We Alaskans

Anchorage chefs toss aside rivalries for South Restaurant's 'backroom' series

It's not every day that the executive chef of South Restaurant and Coffeehouse finds himself under the instruction of another chef in his own kitchen.

But roughly once a month, that's exactly what happens to Shane Moore in the "backroom" of the South Anchorage restaurant.

"I'm the one making sure (the chef) has enough coffee," Moore said.

The change in leadership is just temporary; Moore lets another chef take over operations for a small group of diners. It's a pop-up restaurant of sorts, with chefs hosting one-off meals outside of their own kitchens. The small backroom -- built to include its own kitchen -- offers a different kind of exposure for everyone.

That visiting chef might be a professional or a highly skilled home-cook. South provides the food and the facilities and head chef Moore assists in the preparations. Community chefs are compensated, pop-up kitchen chefs are not.

On Tuesday, it was Patrick Hoogerhyde in the kitchen. Hoogerhyde is the chef and managing partner at The Bridge Seafood and Catering -- a restaurant located as an actual bridge building over Ship Creek.

The Bridge restaurant focuses on the tourist season and is only open for 90 days each summer. The rest of the year, Hoogerhyde and his chefs focus on catering and other food events. He embraced the idea of showing off his food at South, giving local diners a chance to try what The Bridge has to offer.

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"The point is to show off the style," he said.

Rivalry or revelry?

On Tuesday night, Moore stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Hoogerhyde. The two worked together to add the finishing touches to the second of five courses, a "smorgasbord" mix of seafood served on toasted rye bread smeared with dill butter. Hoogerhyde handed Moore bite-sized pieces of smoked king salmon delicately stacked with thin slices of cucumber, quail eggs and a sprinkle of chives. Moore took the salmon and gently added it to the toast, along with a slice of red salmon citrus-cured lox and poached Prince William Sound spot shrimp.

Both chefs shrugged off the notion of any sense of personal rivalries within the local chef community. Moore said there may have been fiercer battles between older Anchorage chefs in previous decades, but today that's harder to find.

Still, Hoogerhyde said, while there's some competition between chefs there's also camaraderie.

"We're the first group to help each other out," he said.

Moore sees the guest kitchen as a chance to learn and share ideas.

"If it's my recipe and if you make it better, that just moves food forward," Moore said.

That's a sentiment, Laile Fairbairn, one of South's owners, agreed with. She said it's hard to send Moore to the Lower 48 to explore new styles of cuisine. The community chef dinner brings that experience to him.

Brie Lauren was one of two Bridge chefs assisting Hoogerhyde and Moore Tuesday night. Lauren has spent four-and-a-half years as executive chef at The Bridge, with a total of 16 in the culinary industry. She saw the appeal of the event, but still had some skepticism.

"It's fun, but I don't get it," Lauren said. "But I do see how it could be good for the community."

But bringing in a variety of people in from the culinary community is a big point. In December, South hosted a dinner with Kenny McLeod, an Anchorage resident with no formal culinary training.

Fairbairn said the restaurant is on the hunt for other interested chefs. Fairbairn said the idea is to give the semipros a chance to get an up-close view of working in a professional restaurant, along with real world professional experience.

"Everyone is pulling for that chef," Fairbairn said. "Everyone is extremely gracious and wants it work out and to get to be a part of it."

Neighborhood appreciation

And the community did love it.

Fresh Alaska seafood -- the same fare he prepares at the Bridge -- was at the heart of Hoogerhyde's Tuesday night menu.

It was slightly more upscale than the semicasual setting of The Bridge. Hoogerhyde said that was reflected by the steeper price point -- $125 for the meal, including wine pairings. South pays for the food and a stipend for the chefs participating.

The dinner consisted of courses of seafood cioppino with Alaska mussels and snow crab claws, or pancetta-wrapped rockfish, served with a rich butternut squash puree, braised winter greens and a lowbush cranberry reduction.

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But Hoogerhyde did his best to still keep the atmosphere somewhat casual. Diners mingled over oysters on the half-shell and king crab arancini -- a breadcrumb-coated ball of crab, rice and cheese -- while sipping sparkling rosé before sitting down to be served. Hoogerhyde himself even stepped out from behind the butcher block to check on the crowd, answering -- and even asking -- questions.

The 29 guests ranged from intrepid Anchorage foodies to a group of 12 who make a monthly date of out of the community chef dinners. Hoogerhyde's wife, Tiffany, was in attendance. She pointed out two sets of neighbors had shown up, unbeknownst to her.

Bernie Smith, a retired Regulatory Commission of Alaska commissioner, was attending the community chef dinner for the fifth time, having missed only one other.

Smith keeps coming back because of the carefully crafted menus and wine pairings. A South Anchorage resident, the location is convenient, and he loves being able check out new chefs in a restaurant close to home.

"Even though we're small, it's amazing how much quality we have in our little community," he said.

Suzanna Caldwell

Suzanna Caldwell is a former reporter for Alaska Dispatch News and Alaska Dispatch. She left the ADN in 2017.

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