Keeping it local
James Beard nominee talks about relying on roots
Suffice it to day, the 405 diningscape won’t likely have another Black History Month like it just experienced.
First, Florence’s Restaurant is named to the James Beard Foundation’s American Classics list, which makes it the first BeardAward winning restaurant in state history.
Then, chef Andrew Black, whose two crowning culinary achievements are located in Deep Deuce, lands on the foundation’s shortlist for national Outstanding Chef award. Oklahoma’s never had a nomination that lofty.
But February’s news for the 405 diningscape wasn’t limited to Black history.
The Beard foundation nominated five chefs, two restaurants and a bar for 2022 recognition from Oklahoma.
Local chef Zach Hutton was among four Sooner State stoveminders up for Best Chef Southwest.
Hutton and his wife Kayla Shenold became managing partners of Scratch Kitchen Paseo, sister restaurant to Scratch Kitchen and Cocktails in Norman, last year. A nod from the James Beard Foundation wasn’t something on his radar, but he couldn’t be happier.
“It means the world,” Hutton said last week. “It means that my work is validated. Even just to be nominated, let alone if we win. That would be outstanding.”
Scratch founder Brady Sexton has a number of exciting things going on, including luring chef Luke Fry back behind the stove to man his kitchen in Norman. We’ll have those details reported once Fry gets his new menu installed.
Hutton came to Scratch in 2018 at a critical time in his life. A bout with alcohol and excess had Hutton weighing more than 300 pounds and barely able to hold a job. He came to Scratch ready to turn his life around.
Four years later, if Hutton weighs over 200 hundred pounds it’s only because of his height and bountiful facial hair. He settled down with Shenold and together they’ve refashioned tiny Scratch Paseo into the platform for the city’s second-ever James Beard Best Chef Southwest nominee.
The other came to chef Jeff Chancheleune in 2020 for his work across the street when he was at Gun Izakaya. No awards were given that year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Hutton’s nomination owes a debt of gratitude to growing up on a farm near Apache. There he learned about subsisting on local foods out of necessity.
“We were poor,” he said. “We had to live on what the land had to offer, it was as simple as that. But you learn things, gain an appreciation for things grown on a farm by you or your neighbors.”
At the restaurant, Hutton serves as executive chef but he said Shenold runs the bar and “pretty much everything else, including keeping me in line.”
That gives him the creative space to dig into his rural roots to build flavors steered by local farming and the seasons.
The crispy pork belly, for instance, is served with pickled watermelon rinds and a molasses glaze. Fry bread is served with pimento cheese and housemade sweet pickles. Fried zucchini has a cornmeal crust and is served with remoulade. And do not sleep on the deviled eggs.
Entrees are as simple as any country boy could ask for: Steak, fried chicken, shrimp and grits, trout and pork chops.
Through Hutton’s lens, this simple country menu arrives in a spectacular procession of shapes, sizes and textures.
Fried chicken is honey-glazed and served with blue corn johnnycakes. The cornmeal-crusted pork chop, served with charred okra and whipped potato puree, stands for the expected chickenfried steak. A worthy and delicious variation on the theme.
Nostalgia is as important to Hutton’s food as salt and pepper, but that doesn’t mean his support of local farmers is a romantic notion. It’s good business.
“Once COVID hit, we had to completely restructure what we were doing,” Hutton said. “We realized that the thing that’s gonna really save us is to stop relying on the supply chain and get to to the roots of what Scratch should be.”
As of last week, 85% of all the food Hutton uses is local.
“What we put out is grown and raised here locally, and that’s small farms. We use as little corporate as possible to keep that money here in the community,” he said. “To really put an emphasis on our community and working towards helping each other.”
Hutton, Black and the rest of Oklahoma’s contingent of semifinalists learn on March 16 if they’re finalists. Those whose names are called that day will join Florence and Victoria at the James Beard Restaurant and Chef Awards on June 13 at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.
“If this gives the restaurant the the boost it needs to open another one or to open a bigger one or to just get the message out that we’re doing stuff not just for us but for our communities, I think that’s all I need out of it,” Hutton said. “James Beard was one of the the original foodies. He was somebody who really cared not only about food but about sustainability and about making sure that what we do in this industry is is ethical.”