Behind the Cuisine

[HostDave]

By Timothy Rubacky, Senior Vice President

When we created the American Queen Steamboat Company, we set out to craft a genuinely unique vacation experience. Plenty of companies and people say they’re going to do something unique, but how many really do it? When we decided to return the American Queen to the rivers, we wanted to bring the warmth, friendship, creativity and passion of the people ashore aboard the boat in our cuisine. First we turned to acclaimed Southern Chef Regina Charboneau for inspiration. She brought her family recipes to the American Queen and spent several weeks supervising their creation and setting the standards to ensure that the love of her family ends up on each and every plate.

The results have been rewarding for guests and staff alike. From piping hot beignets and bananas foster French toast for breakfast to succulent five-course dinners, every day celebrates the culinary senses. The American Queen consistently receives high marks and praise from guests for the exceptional dining experiences onboard. In today’s blog, I’d like to turn the spotlight on the culinary staff who works harmoniously to deliver those creations each day, at every meal, to the 436 hungry guests in the J.M. White Dining Room.

Paul Wayland-Smith is our Executive Chef and hails from Oneida, NY with more than 30 years of experience in the kitchen. He was inspired to become a chef because he always enjoyed cooking at home with his parents and grandparents. And he certainly knows his way around a restaurant. “I started washing dishes and bussing table when I was 14,” he says. He loves the opportunity to travel and meet new people while aboard the American Queen and is a football fan, too. “I’d probably be a football coach if I weren’t a chef,” he explains. Everyone wants to know a chef’s favorite food and it turns out for Paul, it’s not one of his own creations. He loves coffee ice cream from Häagen-Dazs because the flavor is pure “and there aren’t any chocolate chunks or nuts to slow me down!”

Executive Sous Chef Miguel Moreno has three decades of experience and, coming from Las Vegas, NV, has seen just about everything there is to see in the culinary world. He was inspired by his mother’s love of cooking to pursue a career in the culinary arts but also loves movies and has said he’d be a movie critic if he weren’t a chef. His favorite food is fresh lobster, a sentiment that rings true with the vast majority of our guests, too!

Steve Tracy also serves aboard the American Queen as Executive Sous Chef and loves the creativity of combining ingredients and working with fresh fruits and vegetables. Seeing guests respond so positively to the kitchen team’s creations is rewarding for Steve and given the historic nature of Steamboating, he believes that if he hadn’t become a chef he would have become a history teacher. Growing up in the great steamboat port of St. Louis, MO, he is a fan of the farm-to-table movement and the American Queen Steamboat Company’s commitment to using fresh and seasonal ingredients is a big draw of his job.

Dave Bailey from Orlando, FL is our Sous Chef and was surrounded by friends and family who loved to cook so naturally it became part of his goal to master the craft as well. Dave is always learning despite having 20 years of experience and finds one of the most enjoyable things about working on the American Queen is learning from the chefs around him. If he heads to a restaurant ashore, it’s usually going to be Italian because of the sauces and layers of flavors, similar to the concept behind the authentic Southern dishes on the American Queen. If you didn’t find him in the kitchen, you’d probably find him landscaping as he loves to work with his hands and nurture plants as well as palates.

Jimmy Briseño is also a Sous Chef on the American Queen, bringing 14 years of experience from his hometown of Harlingen, TX. His grandfather was the chef in the family and Jimmy found he sparked a living for food and cooking in him that has led to working with a diverse group of people and waking up in a new town every day on the American Queen, his two favorite things about living and working on the river. He hasn’t thought much about what he’d do if he weren’t a chef but insists it would have to be something that kept him working around the kitchen and food.

Gary Pruitt is First Cook on the American Queen and brings that Southern charm from his hometown of Columbia, SC. He went to school to become a chef, his first passion, but also discovered a second passion: helping people. As a firefighter and medic he assisted in the rescue efforts after the 9/11 attacks but was injured in a 30-foot fall which returned him to his first passion of cooking. His favorite dish is the epitome of simple, quality Southern cooking: chicken and dumplings.

Second Cook Diane Galmore has three decades of experience and just like the American Queen, calls Memphis, TN her homeport. Cooking was a family affair growing up and led to a career in hotels, casinos and restaurants before joining the American Queen Steamboat Company. Working on an authentic overnight paddlewheel steamboat is “an adventure.” One “great experience” is learning how to prepare so many different kinds of dishes. If she weren’t aboard the boat, she would be spending time working with kids at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis.

Crew Cook Debra Brown also calls Memphis, TN home and for 25 years she has worked in kitchens after being inspired seeing how much her mother and grandmother loved cooking every holiday. You can often find her putting her sweet tooth to work creating cookies, cakes and other treats.

All these talented folks make up a team on the American Queen that we believe is second to none both afloat and ashore. As we start 2013, I wanted to take the time to thank everyone who works hard to make certain that our guests have a unique and tasty experience when they travel with us. Thank you for everything you do!