Chef Joe Martin brings experience and dishes out California cool at the Tuscon, Ariz., resort.
While other kids had Oscar Mayer cold cuts in their refrigerators growing up, Joe Martin told Tara Kirkpatrick of the Tucson-based Arizona Daily Star that his was stocked with Italian cured meats such as cappicola and mortadella.
“My family has always been very involved in the culinary world,” said the California Culinary Academy honors graduate who recently became Executive Chef at The Lodge at Ventana Canyon Golf & Racquet Club in Tucson, Ariz. “My mother, Linda, catered parties for her friends when I was young. My father is also an amazing cook and made sure that my brother and I always had well-cooked homemade meals.”
Martin took over the kitchen last year at The Lodge, which is both a AAA 4-Diamond Award boutique hotel and a private country club in northeast Tucson. He spent the previous seven years at Monterey Peninsula Country Club in Pebble Beach, Calif., where he was promoted from line cook to banquet chef to executive sous chef. He also has worked at the Four Seasons in Maui, Hawaii and Newport Beach, Calif., the Daily Star reported.
Since coming to the desert, Martin has revamped the entire menu at The Lodge, improved food preparation and introduced themed dinner nights. “The thing that excited me most about the new position was the opportunity to make a positive change not only for the club but the employees of the kitchen as well,” Martin said. “As a team, we have seen some fun change.”
One such change is his creation, along with his sous chef, of the blockbuster Ventana Burger: “The greatest part about the burger for me has always been the laughing and shaking heads of my cooks after they put it together and say something along the line of, ‘That is just ridiculous.’”
The Daily Star sat down and asked Martin a few questions about the changes to the menu of The Lodge:
What makes a phenomenal dish?
“Searching out the highest quality and freshest components will literally make a dish … a star. Equally important is the balance of flavor in the dish. The elegant dance between sweet, salty, acidic and fatty is what can make or break a dish.”
Do you have one favorite you will always make, no matter what?
“A version of veal scallopini. Traditionally, the veal is pounded flat and dredged with flour, then browned in clarified butter. Personally, I have always preferred more crunch to the dish, which is why I bread it in Panko bread crumbs. The veal is pounded flat and marinated overnight in a mixture of garlic, shallots, parsley, fresh oregano, salt, pepper and extra virgin olive oil. The next day, it is breaded with flour, egg and Panko bread crumbs. The veal is then cooked in clarified butter until golden in color.”
Is there a cuisine in which you want to challenge yourself?
“Charcuterie, or the branch of cooking devoted to preparing meat products. I have deep admiration for people who devote their time to products that take anywhere from three weeks to six months to prepare. I also feel that it allows for a great amount of personal expression; what type of salt and spice mixtures used. The choices of how to adorn a pâté mold or what decorations go onto a pâté en croûte lend themselves to the chef’s particular skills or interests.”
Have you incorporated elements of the Southwest into your creations?
“I know the importance of a great hamburger after a round of golf. The Ventana Burger was created not only to encompass the flavors of the Southwest but also to create a ‘wow’ factor for not only the membership but the guests staying at the club. The burger is a half-pound Angus burger topped with homemade Southwest bacon, maple-smoked cheddar cheese, our Ventana BBQ sauce, tobacco onions, buttermilk-fried poblano strips, avocado, corn aioli and a bolillo hamburger bun that is griddled with Cotija mayonnaise.”
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