Chef Jen Jasinski is a Food Network competitor and the rockstar culinary brain behind Denver’s smash success restaurant Rioja. We like her advice for pairing beer with food — you need to really get to know your beer.
“Drink, drink, drink,” says Chef Jen Jasinski, when asked about the best way to pair great beer with tasty food.
“Try to pick out specific flavors and replicate them in your food,” she says. “Maybe there’s a citrus aftertaste. Then you can do something with tangerine – like that.”
For the first part in our series of exclusive interviews with world-class Sagebrush chefs, we spoke to Chef Jen Jasinski of Denver’s most critically-acclaimed restaurant, Rioja. Chef Jasinski made Dean’s List when she studied at the Culinary Institute of America, of course, and went on to cook alongside top chef Wolfgang Puck. She’s been named Chef of the Year, Best New Chef, Rising Star and more by various culinary institutions. She also appeared on the Food Network’s Thanksgiving Challenge.
In her spare time, Chef Jasinski enjoys traveling, mountain biking and skiing with her family and friends.
What made you want to be a chef?
I love food and I love the artistic side of creating delicious dishes. I also like the instant gratification of making people happy.
Are you working on any exciting new creations?
Always! We have a great new chilled English pea soup with morel mushroom, haricot vert salad with crispy pieces of gauncaile (an unsmoked Italian bacon).
Give three adjectives to describe the Sagebrush Classic.
Beautiful, fun, great people (not really an adjective). It’s a great charity that has some incredible chefs.
What is your least favorite fruit and why?
Durian or Jack fruit. It stinks.
You’ve been framed for a murder by a jealous rival and sentenced to death. What do you ask for your last meal?
Super sweet corn on the cob with butter and salt.
Advice for pairing beer with food?
Drink, drink, drink. Try to pick out specific flavors and replicate them in your food. Maybe there’s a citrus aftertaste. Then you can do something with tangerine – like that.
“The Sagebrush Classic is just that for me – a classic event with national notoriety that is a must on my calendar year after year. I have cooked all over the world and feel the event is world class.
“The event always puts together a great line-up of chefs, the outdoor event is spectacular in the Oregon high desert, and they pair our cuisine with BEER! Chefs LOVE beer, locally produced in Bend from Deschutes Brewery – truly the best of times!”
- Mark Kiffin, owner of The Compound Restaurant in Santa Fe New Mexico, and James Beard Award Winner as one of America’s Best Chefs.
Chef Mark Kiffin is just one of 18 world-class chefs who will descend on the sleepy but beautiful town of Bend, Oregon in July for the Deschutes Brewery Sagebrush Classic. The Sagebrush Classic, which typically sells out, is a favorite among the star chef crowd, many who return summer after summer.
The 2009 all-star lineup includes Iron Chef veterans José Andrés and Roberto Donna, Bon Appetit rock stars Michael Smith and Greg and Mary Sonnier, and Food Network favorite Jen Jasinski (Rioja, Denver).
Count them among a group of talented chefs from Italian, Spanish, French, Thai, Vietnamese, Hawaiian and New American culinary backgrounds, just to name a few.
Many of the restaurants represented by these chefs have months-long waiting lists for reservations — 1,000 guests will get to sample this variety of gourmet cuisine and meet the chefs in person all in one place — the gorgeous green meadow surrounded by snow-capped mountains at Broken Top Club. How lucky is that?
Check out the full chef lineup here.