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Steve Cain | AQUA by El Gaucho Executive Chef
AQUA by El Gaucho’s Executive Chef fell in love with his craft at an early age while watching relatives prepare lavish holiday feasts at their family beach house in Olympia, WA. Growing up with a mother who was a chef further inspired him to make cooking not only his passion, but his trade. [More/Less]
With no formal training but 30 years of experience, Chef Cain moved to Seattle to work at Henry’s Off Broadway under Chef Bruce Bonholzer, who attended Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. This experience would be a turning point in his career and taught him that with great food comes lasting memories.
Cain continued to work in a select group of Pacific Northwest restaurants, honing and burnishing his culinary skills. For 8 years he worked as Executive Chef at Waterfront Seafood Grill (now AQUA by El Gaucho) and when the Mackays opened their first eastside venture in November 2008, El Gaucho Bellevue, Steve was given the position of Chef de Cuisine. After nearly 4 years of helping create the menu on the eastside, in 2012 Cain will return to his roots within the company as Executive Chef of AQUA by El Gaucho.
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John Broulette | El Gaucho Bellevue Executive Chef
Washington native John Broulette discovered his passion for cooking in 1977 at the Mirabeau Restaurant atop Seafirst Bank and in 1980 was promoted to Sous Chef. With travel on his mind, his next cooking adventure took him to the Virgin Islands where he worked as Executive Chef at two highly regarded restaurants on St. Thomas: Bartilino’s Italian Restaurant and Entre Nous. [More/Less]
With his cooking skills finely tuned and his hunger for travel satisfied, John returned to Seattle in 1990 to join forces with long time friend and colleague, Ken Sharp. Together they opened the Union Square Grill in downtown Seattle and continued to run the restaurant for a successful 3 years. Broulette stayed with Consolidated Restaurants for the next 9 years and worked as Executive Chef at both Elliot’s Oyster House and the Metropolitan Grill before finally arriving at El Gaucho Seattle in 2002.
Broulette currently resides as Executive Chef at El Gaucho Bellevue and continues to work closely with Corporate Executive Chef Ken Sharp. He is dedicated to delivering consistent, high quality dishes with the help of his top tier team. Broulette’s constant drive for improvement and his passion for excellence ensure every guest receives the “El Gaucho Experience.”
John enjoys playing golf with his two daughters and wife (on occasion). His oldest daughter was captain of her high school golf team but only recently was able to beat Broulette at the game. She is now headed to the University of Washington (Go Dawgs!) with her younger sister proudly following in her footsteps.
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Alex Parsons | El Gaucho Portland Executive Chef
Alex Parsons was born and raised just outside of Washington D.C. and has worked in the restaurant business since the ripe, young age of 18. He began as a dish washer before landing a lead line cook position at 3rd Street Diner, a 24 hour punk rock restaurant. When the punk scene became old, he left the diner to work as a prep cook at the Tobacco Company Restaurant in Richmond, Virginia. Living on the east coast for most of his life, his adventurous spirit told him it was time to head west. [More/Less]
He landed in Oregon and continued to work in various kitchens around the Portland area while experimenting with a career in Architectural Design. Although a talented designer, his passion was at the grill. He joined El Gaucho Portland shortly after it opened and worked his way from line cook to Sous Chef in a year and a half. After a brief leave of absence from the Gaucho to spend some time as Executive Chef at Ruth’s Chris, Sous Chef at Meriwether, Lead Line Cook at Olea, and Sous Chef at Southpark, Parsons returned about 5 years ago and was quickly promoted to Executive Chef of El Gaucho Portland.
Parsons is currently engaged to be married and enjoys spending time with his 8 year old son, a chef in the making.
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Matt Brandsey | El Gaucho Seattle
Hailing from Minneapolis, Brandsey has been working in the restaurant industry since 1995, and earned a Culinary Arts Diploma from Hennepin Technical College in Eden Prairie, Minnesota in May 2000. Wanting to expand his horizons and see more of the world, he took a job with Cruise West, sailing out of Seattle. He met his wife onboard and, following a stint in Chicago, they settled in Tacoma in 2004. [More/Less]
With experience that extends beyond the boundaries of the kitchen, Brandsey brings a great breadth of knowledge to the position. He has opened five restaurants as Executive Chef, including three Travelers Tavern Hospitality Group locations in Chicago, the wine bar and restaurant Pour at Four in Tacoma, and DeCaterina’s Market Grill and Bar, a fine-dining restaurant in Puyallup before moving onto the Sea Grill, in downtown Tacoma. Brandsey has since stayed within El Gaucho, moving up to their award-winning Waterfront Seafood Grill (now AQUA by El Gaucho) for the bustling summer months, before finding his current home as Executive Chef at the flagship, El Gaucho Seattle.
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Daniel Hutsell | El Gaucho Tacoma
Executive Chef Daniel Hutsell has been in the restaurant industry for 16 years, with the last five and half at El Gaucho. After growing up in Yakima, Washington, he eventually made his way to Tacoma where he began his culinary career.Daniel is a self-taught chef who gained experience and training while working as a Sous Chef at Anthony’s Homeport, C.I. Shenanigans, Stanley and Seafort’s, Ram Restaurant & Brewery, and Fire Creek Grill.
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Ken Sharp | Corporate Executive Chef
Imbibed with a passion for cooking at an early age, Chef and Partner Ken Sharp began his career at Seattle’s Olympic Hotel while still in high school. Encouraged by the chef at the Olympic, Sharp attended the Washington State Chef’s Apprentice Program at Seattle Central Community College, earning a culinary arts degree. [More/Less]
Sharp held a number of different posts including managing the food service division at Steven’s Pass, the broiler at Mirabeau Restaurant and butchering for the Red Lion Inns. Sharp spent five years as the chef at the Seafirst Bank Executive Dining Room redesigning and constantly upgrading its cuisine.
In 1984, Sharp had the opportunity to join legendary Executive Chef Earl Owens at the newly opened Metropolitan Grill. He went to work with general manager Paul Mackay to make the “Met” a legendary steakhouse. Collecting accolades for the “Met,” Sharp collaborated with the parent company, Consolidated Restaurants, on projects such as Union Square Grill and Pescatore until 1996.
In 1996, Mackay recruited Sharp to join him for his newest venture, a revamped Gaucho in Belltown. His culinary expertise in both cooking and the preparation of specialty beef made him a natural choice to head the kitchen at El Gaucho.
As Corporate Executive Chef, Sharp brings his ability and expertise to each of the El Gaucho Restaurants. In addition to recreating his legendary “best steak in town” at each El Gaucho, Sharp oversees all of the sourcing for Mackay’s seafood restaurant, AQUA by El Gaucho.
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