Taste CUISINE
CHEF CONVERSATIONS In the kitchen with Brandon Gauthier of Café Bink
Brandon Gauthier is the new executive chef at Café Bink, where he is focused on preparing farm-to-table new American meals in a cozy, low-key bistro setting.
BY ALISON BAILIN BATZ / PHOTO BY DEBBY WOLVOS
We hear congratulations are in order? Well, thank you! Yes, in late February I not only took over executive chef duties at Café Bink, but I also purchased the bistro from Amy and Kevin Binkley, making me the chef and owner. But you’re not new to the restaurant itself, or the brand? Kevin gave me my first job out of culinary school in 2002 – at a now-defunct restaurant at El Pedregal in 2002. I then briefly moved to northern Michigan, where I quickly learned their restaurant scene was not as hot as the Valley. When I wanted to come home, Kevin hired me in 2004 to help open Binkley’s. I’ve been with him ever since. I helped open Café Bink in 2007, and, in fact, and have worked at all of the concepts across the Valley over the years, but Carefree has always had my heart. What can people expect with you at the helm? Local. Local. Local. I am especially proud of my new partnership with Two Wash Ranch in New River, which has the best chicken and egg products I have ever tasted, as well as enhanced relationships with McClendon’s Select in Peoria and Duncan Family Farms in Buckeye. That being said, customers’ all-time favorites – like Amy’s Bolognese – will always be on the menu. What are your favorite things to cook? I love anything that requires a hands-on approach like pasta, gnocchi and even baking bread from scratch. What are your favorite things to eat when not working? There is nothing like really good Mexican food, especially green chile pork. What would we be surprised to know about you? I love fly fishing. While not as easy to do in Arizona, I pack up my family and head to the mountains to do it whenever I can. Café Bink, 36889 N. Tom Darlington Drive, Carefree; 480.488.9796; www.cafebink.com.
So Scottsdale! April ‘18
117