ChefStable — ChefStable
https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5cec3e54da009e00012ed14d/1558988708792-BQLIZX1T52X1D8CPED6F/favicon.ico?format=100w
ChefStable
KURT HUFFMAN

Owner

Kurt Huffman got his first taste of the restaurant industry as a 10-year-old in a school cooking class in New Zealand. Four years later, he was working as a dishwasher and grill cook at Fat City Café in Multnomah Village. He went on to study at UC Berkeley, but at 25 he found himself in Scotland, balancing rugby and a good amount of beer drinking while pursuing a master's degree in law from the University of Glasgow. He had beer in mind when a French friend asked him to collaborate on a business in Lyon, France. They settled on a brewery, “because it’s such an obvious thing to do at 25,” which turned into a gastropub called Ninkasi. By the time Kurt left France, there were five locations.

He returned to his hometown of Portland and founded ChefStable in 2008. It began with Chef Andy Ricker who had just started Pok Pok in 2006 and was looking to open another restaurant. Huffman and Ricker teamed up and opened Ping. After that, recommendations for partnerships kept coming in and Kurt built his team to be able to design, build, and operate restaurants. Since 2008, Kurt and his team at ChefStable have opened more than 40 restaurants and he personally has taken more trips to Portland Nursery than anyone could count. He is a firm believer in the power of partnering with the right people and can’t shake the feeling that every space should have more plants.

Favorite restaurant: St. John’s (London, England)

Least favorite fruit: Banana

Least favorite nut: Cashew

JESSICA SILVERMAN

Managing director

Jessica is a Southern California native who kissed 75 and sunny goodbye when she migrated to the Pacific Northwest in 2009. A former public accountant, Jessica was ChefStable’s first employee, wearing every hat including accounting, HR, project management, and public relations/marketing; she now oversees all services that ChefStable provides to our partners and leads the team by providing structure and support. Some of Jessica’s favorite things are riding bikes in the summer, cooking straight from the garden, traveling, and spending time with her husband Sean and their extremely fluffy cat.

Favorite restaurant: Liholiho Yacht Club (San Francisco, CA)

Kitchen utensil you can’t live without: It’s a tie between a fish spatula and my Vita-mix

Favorite burger chain: In-N-Out burger, of course. I AM from Southern CA