KURT HUFFMAN

Owner

Kurt Huffman got his first taste of the restaurant industry as a 10-year-old in a school cooking class in New Zealand. Four years later, he was working as a dishwasher and grill cook at Fat City Café in Multnomah Village. He went on to study at UC Berkeley, but at 25 he found himself in Scotland, balancing rugby and a good amount of beer drinking while pursuing a master's degree in law from the University of Glasgow. He had beer in mind when a French friend asked him to collaborate on a business in Lyon, France. They settled on a brewery, “because it’s such an obvious thing to do at 25,” which turned into a gastropub called Ninkasi. By the time Kurt left France, there were five locations.

He returned to his hometown of Portland and founded ChefStable in 2008. It began with Chef Andy Ricker who had just started Pok Pok in 2006 and was looking to open another restaurant. Huffman and Ricker teamed up and opened Ping. After that, recommendations for partnerships kept coming in and Kurt built his team to be able to design, build, and operate restaurants. Since 2008, Kurt and his team at ChefStable have opened more than 40 restaurants and he personally has taken more trips to Portland Nursery than anyone could count. He is a firm believer in the power of partnering with the right people and can’t shake the feeling that every space should have more plants.

Favorite restaurant: St. John’s (London, England)

Least favorite fruit: Banana

Least favorite nut: Cashew

JESSICA SILVERMAN

Managing director

Jessica is a Southern California native who kissed 75 and sunny goodbye when she migrated to the Pacific Northwest in 2009. A former public accountant, Jessica was ChefStable’s first employee, wearing every hat including accounting, HR, project management, and public relations/marketing; she now oversees all services that ChefStable provides to our partners and leads the team by providing structure and support. Some of Jessica’s favorite things are riding bikes in the summer, cooking straight from the garden, traveling, and spending time with her husband Sean and their extremely fluffy cat.

Favorite restaurant: Liholiho Yacht Club (San Francisco, CA)

Kitchen utensil you can’t live without: It’s a tie between a fish spatula and my Vita-mix

Favorite burger chain: In-N-Out burger, of course. I AM from Southern CA

Darrell Bennett

Director of Operations

A former resident of both coasts and a spot in-between, Darrell settled on his favorite coast, ready to join Portland’s restaurant scene. He is devout fan of the hospitality industry, working hard to support his restaurant habit. When he is not helping the ChefStable family, Darrell spends his time exploring new corners of the world with his wife, checking out some live tunes, and overindulging in all things Star Wars.

Favorite restaurant: Zilla Sake

Favorite hot sauce: Secret Aardvark

Favorite comfort food: Nong’s Khao Man Gai

Emily Gale

Benefits and leave manager

Born and raised in the great state of Texas, Emily made the move to the PNW after falling in love with a native Oregonian almost 10 years ago. Once here, she graduated from Portland State University with a degree in Communications. Using her extensive background in healthcare, benefits seemed like a logical next step. Emily was introduced to ChefStable as a part of the influencer team to go to our restaurant openings and events to help spread the word on these amazing places; call it kismet but she is now our Benefit Administrator! In her free time, you can find her and her husband eating and drinking their way through any Disney Park!

Favorite restaurant: Solid tie between Chef Art Smith’s Homecomin’ and Wine Bar George. Both are in sunny Lake Buena Vista, FL.

Favorite Cookie: Literally any cookie from Gideon's Bakehouse. You guessed it, also located in Florida.

Go to Drink Order: The usual: vodka soda tall with a ridiculous number of limes. If I am feeling extra: a dry vodka martini with a twist.

Michael Del Rey

HR specialist

Michael Del Rey has been bouncing around the United States for the last 20 years. He got his start in the restaurant industry at a basement dive “hotel bar” in Washington, D.C., in 2010. It was love at first shift. Mike arrived in PDX the winter of 2018 and quickly settled in. Growing weary of late nights and long shifts, and looking for a new challenge, he made the transition into restaurant accounting and HR. Mike is incredibly excited to work with the ChefStable Team and to continue to support the people that make this industry so special.

