Wind Creek Casino Atmore Cooking Class
By Robyn Bradley Litchfield
Atmore, Alabama (AP) 9-09
Wind Creek Casino & Hotel in Atmore cooked up quite a grand opening recently for its state-of-the-art Cooking Studio, and celebrity chef Carla Hall of Top Chef: New York was a key ingredient.
Designed to enhance learning, the Cooking Studio comprises seating for 40 to 50 participants, a spacious open kitchen with five large flatscreen TVs overhead, three along the front and two on the sides. Then, to the right, there is another spacious kitchen and large dining table for smaller groups and hands-on experimentation.
Hall who became a house-hold name as she made her way to the finals in the fifth season of Bravos popular culinary competition joined Wind Creeks corporate chef Stafford DeCambra in the teaching kitchen to share their love of food as well as offer tips on recreating the dishes at home.
DeCambra said, These are simple items. We just went into the icebox, brought it out and said, Lets create some elegance with simplicity.
The table included Oysters Rockefeller; salmon mousse on endive; tiny glasses with a fresh blend of crabmeat, mango, red bell pepper and cilantro; watermelon cubes with aged balsamic vinegar and sprigs of micro-greens; and chocolate truffles.
Recreating such an impressive spread seemed daunting to grand-opening guests as they made their way around the table and sampled the goodies, but DeCambra and Hall quickly assured everybody that it was possible.
Hall said its all about making something your own, being flexible and realizing that a recipe isnt always necessary.
Its also about embracing regional, local and fresh ingredients.
I truly believe that regional cooking is the heart and soul of a community, said Hall, a Nashville, Tenn., native who now owns and operates Washington, D.C.-based Alchemy Caterers.
Known as the chef who puts love into everything she makes, Hall and her culinary skills took her all the way to Top Chef finals. And her life hasnt been the same since.
Returning from the February finale, Hall said her life hasnt slowed.
She now serves as the spokeswoman for several companies and her catering business has just blown up, but her goal is to find the right fit (for her company and her clients).
And the Cooking Studio at Wind Creek felt like the right fit. She said the Alabama resorts facilities are incredible, and she was honored to be part of teaching the first hands-on classes earlier this month.
David Gehman spent part of the weekend on the other side of the kitchen counter, learning how to prepare some of the delicious foods.
A council member of the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, which owns Wind Creek, Gehman was delighted to participate in the culinary experience. And he hopes that groups and individuals from across the state and the Southeast will add the Cooking Studio at Wind Creek to their calendars.
As with other council members, Gehman grew up in the area that now is home to Wind Creek. It looked far different back then, when his grandmothers house was just down the way and the fields were full of cotton, corn and other crops.
We never would have dreamed that this would be here, he said, during the grand opening ceremony.
And the fact that council members came together in the Cooking Studio for a delicious experience made the celebration memorable.
DeCambra said response to the Cooking Studio has been incredible already.
Wow just wow, said DeCambra, who is originally from Hawaii. In greeting them (class participants), I make sure they understand that they will be going through an experience. Well be cooking, yes, but they can go home and produce what we made in class. Everything they do here, they can make on their own.
But the most important thing is that everyone has fun along the way, he added.
During one class, Wind Creek chefs prepared a complete meal: bluefin tuna tartar with wasabi-dusted potato crisps for the appetizer; herb-cheese and spinach stuffed chicken breast, risotto with Parmesan and sun-dried tomatoes and tomato halves with herb stuffing; and chocolate-covered cream puffs.
Participants oohed and aahed as the chefs demonstrated how to prepare each dish, encouraging everyone to give it a try at home. The best part, however, was the chance to sample each course.
Adjacent to the new Cooking Studio is Wind Creeks new spa, which is ideal for guests who crave some time to relax and be pampered once they have wrapped up their cooking classes.
Hall said she was so impressed with the Wind Creek facilities.
She couldnt believe how beautiful everything was and said that Wind Creek had certainly put itself on the map.
And that is inspiring.
But youre always inspired if youre still growing, she said. Cooking is a loving, growing thing.
- Chef Brandon Thrash works on a dessert in the Kitchen at Wind Creek. Andrew Garner/Atmore ADvance
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Wind Creek Casino Atmore Hotel
Wind Creek hires new chef
Published 12:06 am Wednesday, May 31, 2017
Arkansas native Brandon Thrash is the new specialty chef for the Kitchen at Wind Creek Casino and Hotel in Atmore.
Thrash began working at the hotel in March. He manages and leads cooking demonstrations for large groups as well as personal, hands-on culinary studio classes.
Thrash made his way to Atmore from southwest Arkansas. He went to culinary school at Sullivan University in Louisville, Ky., where he earned his associate’s degree in applied science.
“After I graduated there, I moved to Tulsa (Oklahoma), just about a couple months after graduation, and ran a four-diamond restaurant (Polo Grill),” Thrash said.
Thrash ran the Polo Grill for four-and-a-half years, and then started to cook for a regular cooking segment on a nationally syndicated TV show, Make Your Day Count. He was then recruited by Oklahoma State University to teach.
Thrash taught at the collegiate level for 15 years, and served as the director of culinary arts for Texarkana Community College. Additionally, Thrash has also had the honor of cooking in the prestigious James Beard House in New York.
Prior to starting at Wind Creek, Thrash taught at Faulkner State Community College, now Coastal Alabama Community College.
Thrash said his earliest memory of cooking was for his mother’s birthday.
“I was going to make a cake,” he said. “The only cake mix she had in the pantry was for a strawberry cake, which sounded terrible, but it was all we had.
“I mixed everything up, threw it in the pan and put it in the oven,” he said. “Then, I looked at the back of the box to make sure I did everything right, and I said, ‘Oh, eggs.’ So, I took it out of the oven, scraped it out, and put the eggs in.”
Thrash said from there, he’d switch with his mom on cooking duties at the house.
Thrash said he knew when he graduated high school that he wanted to be a teacher.
“I went to college as a math major, and I wanted to be a math teacher,” he said. “Teaching has always been a passion of mine. On my portfolio in college, on my five to 10-year plan, one of them was that I wanted to be a culinary school teacher.”
One of Thrash’s duties as specialty chef is creating menus.
Thrash said his approach to menus is two-fold.
“When I write the menus, I try to split it up equally in good dishes that are easy to replicate at home, and easy to do at home,” he said. “The other philosophy is that I like to develop a dish they’re not likely to make at home. It’s a bit more exotic. They may not be able to find the protein, but they can say, ‘You know what I ate the other day? Rabbit.’”
Thrash said he loves cooking because of the science behind food.
“That’s what I want to bring to our guests here, not here’s what we do so that we can replicate it at home, but here’s the why of what we’re doing so that they understand the importance of it,” he said.
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