When Christopher Turke found his first restaurant job he was hooked. In his home town of Santa Rosa California just north of San Francisco, Chris got his first job washing dishes for a well-known craft pizza house. There he saw the inner workings of a restaurant. Food in his family was taken seriously, from the farm that his grandparents lived on to his mother and father and an older brother who are all confident in the home kitchen. “Growing up around cows, chickens, and sheep, on my small grandparents farm I truly understood what farm to table meant, when one day the animal is in the field and has a name and the next day we are getting lots of white packages that went straight into the freezer, or onto my grandfathers grill.” After culinary school, he found himself in a very fortunate position to be working for one of the most exciting up incoming chefs Michael Mina. Working at Aqua was an eye-opener for Christopher. It was a very aggressive, professional kitchen that produced many top tier chefs. Chef Michael taught him how to cook perfect food, How to balance flavors, and how to treat expensive products like foie gras and abalone. He held a high standard for everything, even the service staff, the dishwashers, the hostesses, and the valets. “Chef taught me the value of making a customer happy is gaining a fan in your food, and restaurant.”

Christopher now lives in Portland, Oregon with his wife Jan, and enjoys foraging wild mushrooms, spending time at the coast together, supporting the local sports teams, Timbers, Blazers, Hops, and playing lots of golf or skiing during their valuable time off. “Even though we work a lot in this business you must still enjoy your life and the company of ones you love.”