Taste
CUISINE
CHEF CONVERSATIONS In the kitchen with Jeffrey Schoening of Brat Haus
Jeffrey Schoening is the executive chef at Brat Haus, infusing both sophistication and local love into the beer garden’s contemporary American and European-influenced fare.
BY ALISON BAILIN BATZ / PHOTO BY DEBBY WOLVOS
Chefs notoriously dislike doing desserts, but not you? Most chefs learn how to make standard desserts like bread pudding and creme brulee under protest, but I got really into the science behind making them in culinary school. At one point, I even competed in American Culinary Federation competitions doing desserts. Did desserts get you to Arizona? Not a dessert – a desert! This desert! I grew up in rainy Washington and got my first major cooking gig in snowy Idaho. I roomed with several guys in Idaho who worked part of the year in the Arizona golf industry. On a whim, I moved to Arizona without ever having been here. Luckily, I got the break of a lifetime within a month. What was the big break? I earned a position at Tarbell’s, where I stayed more than a year before moving onto a smaller concept and then onto St. Francis. While there, I was referred to a fellow named Justin Beckett, who was looking to start his first restaurant. I would help Justin open Beckett’s Table, eventually serving as chef de cuisine. At Beckett’s Table, I met my now-wife Angelina who also worked there at the time. But you left the desert? We moved back to Washington to be closer to family a few years back. But, it turns out we are full-on, sun-worshipping desert dwellers. We moved back this past summer, just three weeks after our son Baker was born, in fact. I joined Brat Haus not long after. How have you put your signature on the menu? I am a huge localvore, so we now use Noble Bread, Arizona Cheese Company, McClendon Farms and Hayden Mills in the kitchen. I’ve also added some beefed-up brats featuring everything from snake to goat and warm-weather favorites like superfood-infused salads and bright beet dishes. Brat Haus, 3622 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale; 480.947.4006; www.brathausaz.com.
So Scottsdale! June ‘18
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