From excelling in her high school culinary arts program to growing her skills in some of South Florida’s most acclaimed kitchens, Dallas Wynne credits the mentors in her life with helping her come into her own as a chef. While the Palm City native intended to focus on savory, she embraced sweets when she accepted a pastry position at Michael’s Genuine Food & Drink. Since then, she’s opened Ariete with Michael Beltran and Stubborn Seed with Jeremy Ford. Now, she serves as executive chef at The Butcher’s Club, Ford’s restaurant inside PGA National Resort. PBI caught up with Wynne to discuss cooking with family, running a kitchen, and more.
PBI: What is one of your earliest memories of cooking?
Wynne: From a very young age, I was in the kitchen with my mom. She would always pull up a chair to the stove. Apparently, I insisted on making carrot soup. I remember my mom opening the spice rack and letting me make the biggest mess. She was opening every spice, letting me smell it, and asking, “Do you want to put this in?” She really let me smell all the spices and season the soup. She flaunted me around the hair salon her best friend worked at and had me give everybody soup. I was 3 or 4, but I remember all these women being like, “Oh my goodness, you’re going to be a chef when you grow up!”
Do you share cooking with your child in the same way?
I do, and my son is so into cooking. One of the first gifts we bought him after he could walk was a kitchen tower, and he will drag it to the counter anytime anyone is in the kitchen. If I’m making my coffee, he’s like, “Mommy, wait!” He just wants to be involved. … We’re lucky to have a little garden in the backyard, and we have patio herbs and chickens. He loves to go outside and get the eggs and cut the basil.
How would you describe your leadership style at The Butcher’s Club?
I’ve always wanted to be a person who doesn’t lead by fear but by respect. The role I’m in right now, I’m able to make the team feel like we are a team. It’s not savory. It’s not pastry. It’s not front of the house or back of the house. It’s The Butcher’s Club. We all work together, and if someone needs help, we help them. If I need to jump on the line, I’m going to jump on the line. If my pastry cook needs to work garde manger, they’ll work garde manger. If my sauté cook needs to work pastry, they’ll work pastry. It’s such a beautiful thing to be part of something that’s very team oriented. It’s a young team but it’s a very passionate team. They want to learn. They want to grow and be a part of what we have.
What do you consider some of your culinary signatures?
For me, it’s all about balance. I’m always going to make sure there’s acid, heat, salt. If I’m going to make a sweet, it’s going to have salty. If I’m going to make something savory, it’s going to be high acid. I always want someone to say, “Ooh, what is that?” … I hope it hits a spot in your brain where you go, “I’ve had this before, but never like that.”
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