Cathy Whims
Born1956 (age 67–68)
NationalityAmerican
Occupations
  • Chef
  • restaurateur
Years active1970s–present

Cathy Whims (born 1956) is an American chef and restaurateur in Portland, Oregon. She has been a James Beard Foundation Award finalist six times. The restaurants she has owned in Portland include Genoa, Nostrana, and the pizzeria Oven and Shaker.

Early life

Cathy Whims, the daughter of Harold Carter Whims Jr. and Ann Virginia Thomas (née Thomas) Whims, was born in 1956[1] and raised in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.[2]

Career

Whims became a chef and co-owner during her eighteen-year tenure at the defunct Italian restaurant Genoa (front exterior pictured in 2012).
Exterior of Oven and Shaker, 2017

Whims' mother was "from the Julia Child–era school" of cooking, and Whims has said she "started cooking because it was my passion".[3] Whims has been influenced by Italian-born cooking writer Marcella Hazan and French chef and restaurateur Madeleine Kamman.[3] Whims studied with Hazan in Venice in 1998,[4] and later worked in restaurants in Italy's Langhe region.[5]

Early in her career, Whims was the bread-and-pastry chef in a local natural-food restaurant; she catered private dinners in Chapel Hill and later worked at kitchens in the San Francisco Bay Area.[2] She relocated to Portland in 1979 and immediately began working at Produce Row Café.[6] Whims served as a prep cook at the Italian restaurant Genoa,[6] and she later became executive chef. After eighteen years at the restaurant, she became a co-owner of the business, which was credited "for bringing fine-dining to Portland",[3][5] before it closed in 2014.[7]

Whims opened several restaurants in Portland, including Nostrana (2005–present),[8] Hamlet (2015–2017),[9][10] and the pizzeria/bar Oven and Shaker (2011–present).[3][11] Nostrana serves classic Italian cuisine and has been described as "Portland's capital of the Negroni".[12] In 2015, Portland Monthly named Hamlet one of Portland's best restaurants.[10] Oven and Shaker specializes in Neapolitan pizza and was named a "best new pizza place" by Food & Wine.[13]

In 2017, Whims served as Oregon's ambassador for the James Beard Foundation's Smart Catch program, which promotes sustainable seafood practices.[14] She opened the 40-seat European wine bar Enoteca Nostrana, adjacent to Nostrana, in 2018.[15][16]

Recognition

Exterior of Nostrana, 2019

After opening Nostrana, Cathy Whims received six consecutive James Beard Foundation Award nominations for Best Chef: Northwest,[3][17] each year from 2008 to 2013.[6][18] She was also nominated for a 2016 James Beard Foundation Journalism Award in the "Home Cooking" category for a story called "Into the Woods", which she co-wrote with Langdon Cook and was published in EatingWell magazine.[19]

Whims won the first "Wild About Game Cook-Off", which was held in Welches, a town about 40 miles (64 km) southeast of Portland, with her "Qualgie Con Fiche", a dish consisting of a brace of semi-boneless quail pan-roasted with a fig jam sauce; the dish was accompanied by braised greens, polenta, and a glass of Three Rivers 1999 Syrah.[20]

Portland Monthly's Benjamin Tepler has described Whims as "the unofficial doyenne of Italian cooking" for the Pacific Northwest.[8] Katie Chang of Food Republic wrote; "Whims also helped train and usher in a new generation of talented chefs and restaurateurs ... whom many credit with cementing Portland's status as a world-class dining destination".[21] Her recipes have been published in cookbooks and a variety of other publications such as Epicurious,[22][23] The Seattle Times,[24] and The Wall Street Journal.[25]

Personal life

Whims is married and lives in Portland, Oregon.[26] Her partner David West co-owns Nostrana and Enoteca Nostrana.[27][28][29] She has described herself as a "born-again Italian".[21] Whims has a sister who also works in the restaurant industry.[3]

