Famed Michael Hutchings back in South Coast kitchens

By SALLY CAPPON
South Coast Beacon

Chef Michael Hutchings is back.

Hutchings, who partnered with Europe’s famed Roux brothers to make Michael’s Waterside a local mecca in the dawning of the fine-dining revolution in the 1980s and early 1990s, has returned to Santa Barbara.

“It’s ‘back home,’ ’’ said Hutchings, who worked in Charlotte, N. C., and Palm Springs after selling the classic dining room facing the Bird Refuge. “I was here 14 years and gone for seven. I’m delighted to be back. I wondered why I left. It’s much more interesting food-wise.’’

Starting in January, Hutchings, who runs a catering and personal chef business called “There’s a Chef in My Kitchen,’’ will write a Low Carb Gourmet column for the South Coast Beacon. Each column will be accompanied by a recipe tailored around the Atkins Diet.

“I’m not going to be a fanatic,’’ he said. “I’m not going to analyze data. I’m not a dietitian. I’m a chef. It is going to generally be low-carb but with an emphasis on interesting, delicious food. I’m going to do that across a variety of food styles.’’

Example: While Pot au Feu,

a slow-cooked boiled meat dinner, traditionally uses veal shank and root vegetables, “I’m going to do it with chicken and filet of beef and a lamb chop, with a savory broth and less vegetables.’’ Premium cuts of meat cut cooking time.

Hutchings’ interest in the Atkins Diet arose when a client wanted to go on the diet, which has attracted a following among people interested in weight maintenance, or early stage diabetics.

“It’s a low-carb way of dining,’’ he said. “It’s very popular. There’s medical evidence that there’s sense to it.’’ At the same time, he seeks “balance. The goal is to do this and still have great, interesting food. You don’t want to suffer from monotony.’’

It’s a new path for the native Southern Californian whose first food job was as a soda jerk at Disneyland while he studied music at Cal State Fullerton. When promoted to sandwiches, “I got the title of sandwich king,’’ he joked.

Ending up at Disneyland’s private club, Hutchings did Beef Wellingtons and buffets under German chef Rudy Stoy. “I started asking Rudy about classic dishes,’’ Hutchings said. “That sparked his mind.’’ When Hutchings wanted to bone a leg of veal, Stoy provided six. “He showed me one and I got to practice on five more,’’ Hutchings said. “We had veal more ways that you can imagine the next two months.

“I dropped out of music and went into full-time cooking. I saw it as a better career for myself.’’

In 1977 things were starting to pop food-wise in Los Angeles. Hutchings joined with James Sly, with whom he apprenticed and who is now a Santa Barbara chef, at a Studio City restaurant where “we were feeding all sorts of movie moguls.

“Michel Richard had recently come to town. I remember the first time I saw him. He was delivering some pastries. We said, ‘Wow, this guy knows how to do this.’ ’’

Still, Hutchings wanted European training. “I talked to Wolfgang Puck when he was just Wolfgang Puck. He called a couple places (in Europe).’’

Hutchings, with his wife and baby, headed first for France, where he worked near Lyon before joining Albert Roux at his La Gavroche two-star Michelin restaurant in London. Hutchings’ first night in the basement kitchen was discouraging. “It was a beehive. They handed me a bag of the most filthy mussels I’d seen in my life and said, ‘Clean these,’ ’’ he said. But the Yank hung in there, working at top restaurants in France — “kind of like finishing school.’’

An ad about a local job from Paul Vercammen drew Hutchings to Santa Barbara, where he became chef at the Olive Mill Bistro. It was an exciting time, with chefs like Norbert Schulz and John Downey, then at Penelope’s. Hutchings discovered local chanterelles, squab and mussels — “all this wonderful stuff.’’ Julia Child lived down the street and came to dinner. “She was absolutely gracious, warm …. it began a friendship that we’ve enjoyed to this day,’’ he said.

When Penelope’s went on the market, he negotiated a deal with the Rouxes’ blessing, and in 1984 opened Michael’s Waterside Inn (the Inn was later dropped).

Food was elegant California French. Diners sat down to canapés. China was custom-made by Wedgwood. Waiters wore tuxedos. Hutchings did a couple TV shows with Child, who had a studio next door (and popped in to borrow sugar).

Selling the restaurant in 1993, he worked at the Santa Barbara Polo Club before rejoining Albert Roux in a new executive dining venture in Charlotte. After Hutchings and his wife separated, he went to Palm Springs where he learned “fantastic Indian curries’’ from a Thai chef. “I was introduced to a more exotic style of cooking.’’

Two years ago he returned to Santa Barbara to be chef at Birnam Wood Golf Club, and remained there a year.

A future restaurant isn’t out of the question, he said, “if the right location, the right circumstances popped up.’’ Now he’ll delve into his background and hundreds of cookbooks for recipes to adapt to low-carb. They might be French. Or Indian. Perhaps Italian. Middle Eastern. Even British.

It’s been, he said, “a great run.’’