Favorite restaurant: Duarte’s Tavern - Pescadero, California

Best restaurant concept that hasn’t been done yet: Maybe a throw back to the old “smoking / non-smoking section” days, but make it “cell phone / no cell phone sections”…seems a little pretentious though

If you could go to dinner with one chef, who and where: Chef Ludo Lefebvre - Clyde's Prime Rib Portland, Oregon 

Skylar Janecek

HR specialist

Hailing from the Midwest, Skylar found her way to Portland and immediately felt at home - although she is still a little afraid of driving on curvy roads. Before arriving at ChefStable, Skylar worked as a supervisor & barista trainer at Starbucks while obtaining her MS in Industrial/Organizational Psychology. She has occupied various HR roles since, maintaining a focus on employee relations and compliance. Skylar believes it is vitally important that there is someone in every company whose primary goal is to promote employee well-being; thankfully, at ChefStable, that someone is everyone, so she knows she is right where she belongs. 

In her downtime, Skylar enjoys road trips with her partner and their German shepherd Foxtrot, playing video games, badly humming along to classical music, and drafting epic fantasy sagas where the heroes always win. 

Favorite restaurant: Giordano's - Chicago style deep dish pizza (the best way to eat pizza)

Guilty pleasure? Grilled cheese sandwiches dipped in A1 steak sauce, especially for breakfast 

Leo Pinheiro

Operations Manager

Before settling down in the PNW, Leo travelled and lived in different places on the map. This included California, Hawaii, Brazil and Japan, where he explored his passion for surfing, languages and cultural experiences. 

Leo brings a unique and valuable mix of professional experiences from the Hospitality and Supply Chain & Logistics industry to ChefStable as Operations Manager. He is ecstatic to join a talented group of people that represent Portland’s culinary scene at its best.

In his free time, Leo enjoys going out on road trips with his beautiful family to explore new places, waves and food.

Favorite restaurant: Monkeypod Kitchen. Kaanapali, HI 

What’s your go to drink order? Old Fashioned…make it with Michter’s Rye please!

What is your favorite type of fat? Braised pork belly “Kakuni”

JACKIE Pulka

Project Manager

Born and raised in Portland, Jackie got an Economics and Finance degree while working in restaurants. After college, she moved back to Portland and worked as an Accountant for three years then wanted to get back into the industry.

Favorite restaurant: Nuestra Cocina

Go to drink: Aviation dirty martini

Favorite pizza topping: Arugula

Rafael Morales

Controller

Rafael was born and raised in the Bay Area, where he obtained his Bachelor's degree in Accounting and his CPA license. After working at an accounting firm that specializes in different sectors, he moved to Portland to further expand his career. Formerly a CFO for a real estate company, he now brings his experience to ChefStable to help expand the company to the next level.

Favorite restaurant: Egg Carton

What’s the best thing you cook? Tri-Tip Steak with a California Beef Rub

What's your go-to side dish at a bbq? My homemade Southern Potato Salad

Rocks, neat or straight up? Neat, Irish Whiskey

Chelsea Granger

SENIOR ACCOUNTANT

Chelsea was born and raised in the woods of the Cascades, where she never even got to experience hummus. Once she graduated she decided that was enough of that, threw a bag of clothes in the back of her Bug, and hightailed it to Portland. Now she's always open to trying new food and is on a lifelong mission to eat every potato dish in the world.

Favorite restaurant: My favorite was a 2020 casualty, so I'm on the hunt!

If you had four sandwich ingredients and one piece of bread to eat for the rest of your life, what would it be? Pesto, roasted broccoli, provolone, and salami on sourdough.

Secret ingredient is: Im Jai Thi's house-made chili garlic oil

Randi Wiggins

Accounting Specialist

Randi was born and raised in the Portland and surrounding area. After graduating high school her junior year, she moved to Germany for three years with her high school sweetheart who was in the USAF. Upon returning home they began a family and lived on the Puget Sound for 10 years where Randi learned accounting in the marine construction and commercial fishing industries. After finally settling their roots back in Portland in 2021, she landed at ChefStable where she is currently enjoying trying all the foods these restaurants have to offer.

