Chef Cory Oppold
Winner of The Food Network’s “Chopped” by MIRIAM LUCERO
I moved down to Arizona from Illinois in 1998 to pursue architecture. I had a huge fascination with arts, math, and the way stuff was built. How- ever a year later, I ate at my first fine dining restaurant. I was hooked immediately. After several years of buying cookbooks and immersing myself in the food, a friend of mine suggested I should pursue culinary school. I later went to culinary school and graduated with honors from Scottsdale Culinary Institute in 2002.
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Some of my favorite spices are cumin, coriander seed and fennel seed. I am also fascinated with the spice mixes of certain curries, but I’m more of an herb person.
My favorite vegetable is hard to pick out. Each one has an amazing purpose. But what I love the most about vegetables is you know exactly what time of year are in. They are like the “culinary calendar”. In the fall I love all the pumpkins and squash. Then during the spring I love all the English peas, ramps and morels.
What is your style of Cuisine? How important is presen- tation? Where and would you share with our readers about your restaurant in Scottsdale, AZ.
My style of cuisine would be modern American. But my style is to en- hance the ingredients. I don’t often combine many ingredients together to make a product. But that’s not to say that I won’t put many products on a plate to build complexity, alternating different levels of acidity, tex- tures etc. But I would say my style is using multiple simplistic items to build complexity.
I believe presentation is huge. It is of course our jobs as Chefs to pro- duce tasty food. But if we don’t make the food beautiful or at least to our ability to make it look amazing, then we are just cooks and not culi- nary artists. I feel we should strive to be both.
Currently, I am the executive chef at Atlas Bistro in Scottsdale Arizo- na. We are at dinner only, multi-course restaurant. We are also a BYOB which is a huge plus for wine lovers.
The menu changes very often as I get pretty bored with a dish relatively quickly. Vegetables definitely drive our menu, telling us which protein to pair if a protein were to be on the plate.
Cory Oppold, you grew up on a farm, how has that im- pacted you as a Chef?
Growing up on a farm has definitely helped me in my career. I already had a big respect for Food prior to being in culinary. I grew up knowing where Food came from, the hard work it takes to get it, and the patience needed.
Cory Oppold in an episode of Food Network’s “Chopped”, you bested three competitors to win $10,000. Titled “Eat Your Vegetables”, the episode fea-
8 AUGUST / SEPTEMBER I HORSE & AG MAGAZINE
ory Oppold, how did you get into culinary? What are some of your favorite spices you like to use? Vegetables? Why?
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