From being named a James Beard Award best-chef semifinalist to starring on season 13 of
Top Chef, it s obvious why Chad White lives up to the title of best local chef, which he s now clinched for the third straight year. Whatever he s cooking, locals love it, from ceviche at Zona Blanca to lobster rolls at High Tide and tasty Midwestern-style barbecue at TTs, not to mention the Mediterranean-inspired menu he created for Arbor Crest Wine Cellars and lots of contributions to local events and fundraisers. We re always eager to find out what White s working on next. (CS)
2nd PLACE: Adam Hegsted (Eat Good Group); 3rd PLACE: Michael Wiley (Wiley s Bistro, Prohibition Gastropub)
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he pandemic-forced shift to working from home came more naturally to some professions than others. Just imagine your livelihood depends on connecting with an audience, inspiring contagious laughter, a give-and-take that doesn t really happen easily on Zoom. Kelsey Cook doesn t have to imagine. Like so many, the standup comic found herself navigating technology and all its, um, joys as the Inland Northwest native worked to keep the momentum going in her career. It s been intense, Cook says. I joke about it on stage now, but I got divorced a week before COVID. Then all the comedy clubs shut down. I pivoted to doing a lot of virtual shows the past year. For a long time, I was using my cat tree as a mic stand. Most of the pandemic I was resting my laptop on this cat tree, and I d have to tell the audience beforehand that if at some point the camera starts shaking, it s my cats. I m in their space.
Mar. 4—Jessica Kirson killed on the streets of New York a few months ago. The veteran comic didn't take anyone out. In comedy parlance, killing is blowing away the audience. That's what Kirson did in front of paying customers outside comedy clubs in the concrete jungle of Gotham. Comics had to be inventive if they were going to perform during the peak of the pandemic. Kirson honed her standup .