Thursday, May. 27, 2010
Culinary Quest: James Clark on Excellence, Passion and Sustainability
Executive Chef James Clark arrived on the Grand Strand for a second time two-and-a-half years ago, bringing his quest for culinary excellence and passion for sustainable dining to the Marina Inn at Grande Dunes. Originally from Orangeburg and a graduate of the New England Culinary Institute in Vermont, Clark has honed his vision at various points on the map, including Washington D.C., Charleston, Atlanta, New Orleans and Michigan. Some will remember Clark as the opening Executive Chef for the Radisson [now Sheraton] at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center.
A return to the Grand Strand was an event he welcomed for personal and professional reasons. He and wife Marcey Clark have two daughters - Madison (9) and Paige (3), and Clark admits that after living and working in so many places, he is ready to root in. "My mom's in Camden and my father lives in Georgetown - and we're real close to my family farm in North Carolina," he says, adding that the Marina Inn is a "great hotel and a cool, cool place to work."
"I oversee the menu development, training and the food selection for the Anchor Café, WaterScapes Restaurant and our banquet and catering here at Marina Inn," says Clark. "We have a really efficient staff - I've got two great sous chefs that help me execute the food here - and a team of cooks that are the backbone and do a fantastic job."
And the sustainable dining concept?
"It's something that I brought with me when I came here, and it's not something that we changed in a day. We are constantly evolving and finding new opportunities to do this, and we really started focusing first on our seafood program." With the name WaterScapes, Clark considers this a perfect match.
"We try to focus on underutilized fish that people don't necessarily know much about or may not have even heard of," he says. Some examples are scorpion fish, jolthead porgy, white grunt, and amberjack. "We have other offerings too, but people might have the opportunity to taste a type of fish that they have never tried." He says that a number of area fishermen who have been to WaterScapes have seen or caught these types of fish, but might have cut the line or thrown them back. Now they know better.
Because the seafood menu changes every day based on the availability of fish he is able to buy from local fisherman, Clark says arriving at a signature dish is a tough call - but a menu mainstay is an appetizer called crispy oysters. "It's a crispy oyster served with a country ham and leek reduction and topped with artichoke or sunchoke relish. We get a lot of favorable comments on that." Other constants are crab cakes and a seared romaine salad.
A varying menu serves to strengthen artistic chops, to be sure, and Clark gives credit to sous chefs Bill Hartley and Kevin Bohler and their teams. "Even though I am Executive Chef, I don't know it all," he says. "I like to bring in people who are able to offer fresh ideas and new interpretations. Surrounding yourself with people like that makes you even more successful."
Clark and staff work in tandem with Marina Inn to make sure a vigorous recycling program is in place and constantly improving. "All of our vegetable trimmings are saved for a farmer who comes in once a week, and he uses these for his compost heap." The same farmer provides eggs from red star chickens that are fed black flies grown from this compost. "These chickens produce beautiful, rich and fatty egg yolks that make the most incredible crème brulee and wonderful omelets and cakes - it's a huge difference."
On May 23, Marina Inn at Grande Dunes played host to area chefs as they competed in the inaugural Coastal Uncorked Food Fight Gala, an "Iron Chef"-style competition which included Clark. While Executive Chef Mike McKinnon of Island Vista Resort in Myrtle Beach came away with the win, Clark says he is pleased with the turnout and positive feedback about the event, which had been in the works for 10 months. "It was a fun time and I was proud to have all the chefs here who put on an amazing show."
A passion for jam bands factors high on Clark's leisure-time list, a passion which began while attending Brevard College, where he got turned on to Widespread Panic. He says his wife is a big fan also - and Clark is doing his level best to indoctrinate his oldest daughter. "My daughter has been to a couple of Panic shows - and she's also seen Dark Star Orchestra, North Mississippi Allstars and the Yonder Mountain String Band at the Telluride [Colorado] Bluegrass Festival - she likes some Miley Cyrus too - but I'm teaching her the best I can," he laughs.
Clark, an avid fisherman and hunter, enjoys being so close to the aforementioned family farm - and downtime can also involve one of his two boats. "We jump in the boat and go to secluded spots like Cedar Island. The kids love to go down there on that beach and dig up sand dollars, conch shells and shark teeth - and my wife loves it too. And I'm killing two birds with one stone - enjoying family time and catching fish."
Know of a local with an interesting job or career that should be given the Working 4 A Living treatment? Contact Roger Yale at rograt@verizon.net.
