Top 5 Surprising Chef Facts

What do we really know about the chefs of restaurants we patronize? Usually, after reading an article or two, we learn where they grew up, went to school, where they buy their produce and what inspired them to start cooking in the first place. We dug a bit deeper and found some fun and intriguing details about several of our local chefs -- five, in fact. In no particular order, here are our Top 5 Surprising Chef Facts.

www.theherbfarm.com

Ron Zimmerman

"We sewed up (a tent) using this still-unnamed fabric and rushed out to test it. Eureka! It really worked," says Zimmerman, who started incorporating Gore-Tex into outdoor gear with a mountaineering buddy in the mid-70s. "We developed and grew the catalog business. Our company, Early Winters, went on to become one of the fastest growing companies in America by Inc. Magazine and we ultimately sold $100,000,000 worth of recreational equipment."

Zimmerman says in some ways, The Herbfarm is as different from typical restaurants as Gore-Tex was from ripstop nylon. "I no longer climb the big walls in Yosemite, but in my car is a lightweight Gore-Tex parka that I don with pleasure when foraging for mushrooms and wild plants for the restaurant."

4. Dalis Chea, chef/owner of Fresh Bistro, comes from a family of doughnut shop owners.
Fresh Bistro, 4725 42nd Ave. S.W., 935-3733

"I grew up spending the majority of my life at my parents' doughnut shop," says Chea. "It shaped my work ethic and was a big influence on how I have ended up at this point in my life. My wife grew up the same way, and my father-in-law owns and operates Ly's Doughnuts on 45th. Yes, I am a doughnut expert and snob. Favorites include Frost and Top Pot, but they're still not as good as my father-in-law's."

Chea's dad has since sold his South Everett doughnut shop, Western Co Donut, which has been around for more than 20 years.

Maria Hines getting back to nature.

"Being on El Cap was awe-inspiring," says Hines. "It's very grounding to feel so connected to nature. It serves as a reminder as to how insignificant we are in the grand scheme of things. That in itself is very liberating."