Following her mentor Hazan's death in 2013, Whims commemorated her by creating a special tribute menu at Nostrana.[30] Nostrana's menu has featured recipes that were inspired by Hazan, as well as dessert recipes Whims learned from American chef, baker, and writer Nancy Silverton.[31]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "North Carolina, U.S., Birth Indexes, 1800-2000, Index to Vital Statistics - Births - Randolph County". ancestry.com (Microfilm, roll number NCVR_B_C081_66002). p. 343. Retrieved February 28, 2023. Name, Birth Date, Birth County, Parent1 Name, Parent2 Name
  2. 1 2 Wolf, Laurie (July 17, 2012). Portland, Oregon Chef's Table: Extraordinary Recipes from the City of Roses. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 180–181. ISBN 9780762787111. Retrieved January 20, 2019.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Bamman, Mattie John (March 8, 2017). "Meet the Powerhouse Women Running Portland's Food Scene: Cathy Whims". Eater Portland. Archived from the original on March 31, 2017. Retrieved January 20, 2019.
  4. ↑ Russell, Michael (October 2, 2013). "Nostrana's Cathy Whims remembers her hero, Marcella Hazan". The Oregonian. Archived from the original on November 8, 2016. Retrieved January 20, 2019.
  5. 1 2 "Interview with Cathy Whims, Owner and Executive Chef of Nostrana". Ravenous Traveler. July 20, 2015. Archived from the original on September 7, 2015. Retrieved January 20, 2019.
  6. 1 2 3 Jackson-Glidden, Brooke (April 11, 2018). "Cathy Whims Wants to Teach Portland's Newbies to Love Wine". Eater Portland. Archived from the original on January 26, 2019. Retrieved January 20, 2019.
  7. ↑ Russell, Michael (April 21, 2014). "Genoa restaurant in SE Portland closing in May". The Oregonian. Archived from the original on July 21, 2017. Retrieved January 31, 2019.
  8. 1 2 Tepler, Benjamin (September 24, 2015). "Cathy Whims on a Decade at Nostrana". Portland Monthly. Archived from the original on March 6, 2019. Retrieved January 20, 2019.
  9. ↑ Centoni, Danielle (May 6, 2015). "Take a Look Inside Hamlet, the Pearl District's Newest Bar". Eater. Archived from the original on March 6, 2019. Retrieved January 20, 2019.
  10. 1 2 Bamman, Mattie John (May 26, 2017). "Cathy Whims's Hamlet Closes This Saturday". Eater Portland. Archived from the original on March 6, 2019. Retrieved January 20, 2019.
  11. ↑ Oven and Shaker:
  12. ↑ Dombrosky, Pete (October 5, 2017). "Nostrana". Thrillist. Archived from the original on January 26, 2019. Retrieved January 15, 2019.
  13. ↑ Quinlan, Christine (April 25, 2016). "Best New Pizza Places". Food & Wine. Archived from the original on July 8, 2016. Retrieved July 19, 2016.
  14. ↑ Bamman, Mattie John (June 5, 2017). "James Beard Foundation and Chef Cathy Whims Bring Sustainable Seafood Initiative to Oregon". Eater Portland. Archived from the original on March 26, 2019. Retrieved January 20, 2019.
  15. ↑ Russell, Michael (April 17, 2018). "Nostrana chef Cathy Whims is opening a Euro-style wine bar and it's gorgeous". The Oregonian. Archived from the original on January 26, 2019. Retrieved January 20, 2019.
  16. ↑ Brooks, Karen (January 24, 2018). "Celebrated Chef Cathy Whims to Open Enoteca Nostrana". Portland Monthly. Archived from the original on January 26, 2019. Retrieved January 15, 2019.
  17. ↑ Kramer, Julia (June 26, 2014). "Yes, You Can Mix Pasta Shapes—Here's How". Bon Appétit. ISSN 0006-6990. Archived from the original on March 6, 2019. Retrieved January 20, 2019.
  18. ↑ "Cathy Whims". James Beard Foundation. Archived from the original on March 30, 2019. Retrieved January 20, 2019.
  19. ↑ "The 2016 James Beard Award Nominees". James Beard Foundation. March 15, 2016. Archived from the original on March 6, 2019. Retrieved March 4, 2019.
  20. ↑ Kasper, Rob (October 31, 2001). "Hail to quail: Dish wins top honors in Wild About Game Cook-Off". The Baltimore Sun. pp. 1F, 4F. Retrieved March 7, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. 1 2 Chang, Katie (October 13, 2015). "Portland Pioneer Cathy Whims Is An Eternal Pizza Romantic". Food Republic. Archived from the original on March 6, 2019. Retrieved January 20, 2019.
  22. ↑ Cookbooks:
  23. ↑ "Sweet and Sour Pan-Fried Sea Bass - Chef Cathy Whims". Epicurious. Condé Nast. September 24, 2015. Archived from the original on November 29, 2021. Retrieved January 20, 2019.
  24. ↑ "Recipe: Cathy Whim's Insalata Nostrana". The Seattle Times. September 1, 2014. Archived from the original on January 26, 2019. Retrieved January 20, 2019.
  25. ↑ The Wall Street Journal:
  26. ↑ Walsh, Chad (September 27, 2016). "When She Wants to Return to Italy, Nostrana's Cathy Whims Heads to Burrasca". Eater Portland. Archived from the original on March 11, 2017. Retrieved January 20, 2019.
  27. ↑ Porter, Roger (December 6, 2005). "Yours, Mine and Ours: Nostrana's antique dishes satisfy contemporary cravings". Willamette Week. Archived from the original on January 26, 2019. Retrieved January 20, 2019.
  28. ↑ Perry, Douglas (March 11, 2008). "Restaurant News: Nostrana Team Splits Up". The Oregonian. Archived from the original on January 26, 2019. Retrieved January 20, 2019.
  29. ↑ Frane, Alex (March 8, 2018). "15 Most Anticipated Portland Spring/Summer Restaurant Openings". Eater Portland. Archived from the original on October 29, 2021. Retrieved January 20, 2019.
  30. ↑ DeJesus, Erin (October 4, 2013). "Paley's Revamps Cocktail Menu; Nostrana's Hazan Tribute". Eater Portland. Archived from the original on March 30, 2019. Retrieved January 20, 2019.
  31. ↑ Politzer, Kerry (September 29, 2017). "Nostrana Chef Finds Inspiration in Italy". Oregon Jewish Life. Archived from the original on February 28, 2019. Retrieved January 20, 2019.
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