Dan George | Sally Huntington | Marc DeRego | Kristen Rogers | Chris Ash
Dan George: Menu Designer, Pickle Pundit, Fisherman
"I don’t think I’ve ever met anybody more passionate about food than Dan George of Westport, Massachusetts. When he’s not foraging in the garden, hauling something out of the river, or rooting around in the back of his refrigerator – revved up and ready to fix something fabulous to eat – he’s likely to be talking about it, thinking about it, or making plans for future feasts."
Kathy Neustadt, Yankee magazine
Dan was the pickle chef at the renowned Back Eddy Restaurant, and, with grill masters Chris Schlesinger and John Willoughby, wrote Quick Pickles-Easy Recipes with Big Flavor (Chronicle Books). He is considered an expert on the transformative power of pickles and relishes, and his recipes have been featured in Yankee Magazine’s "Best new England Cooks," as well as the Boston Globe, Gourmet, and, yes, Martha Stewart Living.
Sally Huntington: Event Planner, Crew Chief, Mom
"Every party is the most important one I do—whether it’s for Martha Stewart or my neighbor down the street." Sally has over twenty years experience in catering and restaurant management. She goes with Dan like…well, smoke goes with pickles. She’ll coordinate your event, from appetizer to dessert, and handle every detail so that you can join your guests and relax. This year Sally’s daughter Bonnie joined our staff. Sally claims not to see a resemblance. Do you?
Marc DeRego: Grill Master, Farmer, Juggler
Marc is the man-child of Chippy’s - his dad’s landmark seafood restaurant on Clark’s Cove in New Bedford - and brother to Aaron, chef/owner of the Back Eddy in Westport, where Marc was sous chef for five years, co-shouldering the grueling 24/7 of the summer stampede there.
Man-child because the flip side of his kitchen savvy, discipline, and endurance is his insistence on play. One of Dan’s earliest Back Eddy memories is of Marc walking through its bustling kitchen with his hands full and a sheet pan of onions on his head. He’s an accomplished skate and snow boarder and can juggle anything – including cooking and farming. After managing Allen and Silverbrook Farms for five years while moonlighting for Smoke & Pickles, Marc and Kristen were delegated by Slow Food New England to the Terra Madre Conference on sustainability in Turino, Italy which inspired them to begin organic farming on their own.
Kristen Rogers: Expediter, Farmer, Hurler
Earning her degree in molecular biology was a snap compared to Kristen’s role as Back Eddy “expediter.” She calls bridging the gap between kitchens and dining rooms “air traffic control” – averting collisions of alien worlds so that the dishes people order come in for soft, on-time landings.
Drawn as much to growing food as to serving it, Kristen has tended the fields and greenhouses of Salt Wind, Allen, Silverbrook and Taste Buds farms for more than a decade.
Her recent experience as a Slow Food New England delegate to the Terra Madre Conference in Turino was profound. Growers and food makers from 153 countries with a common goal – “to live together on this planet without stripping it bare”.
Kristen has since joined Marc to start an organic farm of their own.
Admired and feared for her blazing fastball, Kristen pitches for the Bristol Blues, a vintage baseball team.
Chris Ash: Quantity Controller, Baker, Fiddler
Chris and Dan met in 1968 as VISTA volunteers in Oregon when he was cooking up a bathtub-sized pot of pea soup at a soup kitchen. They’ve been kitchen sidekicks ever since. At S&P she is jack-of-all-trades and queen of sparkling fruit crisps and hot-off-the-grill flatbreads.
When Chris discovered Cajun music she and Dan began making pilgrimages to Southwest Louisiana where food and music are inextricably connected. Chris plays fiddle with Magnolia Cajun Band.
