Chef Check in – Adair Scott, Terrafina
In this blog series, we are checking in on some of the chefs whose recipes are featured on our website. We’ll touch base with them, and find out how their lives, and careers, have changed since their recipe’s debut.
In the Spring of 2018, Ambrosia apple fans tested out recipes crafted by award-winning Okanagan chefs, and were tasked with picking their favourite. After counting more than 10,000 votes, Chef Adair Scott’s Ambrosia Apple Fritter with Salted Caramel recipe was declared the winner. View recipe here.
When he created his award-winning Ambrosia Apple Fritter recipe, Chef Scott was the Executive Chef at Watermark Beach Resort. While there, he received numerous honours for his innovative approach to fresh, healthy, local cooking. Growing up in northern BC, he developed a lifelong passion for locally sourced food, learning at an early age how to raise livestock and tend a large garden on his family’s farm in Prince George. Early in his career he honed his culinary skills with stints at the Harvest Golf Club and Local Lounge & Grille in the Okanagan and developed international experience at kitchens across Australia, with the highlight as Chef de Partie at Australia’s landmark restaurant Stokehouse, famed for their “beach luxe” dining and seafood.
“I grew up on a small farm and feel there’s a huge responsibility to respect the bounty of the South Okanagan,” he says. “There’s such a fantastic variety of wild treats, artisan farmers, and amazing wine here. The whole valley is based on food — agriculture and wine — and our regional cuisine creates the opportunity for incredible experiences, relationships, and stories.”
Since his recipe was first featured, he has added a member to his small family and now has a three year old daughter who keeps him busy. His kitchen has also changed: we caught up with him at Hester Creek Winery’s Terrafina Restaurant, where he took the helm in February, 2020. Scott brings his love of local fare and considerable network of family farms and artisan suppliers to a new terroir-to-table based, Tuscan-inspired menu.
Chef Scott cooks with Ambrosia apples at least once a year in some capacity, mostly in doughnuts and crumble fillings, and in a myriad of chutneys and apple relishes. “Ambrosia apples stay nice and white so an apple turmeric chutney will not look brown,” he says. “It looks fresh and a nice bright yellow.”
Terrafina was planning a full Spring reopening, but COVID-19 threw a spanner in their works. Through April and May, the restaurant offered a limited delivery menu, and they are now offering a slightly modified dining room experience, with social distancing measures in place.
“We made an Ambrosia apple mustard to go with our thyme roast pork belly for fathers day,” he says. “That is a good one.”
Chef Scott has gained a new appreciation for his team, and what their jobs mean to them. “I also hope that people will understand the value of the restaurant industry, and the people who work in it,” he says. “There is going to be much more good that comes out of this than bad. I truly believe that.”