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Chef likes Pocatello
For the Journal
POCATELLO - Ryker Brown has worked at five-star resorts and other places where people expect fine cuisine. But he likes working in Pocatello because, he says, ''It's easier to wow people here.'' Brown knew at an early age that he wanted to cook for a living. He started by making cakes for his family when he was a teenager in his hometown of Thousand Oaks, Calif., near Malibu. When he was 15, he got his first job as a caterer ''for a French tyrant,'' he says. His career ''took off from there.''
After that, he got formal training at the School of Culinary Arts in Pasadena, Calif. That led to a job cooking for the PGA (golf) tour. From there, he went to Montana, where he was the sous chef for a private community called the Yellowstone Club. The last place he worked was in Colorada as an executive sous chef. After all of his hobnobbing with posh crowds, he says, ''It's nice coming to a small town. It's easy to wow people because they've never had this kind of food before. Pocatello is a meat and potatoes kind of place.''
Brown says that when he was still looking for a new job before coming to Pocatello in June, he had offers from places in Georgia and Napa Valley. He says he chose Pocatello because it is 45 minutes away from where his wife's family lives, in Dayton in the Preston area. Also his father lives in Boise and his mother has a place in Provo.
''It was an easy decision. This was the first time (in adulthoood) I had the chance to live so close to family,'' says Brown. Brown says he hopes that his next move will be to open his own restaurant, which he expects to do in 5 to 10 years.
As for his nearly lifelong love of cooking, he says, ''I've devoted myself to it and I've traveled. It's an endless depth of knowledge.'' The questions:
ISJ: What's your favorite food? Brown: French food.
ISJ: If you could have dinner with one famous person, who would it be? Brown: Thomas Keller, executive chef of the French Laundry in the Napa Valley in the town of Yountville, in northern Calif. ISJ: Who inspires you the most?
Brown: My dad, Rod Brown. ISJ: Who's your ideal next-door neighbor?
Brown: Someone who keeps quiet. ISJ: When (and if) you arrive at the gates of Heaven, what would you like to hear God say to you? Brown: Well done. ISJ: What's your favorite appliance? Brown: The knife. ISJ: Who are your top three dream dinner partners? Brown: My mom, dad and wife. ISJ: If you won the lottery, how would you spend the money? Brown: On my kids. We have one, and we're expecting another. ISJ: What was the last good book you read? Brown: Trio, by Michael Mina. ISJ: What's your favorite sport? By Brooke Anderson
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