the taggart table

Chef Duane and Duffy are Chatting and Dining…
at The Taggart Table. 

Executive Chef Duane Keller, is a native of Saskatchewan, Canada.
He is the recipient in 2001 of the James Beard Foundation Certificate, New York where he was invited to be a guest chef. Keller has won numerous awards over the years that reflect his ever-expanding inventiveness and inspirational accomplishments: the DiRona Award, Sarasota, Florida; the Gold Spoon Award at the Four Star Delta Bow Valley Inn, Calgary; the Red Seal Award at Emerald Park, Vancouver; the Wine Spectator Award; the C.C.A. Chef of the Year Award; and the Florida Top 100 Award, to name just a few.

In 2002 Keller helped Julia Child celebrate her 90th birthday with dazzling gastronomic creations; he has been named frequently in Washingtonian Magazine as one of the areas top chefs hailing in their “Top 100,” “Top 50,” and “Best Brunches,” and he was featured in Gourmet Magazine when head chef at the 17th century Ashby Inn in Paris,Virginia.

Duane has created heart-healthy menus for the American Heart Association, fed the homeless and disadvantaged in Sarasota as well as Hurricane Katrina relief, and cooked for the Pentagon during rescue operations of 9/11.
When Duane is at home, he is in Alexandria, Virginia.   

Learn more about Duane, and his many impressive accomplishments.
http://www.chefduanekeller.com

The Taggart Table: So, what was breakfast today? 
Chef Duane Keller: The UBS - My Ultimate Breakfast Sandwich that I submitted for Thomas' Hometown Breakfast Battle. A grilled filet mignon on Heirloom Tomato with Chesapeake Crab, Poached Egg and Hollandaise.
http://www.thomasbreakfastbattle.com/recipes/“ubs”-ultimate-breakfast-sandwich 

Taggart: Family roots, ancestors?
Duane: Keller's came from Germany, Russia on my Fathers side and my Mom's side from Poland. Early Farmers and Hockey Players in Saskatchewan and still continue to this day playing Pro Hockey and farming.

Taggart: Let’s do lunch in your area, where do we go?
Duane: Walkers Grille 
http://walkersgrille.com 
for an eclectic menu or Wegmans (many locations) for lots of variety.

Taggart: College was in Vancouver.
Was that your culinary training?
Duane: I took classes at VVI while I worked at Emerald Park during The World Expo.

Taggart: What brought you to the States?
Duane: My Dad played in the NHL when there were only the Original 6 teams. He later became the first player in the AHL to have a contract and played with the Hershey Bears for 14 years, was the Captain of the Team and they won 3 Calder Cups.

Taggart: When did you know you wanted to be a chef?
Duane: When I worked for The C.C.F. Chef of the Year Gerald Ehrler at The Delta Bow Valley Inn, Calgary, AB 1984

Taggart: Any favorite cheese? 
Favorite spices?
Duane: Great Hill Blue and Tarragon

Taggart: Why is everyone taking
pictures of their food?
(A chef’s perspective)
Duane: A picture's worth a 1,000 words

Taggart:
Do you spend leisure time in NY?
Restaurants? Theatre?
Museums, Galleries?
Duane: I flipped a restaurant for Interstate Hotels in NYC last time I was there. It was a dingy, unpopular spot and they did a renovation while I rolled out a new menu and after 10 days we opened and it was Fabulous.

Taggart: If you were not a chef, what would you be doing?
Duane: Farming. I love what can be produced in the soil.

Taggart: Whats your favorite area of New York?
Duane: Lake Placid

Taggart: What is your favorite vacation spot?
Duane: Atlantis - R&R, good restaurants, gambling, golf and fishing.

Taggart: Name a few creative and inspirational heros:
Duane: Jeremiah Towers, is an American chef, who generally credited with developing the culinary style known as California cuisine. Julia Child, Graham Kerr, and Paul Bocuse. Paul is a French chef based in Lyon, France. He is famous for the high quality of his restaurants and his innovative approaches to cuisine.

Taggart: What ticks you off in the kitchen?
Duane: Lack of integrity with products. Whether it's my lamb being holistically raised, my farm relationships or my seafood. I know exactly where it's from. Some just don't get it and call things local when they are not.

Taggart: What do you do for fun away from cooking?
Duane: Ride bikes, work in my Arboretum and enjoy time with my Wife Jen of 13 years with our 2 four legged children, Olive and Heidi

Taggart: Who in the food world do you most admire?
Duane: I admire many but must say what The Food Network has done to educate the public is really amazing.

