Greetings from the new Executive Chef at Mt. Hood Meadows!
Let me to introduce myself; my name is David Mahler and I am heading into my first full year as Executive Chef here at Meadows. I came aboard early last Spring, just in time to catch the tail end of the busiest part of last year’s season.
What I hope to be able to share with our guests here in ALL of our dining areas is a marriage of both the flavorful and the healthy food ideas I’ve gained in over 40 years in the kitchen. Flavor? Yes I am all about flavor; spicy, full, robust, teasing, tempting, and so much more. Cooking for flavor is what brings guests back and I hope to bring all of you back over and over.
I’m also an avid follower of the way people are eating. I want to see what people are eating and why they’ve made that choice. It’s clear that healthy eating is a powerful choice that diners are making. To that end my chefs and I have are taking major steps toward incorporating a more healthy direction in much of the food we will prepare for you this year.
So that nobody gets worried about losing a favorite dish (and no, the Nachos will NEVER go away), we have kept as many of the Meadows favorites as we could while also creating a whole new selection of salads, gluten-free dishes and vegan dishes for the Alpenstube menu. Additionally our Fresh Tracks deli is taking much more of a turn in the “healthy” direction so please check there for a much wider selection of healthy eating options.
And because I truly believe it can be done, we will doing more “scratch cooking” in our restaurants this year than has been done here previously. You will see more specials, more freshly cooked items and, on weekends, you can experience bowls of home-made hearty eating in our new upstairs Comfort Zone Cafe. You can look for a great new blast of flavor and freshness from our other upstairs restaurant, the all new Cocina de la Montana (more about that soon)!
I am so excited about all the opportunities here; excited about working with such a great team in our Culinary Services Department and excited to be cooking for you! Please, if you see me here at the Lodge, let me know how you think we’re doing. I am here for you.
David L Mahler
Executive Chef
Executive Chef David Mahler authored this Industry Voice article in the current issue of Chef Magazine.
