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Garberville Rotarian Jeanie Eldridge introduced her nephew, Jesse Eldridge, at last week’s meeting at the Healy Senior Center in Redway. Eldridge was born and raised in Southern Humboldt and graduated from South Fork High School. His parents Marty and Laura Eldridge own the Eel River Cafe in Garberville.

Eldridge said, “Some of my fondest memories as a child were when the whole family would get together, enjoy good food and each other’s company. I view the activity of cooking as a way to bring the family together and I think that is most important to me.

”I never expected cooking to be a career until the unexpected happened. It was the summer of 2005 and for some reason my parents decided to buy a restaurant. Who does that? Especially because they didn’t have any background in it. My dad had always dreamed of having ‘Marty’s Shack,’ with casual food. While growing up, his mom Deanna owned the Miranda Cafe, and my mother has always loved to cook. But, buy a restaurant? I told my sous chef during my externship and he shook his head and thought my folks were crazy. I laugh about it now with all the experiences I am still living through at the restaurant.”

Rotarian Don Orazem, who owned the Eel River Cafe with his wife, Mary, before the Eldridges purchased it, said he was sure glad they bought it.

Eldridge expressed his family’s gratitude for all the help the Orazems have given them and continue to give in running the cafe. He said they are always there to help when something comes up.

Not really knowing what he wanted to do after high school, Eldridge had it narrowed down to music, engineering, or cooking. As his parents had bought the cafe, cooking seemed like the logical choice. Eldridge said the kids had already been roped into the business so he figured, why not learn more about it?

During his senior year at South Fork, he joined Tom Frazier’s Culinary Arts Program, where he discovered his passion for cooking. He emphasized how very supportive and caring Frazier is to all the students in the program where he stresses learning, good life skills, being prepared and being on time. Members of the program have even spent time with Eldridge at the Eel River Cafe working at the various stations to get the feel of what working at a restaurant is really like.

In April 2007 Eldridge was accepted to the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in St. Helena at Greystone in the heart of the Napa Valley.

Eldridge said one of the things Frazier said to him was, “You are going to see and experience things you have never seen before. Get ready for the ride!”

Eldridge said, “There is no doubt that the CIA is one of the best culinary schools in America. I enjoyed it from beginning to end and I can’t think of a better place to experience the world of food.”

At the CIA he took 26 classes while earning his Associate in Occupational Studies degree in just under two years. He said one of the drawbacks was the fact that he was the only under-aged student and couldn’t partake in some of the wine class festivities. He was also involved with the campus garden club at the Institute. And during his time there he had the privilege of working at a party of 10,000 for the annual Napa Valley Wine Auction.

While at the CIA he did an 18-week externship at the El Dorado Hotel in Sonoma where he got hands-on experience cooking with seasonal produce and local farmers. He was able to rotate through the various stations in the restaurant including garden manager, hot appetizers, prep, pastry, and pizza. One of the most enjoyable and important things he learned while there was how to get what’s from the farm to the table.

Although he was offered a permanent job at the El Dorado Hotel he decided, “Family comes first.” He chose to come back and work at the Eel River Cafe, which has been in Garberville since the 1920s, and works six days a week, 12 hours a day. He has made some positive changes at the café including the use of environmentally friendly products. They are no longer using Styrofoam. And, they are now using rice bran oil to cook with.

Eldridge has also set up a website for the cafe and wants feedback from the public on how they can improve and what kind of dishes they would like to see.

He said, “It’s been an amazing journey and I’m looking forward to the future.”

REDWOOD TIMES PHOTO BY SUSAN GARDNER

Garberville Rotary Club President Peter Connolly presents guest speaker Jesse Eldridge with a book to be donated to the Garberville Library in his name. Rotarian Jeanie Eldridge introduced him.