‘Surreal’: Antica Terra chef wins James Beard Award

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Timothy Wastell recently took his young daughter, Frankie, to Chicago for a bit of a business trip that had a twist at the end. “She was so much more excited about that whole thing than me,” he said. “She was bragging to her third grade class.”

For the past 26 years, he’s been working in kitchens, with 17 of them as a chef. He went to Chicago for the annual James Beard Awards — and was chosen the Best Chef in the Pacific Northwest.

“I was not supposed to win the thing because we’re a winery that serves lunch and I didn’t even know I qualified for it,” Wastell said. “So, yeah, the whole thing was pretty surreal.”

He and his team at Antica Terra are making thoughtful meals inside the Amity winery — and they’re obviously getting attention through “A Very Nice Lunch.”

The chef has a deep appreciation for having access to so many fresh ingredients and that love for the Pacific Northwest comes through in his cooking. Wastell said that starts with where he’s from.

“I’m from outside of Detroit, Michigan. From there I moved to Vail, Colorado and began to seriously cook and realized that using heirloom tomatoes in January isn’t cool,” he told KOIN 6 News. “I was either going to move to either Chicago or Portland, Oregon. What brought me out here was the access to local produce and the wine scene.

“That was 17 years ago and I’ve been shopping at the farmer’s market for all 17 of those years and working there for the last 10 and no season is the same. It’s always different, but it’s always super exciting and it can be July or January and there’s something to look forward to here. It’s nuts.”

Timothy Wastell said that excitement for the evolutions also means they hold themselves to a high standard. They all care about what they’re doing and care about getting better each day.

“Keeping that positive and humble and progressive and beautiful is top tier,” he said.

You might also see him at the Shemanski Park Farmer’s Market in downtown Portland on Wednesdays. Every other week, he’s at the stand for Groundworks Organic Farm, based in Junction City.