining establishments, eventually taking on his first chef position in 1984. His resume is packed with classic chef positions across the city:\u00a0the\u00a0El Paso Club, the Briarhurst Manor,\u00a0<\/span>and\u00a0<\/span>the Cliff House in Manitou Springs<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Though he has spent\u00a0<\/span>the majority of<\/span>\u00a0his professional life in Colorado Springs, Painter did take an eight-year stint in Hawaii.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat was really tough,\u201d\u00a0he says, laughing. \u201cI opened a really beautiful resort there called the Hyatt Regency Waikoloa and was the chef at one of the restaurants there. I went to other restaurants after I left that job, and I spent eight years in Hawaii just having a blast.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Whether he\u2019s cooking for a school or a Hawaiin resort, Painter\u2019s roots in\u00a0<\/span>classically-prepared<\/span>\u00a0food are evident. Even his beautiful \u201cveggies nine ways\u201d dish is a callback to his background: cooking\u00a0<\/span>garde<\/span><\/i>-manger.<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

According to Painter, \u201c<\/span>Garde-manger<\/span><\/i>\u00a0is cold-food cooking. You do p\u00e2t\u00e9s, and galantines and\u00a0<\/span>ballottines<\/span>, decorated ham chiffon. A lot of it is an old, pass\u00e9-style kind of cooking, like when they used to do beautiful buffets where everything is beautiful to the eye.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s nothing wrong with it,\u201d\u00a0he says. \u201cIt\u2019s just a lot of work to make things so elaborately beautiful. So now I do a lot of things with vegetables to make them look good.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n