Rachel Kesley, exec chef of WaterCourse Foods, on produce-driven menus, vegetarianism and her fascination with figs

By Lori Midson Wed., Jan. 19 2011 at 8:59 AM

Favorite local ingredient and where you get it: I actually have the tremendous fortune to work for an owner who also has a one-acre urban farm, Hazel Rah, out in Lakewood. To have access and direct input on a farm is a dream come true for me. I spent a lot of time in the fall thinking about possible seeds we could plant and what fun and exotic things we could bring in on a regular basis. Last summer I got an amazing crop of corn, Bibb lettuces and some of the most fragrant herbs I've ever worked with.

Favorite spice: Smoked salts. I love the way they can bring out flavor while standing strong in their own role as an important element to any dish. In vegetarian cooking, it's hard to really capture that amazing smoky flavor in the proteins that we use, so using salts that have been smoked is a great way to enhance any dish.

One food you detest: I really, strongly dislike eggplant. It's a texture thing, I guess. I just don't get it. I think the color is amazing, but I just can't get past the sponge-like texture.

One food you can't live without: I love going out for sushi, love everything from the warm towel at the beginning of the meal to the sake, chopsticks and wasabi. Eating sushi is one of my favorite activities.

Biggest kitchen disaster: This actually happened fairly recently. It was a Friday, and I was helping the line during the lunch rush while making the night's special and trying to catch up on some office work -- you know, a typical day. Amid all that madness, I tried to shuffle our twenty-gallon stockpot off the burner, but while taking off the lid with a kitchen spoon -- mistake number one -- I got a second-degree steam burn at the top of my hand and wrist. It was an ugly wound that took me out of the kitchen for four days. The upside was that I got the chance to catch up on some much-needed office work.

What you'd like to see more of in Denver/Boulder from a culinary standpoint: Late-night tapas bars that serve amazing wine and espresso and well-thought-out small plates.

What you'd like to see less of in Denver/Boulder from a culinary standpoint: I'd like to see more produce-driven menus. Some of the most amazing fruits and vegetables can be found in and around Denver and Boulder, and they need to be center stage as opposed to just a side dish. We're moving into a time where people are more health-conscious and more sustainably minded, and having meat-heavy menus is neither one of those things.

Tags:

Chef and Tell, Rachel Kesley, WaterCourse Foods

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Rogbie

Watercourse is a joke. Rachel is a nice lady, but not a great cook. After spending 3 years in that kitchen under several different "chefs," I am still amazed the management at Watercourse can still claim they use "local" produce. The Shamrock truck delivers to the back door every day at 2:00 PM. The last time I checked the only thing "local" about Shamrock's food services is, their distribution warehouse is located here. As for the bit of food that comes from the owners "farm", it would not be a drop in the bucket of the slop that is served from the kitchen at Watercourse. The statement, that processed foods don't belong in the kitchen at Watercourse is false: imitation maple syrup, vegenaise (processed vegan "mayonnaise"), conventional produce (covered in pesticides/herbicides/petroleum based fertilizers, and GMO crops).

Don't let the facade fool you. Diners may assume that Watercourse serves "local, organic" food, but that is a false presupposition. The owner and management at Watercourse are great at blowing smoke and letting their customers believe their food is something it is not. Deep fried food is deep fried food, whether it is vegetarian or not.

fraggle303

You're a sellout to your principles Rachel. Fish suffer too. You can totally live without raw-fish sushi, the vegetarian sushi is still yummy and very much safer, not full of mercury, blood, parasites and bacteria like the fish is. But it's a moot point: the oceans will be empty in a few more years.

I've heard the "listen to your body" story a million times. This is superstitious claptrap, the justification talk of an addict whose willpower has failed. Your "low energy" crisis was clearly just from having a nutritional (probably B12) and/or calorie deficiency, easily corrected with supplements and/or more food! Not more killing and raping of the oceans...

Try basing your arguments on facts!

wahhhhhh

How nice for you to live in a country so wealthy that you can afford to be oh-so-holier-than-thou in your food choices. Shut up your over privileged mouth.

I am not a vegetarian, but Rachel's food sounds awesome.

Tom

Fraggle: Rachel may be a sellout to your principles but it seems she is trying to live in harmony with her own. I admire this.

You are obviously deeply entrenched in your convictions about the eating of animals. I admire your discipline and your desire to get people to see the effect their eating habits have on the planet. The oceans are in trouble and the factory farming model of meat production is environmentally unsustainable and unethical. However chances are very, very good that people are not going to give up eating meat anytime soon (especially if you refer to them as addicts). But, the good thing is, that through the efforts of places like WaterCourse Foods and other vegetarian restaurants people may be more inclined to try meatless entrées and begin to incorporate this change into their lives. This is a great and necessary step.

I've always appreciated that WaterCourse and City, O' City have steered clear of dogma and politics instead focusing on serving good food. Well done Rachel.

Carly

Fraggle, by acting self-righteous, you're doing more harm than good for vegetarians, pescetarians, vegans, locavores, etc. Rachel is turning meat-eaters onto tofu and seitan and creating locally grown produce driven recipes. All you're doing is turning people off by upholding the unfortunate and somewhat truthful sterotype that vegetarians are sanctimonious and preachy.

Diner

My respect goes out to Rachel. Well spoken, and not dogmatic. Sounds like she has a good outlook on life in general. I'm not vegetarian, but have eaten at WaterCourse a few times with friends, and enjoyed the food. It's tough to do vegetarian/vegan foood creatively, without relying on vegetarian ethnic standbys. Nice Chef and Tell, I've enjoyed reading them over the last few months. Been in Denver 2 years and Chef and Tell has given me a snapshot of several of the city's best chefs. Look forward to future posts.