Taggart: Favorite foods to cook with?
Duane: Local Seafood, Lamb, VA and MD Farm Produce, NJ has some great produce as well.

Taggart: What do you like to eat when you’re at home?
Duane: My wife is an amazing cook. I was featured in a magazine "Celebrity Chefs at Home" and the editor asked me what my favorite dish was I told her my wife's chicken corn soup she said are you going to give her credit in this magazine? I said yes...I can eat it seven days a week. We have had friends that are very ill and they eat this chicken corn soup and they're healthy again. But Jen makes pasta we sous Vide together, we have a smoker, etc... We have more than Williams-Sonoma here.

Taggart: I hope your dogs eat as well as we all do. I love my pooch. 
Duane: Oh yea they eat great. They're enjoying Sous Vide. (A method of treating food by partial cooking followed by vacuum-sealing and chilling.) 

Taggart: Are there any foods you just don’t like?
Duane: I have never cared for frogs legs or see sea urchin.

Taggart: Backyard tomatoes are enjoyable. I hope the term “Farm to Table” and “Organic” is accurately used.
Duane: Unfortunately that's what I touched on. On integrity with products there is a little fish and chips place in old town and I know the fish they're serving is not the fish they advertise. That, you want to let others know, but I can't.

Taggart: Favorite cookbooks?
Duane:  When my wife and I met in 2000 and it was interesting because we both had a large cookbook collection. At that time I probably had 400+ and Jen had 300+ and we did not have the same book. We continued to pick up books. Jen is the only person I know that will read it from front to back. I like looking at the pictures.

Taggart: Any books that you may write?
Duane: I have an idea for a book called "Inn cuisine" and on my Chef Duane Keller Facebook page I wrote short stories about the industry and the kitchens over 40 years that I've been in. I knocked out 30+ very interesting stories and I'll pick up again shortly.

Taggart: What do you most love about your job/career?
Duane: There is nothing like being a chef. I love meeting all the people. I love being the leader and inspiring others to do their best work. I mentor young staff to look at this as a career not a job. The culinary arts is an art and a science. From HAACP to just being creative everything is covered and there is no other occupation as exciting as being a chef.

Taggart: What’s your proudest accomplishment?
Duane:  I was invited to the James Beard House. I say it was like winning the Stanley Cup of culinary. The director of the James Beard House said it was the first standing ovation in five years.

Taggart: Any fun food moments with a celebrity?
Duane:  Many. I've cook for four US presidents I did Julia Childs 90th birthday. Jackie Onassis gave me a sapphire as a tip at the Ashby Inn. On the Chef Duane Keller Facebook page there's a folder of celebrities that I've cooked for. Probably four dozen. Just recently I got a call to cook for the recipient of the gold medal of honor. I did nine courses for him and his guests. He has eaten all over the world and had tears in his eyes when he described that the meal was the best he ever had.

Taggart: Any TV chef(s) that you admire?
Duane:  Not yet

Taggart: Gordon Ramsey…entertainment, or helpful knowledge?
Duane:  Entertainment

Taggart: Do you give cooking demos or cooking events?
Duane:  Yes, for many years

Taggart: I spent time, years ago with Harry Chapin at his house.
One of his quotes… "So, in a world that has enough food to feed everybody twice over, and yet half a billion people are starving, and a country where there is enough food to feed everybody six times over and yet 20 million Americans are malnourished, there is something really basically wrong in the structure; otherwise we wouldn't have these symptoms."
Please make more people aware of the serious hunger issue in this country.
Duane:  Well said. Let's do it. 2 of my 3 charities do just that - Wholesome Wave and Share Our Strength.

Taggart: What else is there that readers might be interested in. What do people not know about you that you wish they did?
Duane:  I won A gold medal in hockey and always reference being a chef is just like being a hockey player coach when you're on the ice and you're in the kitchen. Got to keep your head up because it's a contact sport.

Taggart: What’s next on your creative agenda?
Duane:  Opening another concept in the Alexandria Virginia area stay tuned

Taggart: Let’s wrap up with a good dinner. We can go out to your favorite spot... Or, perhaps you are cooking tonight?
Italian? Seafood? Steaks?
Duane: We have a favorite spot on the Severn River in Annapolis it's very hard to find. The food network found it one time and so I can tell you it's name. Cantler's Riverside http://www.cantlers.com
is a really good spot for local seafood Maryland blue crab etc. Maybe will see you there sometime.