Favorite Restaurant: Any place with a good burger and fries

Favorite Cookie: Snickerdoodle

Culinary experience in another country: In a little German restaurant on the southern part of the Rhine River, I once ordered multi-animal blood pudding. I thought I was ordering a sausage, but I clearly misunderstood.

ERIN GRIGANAVICIUS

Senior Accountant

Erin grew up in South Georgia, spent six cold years in Chicago, and finally settled in the PNW. After completing culinary school she worked a wide variety of restaurant positions before discovering her true love: a well-organized spreadsheet. ChefStable is the perfect pairing of her two loves: food and numbers. In her spare time, Erin is either adventuring outdoors with her husband and two dogs or reading at home with one of her cats in her lap.

Kitchen utensil you can’t live without: My knives 

Rocks, neat, or straight up: Rocks, but just one really, really big rock

Fave way to eat a potato: “Boil ‘em, mash ‘em, stick ‘em in a stew.” —Samwise Gamgee

Favorite restaurant: Screen Door, for the catfish and nostalgia 

 

DAISY BURGE

OFFICE MANAGER

Daisy is an Oregonian, born and raised. Growing up in Eugene, OR and graduating from the University of Oregon before moving up to Portland in 2020, Daisy has always felt a close connection to the rainy PNW and all it has to offer. Before beginning at ChefStable, Daisy worked in the service industry for 7+ years and developed a close connection to the gastronomy of Oregon. Daisy's favorite thing about Portland's local food scene is the commitment to fresh & local ingredients, and she is happy to work on a team committed to continuing regional culinary traditions. In her spare time, Daisy can be found at stand-up comedy open mics around Portland, testing out new cookie recipes, or thrifting from local second-hand shops.

Favorite restaurant: Hat Yai 

Best Cooking Hack: Using kosher sea salt to season your food (instead of table salt)

Side Dish at a BBQ: Homestyle six-cheese mac (cheddar, American, gruyere, fontina, parmesan, smoked Gouda)

Go-To Drink Order: Call me childish, but I love a Shirley Temple - the more maraschino cherries, the better!

DUSTIN LEITZELL

ACCOUNTANT

Dustin grew up in PA, but moved to the west coast for family. After moving between the coasts a few times, he decided to pursue an accounting degree at Washington State. After graduating, Dustin worked in a couple of accounting roles while bartending and serving on the side. ChefStable offers the opportunity to benefit the industry he used to serve and love.  In Dustin’s spare time, he is writing, exploring the world with his (currently 2 year old) daughter, and making the best fondue this side of the Mississippi.

Favorite restaurant: Houlihans- Hershey, PA

Best restaurant concept that hasn’t been done yet: Restaurant on the moon

Favorite fruit: Envy apples

Weirdest thing I have eaten in the past ten days: Chicken hearts

SHannon march

human resources director

Shannon has called many places home but settled in Portland mid-pandemic. Before joining ChefStable, she worked with several startups in NYC and Austin where she became comfortable wearing whatever hat needed to be worn. With a special interest in people and service, she naturally fell into hospitality HR. In her free time, Shannon enjoys getting muddy in the ceramics studio, swimming pretty much anywhere, and petting every animal and plant that crosses her path.

Favorite restaurant: Grass Fed

Kitchen utensil you can’t live without: NexTrend Garlic Twister

Go to drink order: Don Julio 70 on the rocks with lime

 

Katherine Benvenuti

operations Manager

Katherine Benvenuti has worked in this industry since she was seventeen, starting out in kitchens as a pastry cook. She began her time with ChefStable as a Chef-partner in The Bakery at Bar King and Fills, a berliner-style donut shop. 

Now as an operations manager at ChefStable, she enjoys using her skills in both front and back of house to provide well-rounded support to restaurants.  

She believes that hard work pays off, and we all do our best work when we stay focused and model to others that any task worth doing is worth doing right. 

Favorite restaurant: Bree’osh in Montecito, CA

One kitchen utensil you can’t live without: A paring knife

Favorite type of fat: Butter, of course!