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s p r i n g 2 0 1 7 | 8 3 ■cr A tough but fair mentor is the kind of chef who influenced Victor Scargle. "I'm not a small hu- man," he admits with a wry laugh, "and the chef I worked for in Santa Barbara was my size. He didn't need to throw pots or yell. He'd just look at you, and you'd know . . . 'Oh man, I screwed up!'" Scargle is a proponent of team-building, with a sense of family fostered by an awareness of the purpose behind all the hard work. "We're trying to give people a pleasant escape from their troubles for a while," he says. "It's all about putting a smile on their faces." But when you talk to him about his new posi- tion as Culinary Director at JCB, working with ultra-creative vintner Jean-Charles Boisset, it's Scargle who's smiling. He emanates the kind of excitement that a racehorse feels when the jock- ey finally gives it the reins to run. In this position, Scargle will be developing programs that inte- grate Boisset's Biodynamic farming products, new water and coffee projects, a brewery and . . . well, because Jean-Charles's creative energy seems boundless, the possibilities are too. "Jean-Charles talks a lot about energy and about breaking the norms. I'm drawn to that in this organization," Scargle says. "I like the idea of working in an envi- ronment where the philosophy is 'Why not?'" There's a kind of kitchen karma at work in the successful career paths of these three talented chefs. They gratefully acknowledge the lessons they learned at the feet of their mentors and now, they're paying it forward. Jerk pork belly deglazed with rum served over puréed plantains and grissini. Chef Sean Streete explains the story behind this dish: "The inspiration of this is a result of my short move back home to Jamaica following the attain- ment of my Associate's degree in the culinary arts. During many of my drives from Montego Bay to Spanish Town and Kingston, we would stop at the jerk shop located just before the Bog Walk Gorge, the area better known as Bog Walk, which also houses the infamous single- lane Flat Bridge. Even though it isn't located in Boston Bay, the birthplace of jerk, the jerk shop reminded me of how one would traditionally prepare jerk over pimento wood, covered with a piece of corrugated zinc." PHOTO COURTESY OF SEAN STREETE The Adventurer: VICTOR SCARGLE, Culinary Director, JCB Miyagi oysters, which Chef Victor Scargle serves with blood orange hollandaise. PHOTO COURTESY OF VICTOR SCARGLE PHOTO COURTESY OF VICTOR SCARGLE