Tory McPhail
www.commanderspalace.com

The verdant farmlands of his home in Ferndale, Washington was the natural setting for a chef-in-the making, but a distant haul in time and place to Tory McPhail's current status as Executive Chef at the celebrated Commander's Palace in New Orleans.

Though McPhail now calls New Orleans home, he refuses to settle just because he holds a prestigious title and a New Orleans address. The 33-year-old maverick, who has followed a hard-working and unspoiled path to arrive at the historic restaurant's storied chef dais (which has housed the celebrated likes of Emeril Lagasse, Paul Prudhomme and Jamie Shannon), is on a relentless mission to make Commander's Palace the best restaurant in the country. “I'll stop at nothing until that is accomplished,” McPhail states with consummate resolution.

Raised on assorted fresh berries from his family's (McPhail) Berry Farm, perched on the edge of the Canadian border, McPhail's early culinary diet was rounded out with an appreciation for local goods and the comfortable gathering place of his parents' kitchen. Corn planted in the spring would become dinner in the summer; fish caught in the afternoon from his family's stocked pond would make it to the plate by dusk. “I knew food didn't just come from the grocery store and magically appear there. Being able to watch it all grow gave me a passion for natural foods,” McPhail explains.

By the time he was 16, McPhail found the means to graduate from his childhood specialty – a corndog prepared with a puree from garden-fresh corn wrapped around an all-natural beef hot dog – to culinary school. He attended Seattle Community College, which he selected because it was the “best” in the state, and received an ACF accredited two-year degree in culinary science. Counselors suggest he pursue work in either The Big Apple or The Big Easy, citing their respective fertile culinary learning grounds as cause. New Orleans, with its history, soul and ultimate “coolness” won him over.

At just 19 years of age, he was hired by Commander's Palace Executive Chef Jamie Shannon. Starting in garde manger making salads and cold appetizers, McPhail worked through all 12 stations of the kitchen, honing his craft and making a positive impression on Shannon. In search of “as much experience possible, as quickly as possible”, McPhail later completed a series of stints at culinary hot spots including The Breakers in Palm Beach, Fla., the Michelin two-star Picasso Room and the Michelin one-star sister restaurant L'Escargot in London and the Caribbean/Creole intensive Mongoose Restaurant in The Virgin Islands.

In spring of 2000, Commander's Palace again came calling, this time whisking the by-now proven talent away to Nevada as Executive Sous Chef at the dynasty's latest restaurant, Commander's Palace Las Vegas. Though McPhail “loved” his job there, the soulful siren call of New Orleans and the supportive beckoning of Jamie Shannon lured him back to his earlier haunt. He was named executive chef of the original Commander's Palace in January of 2002.

He remains there today, but beyond a constant dedication to doing his best work, creating and sustaining strong relationships with local purveyors, and buying local whenever it makes the most sense, nothing remains constant for too long for Chef McPhail. “I'm always thinking very forward when it comes to Creole food. There are so many restaurants here that use the same exact recipes as 75 years ago,” explains McPhail. To maximize his culinary enlightenment, McPhail buries himself in antique cookbooks and constantly experiments with sous vide and new techniques. “You have no business messing with Creole food if you don't know where it's coming from. Still, I want to make it my own. I'm not going to lie down in anybody's lake,” the recent James Beard House invitee exclaims with vigor.

To whit, McPhail describes one of his favorite creations, which embraces Creole tradition and layers of condensed flavors extrapolated through the freshest products and assorted techniques. His Creole Seared Gulf Fish showcases “farm-fresh, high-end” produce like spring mushrooms, corn and organic fingerling potatoes and seared local speckled trout. The vegetables are boiled separately and individually tossed with browned butter vinaigrette. “Instead of loading up the plates with cream, we brown the butter and spin it into a fluffy vinaigrette that incorporates the air, with a fraction of the butter,” he says. For good measure, he finishes it with basil-infused oil. This is just one example of the goods on McPhail's seasonal menu which he describes as “the most inventive, most creative, and most inspiring Creole menus that New Orleans has ever seen”; in other words, the best. Somehow, one expects nothing less from the animated and resolute chef raised on berries from the family farm – hard work and an unwavering pursuit of culinary perfection.