An Iron Chef who has won a James Beard Award is now living and cooking in Maine.Chef Jose Garces and his wife loved Maine so much when they visited for a weekend years ago, they decided to buy a home in Saco in 2023. The couple moved to Maine full-time at the beginning of the year.”The coastal environment plus all the great access to seafood and the agricultural scene, as a food person, this to me is a mecca,” Garces said. “It’s a wonderful place to practice my craft and continue to cook and create.”Garces has transformed a 2,200-square-foot space at the Pepperell Mill in Biddeford into the Shokutsu Studio, a teaching kitchen where he creates recipes for his four restaurants in Pennsylvania and produces social media content.He also started hosting pop-up dinners for no more than 32 people once a month during the spring and summer.”Cooking for smaller groups like this is my sweet spot. It’s what I enjoy about the industry,” Garces said. “We’re also able to stretch our culinary wings and create more, have more fun with food. I do think in many ways this is the future of restaurants. Who knows?”Garces won the 2009 James Beard Award for Best Chef in the Mid-Atlantic, has authored two cookbooks and has 30 to 40 tournaments under his belt. He also won the second season of “The Next Iron Chef” and went head-to-head with Bobby Flay on “Beat Bobby Flay.” Flay called Garces one of the best chefs in the world.During our “Maine Menu” profile piece, Garces prepared tuna ceviche with a coconut leche de tigre, or “tiger’s milk.””One of the things I really love about Peruvian ceviche is the sauce they make,” Garces said.Garces blended onions, jalapenos, knobs of ginger and lemongrass with lime juice. He then added fresh cuts of cod to the blender with coconut milk, some water, a good amount of salt and a touch of honey.He meticulously plated the sauce and added slices of fresh, bright tuna with some garnishes.”I don’t know where else you can go five minutes down the road and get fish of this quality,” Garces said.
BIDDEFORD, Maine —
An Iron Chef who has won a James Beard Award is now living and cooking in Maine.
Chef Jose Garces and his wife loved Maine so much when they visited for a weekend years ago, they decided to buy a home in Saco in 2023. The couple moved to Maine full-time at the beginning of the year.
“The coastal environment plus all the great access to seafood and the agricultural scene, as a food person, this to me is a mecca,” Garces said. “It’s a wonderful place to practice my craft and continue to cook and create.”
Garces has transformed a 2,200-square-foot space at the Pepperell Mill in Biddeford into the Shokutsu Studio, a teaching kitchen where he creates recipes for his four restaurants in Pennsylvania and produces social media content.
He also started hosting pop-up dinners for no more than 32 people once a month during the spring and summer.
“Cooking for smaller groups like this is my sweet spot. It’s what I enjoy about the industry,” Garces said. “We’re also able to stretch our culinary wings and create more, have more fun with food. I do think in many ways this is the future of restaurants. Who knows?”
Garces won the 2009 James Beard Award for Best Chef in the Mid-Atlantic, has authored two cookbooks and has 30 to 40 tournaments under his belt. He also won the second season of “The Next Iron Chef” and went head-to-head with Bobby Flay on “Beat Bobby Flay.” Flay called Garces one of the best chefs in the world.
During our “Maine Menu” profile piece, Garces prepared tuna ceviche with a coconut leche de tigre, or “tiger’s milk.”
“One of the things I really love about Peruvian ceviche is the sauce they make,” Garces said.
Garces blended onions, jalapenos, knobs of ginger and lemongrass with lime juice. He then added fresh cuts of cod to the blender with coconut milk, some water, a good amount of salt and a touch of honey.
He meticulously plated the sauce and added slices of fresh, bright tuna with some garnishes.
“I don’t know where else you can go five minutes down the road and get fish of this quality,” Garces said.
Dining and Cooking