Starting with the finest, freshest foodstuffs sourced from farmers and purveyors with whom we have valued relationships, Chef King draws from his and his team’s experience to create daily offerings that showcase what our region offers at that particular moment in time. Chef King’s cuisine melds and equal appreciation for tradition and innovation. On a given evening, diners may be treated to a menu that includes both a peasant soup thickened with ground nuts and a dessert course that employs sodium alginate and calcium chloride to create burst of coffee that is tucked away in a chocolate pudding. The belief is that cuisine is defined by the ingredient and its interpretation. This interpretation is the domain of the Chef. Sourcing the ingredients while they are in season from people that live and work near us is the frame within which Chef King then crafts cuisine that seeks to approach an artistic rendering of that moment in time, experienced with all ones available senses while at our table.

On this topic, Chef King explains, “that creativity is born out of inspiration. I believe that inspiration is the fuel that drives creativity and urges one to try new techniques. Creativity is the materialization of a thought-the realization of a feeling formulated with great care into an edible composition. For example a powerful inspiration for me is autumn. The aroma of a fireplace, colorful trees, and cooling weather prompt thoughts of wood, spices, and warm colors. Comforting flavors like apples, nuts, and squash are considered. With this inspiration, I am faced with how to recreate that feeling in an eating experience. The question becomes how does one interpret that feeling with food? Therein lays the challenge and where the creativity begins. For me this is the most enjoyable and most important part of my life, recreating inspiration with flavors and textures. To me the interpretation is begun with craft and completed by art. What we behold is what we take in. What we take in through our senses is how we perceive something and food has the ability to influence all of them. Mist in the mountains becomes perfumed vapor. Sunlight on tidal pools becomes reflections in consommé. Dead branches in snow become different forms of chocolate. Ocean waters become plates of ice, seaweed and shellfish. Ultimately for a chef to make art, the craft must enable him/her to express his/her creative vision with flavors, textures, and ingredients. The path to this goal is a chef’s true craft.”