Chefs Mark Gaier (left) and Clark Frasier (right)

The beginnings…

As happens with many of us, the life Chef Frasier now leads is not what he initially planned.  In fact, Chef Frasier didn't set out to be a chef; nor did he intend on living in Maine.  He says he "serendipitously" fell into the life of a chef only after spending five years learning Chinese with the goal of opening an import/export business in San Francisco.  As fate would have it, however, one of his professors led him not towards the academic goal he was pursuing but the kitchen. Chef Frasier says "I needed a job to pay the rent.  One of my professors said his brother was opening up a restaurant and maybe I could go work for him".  His professor's brother was Jeremiah Tower and the restaurant was Stars.  Getting the job was easy.  Chef Frasier had worked various jobs throughout college in restaurants and had both front and back of the house experience.  So when he met with Jeremiah Tower the interview did not take long as Chef Frasier says "I walked in and Chef Tower said 'yeah you're hired'.   While a life in the kitchen still wasn't Chef Frasier's goal when he got to Stars he says "I just loved it.  It was an incredible experience with a great group of people, doing great things, in a stimulating atmosphere. It was the hottest restaurant in the city.  I loved the food and I just stayed with it".  Thus began life as a chef for Chef Frasier.

In reality, the influences into his culinary style had begun years earlier while growing up in the "fresh produce heaven" of Carmel, California and later when living in China.  Life in China was full of learning experiences and culinary adventures. Chef Frasier says "China was a very different world in the early 1980's than now.  They had very little refrigeration.  The first six months we couldn't get anything like dairy or cheese. When I arrived in the fall, people started piling up cabbages - on balconies of apartment buildings and in the street.  I was like 'what is it with these people?'  What I soon came to realize was that cabbage was the vegetable of the winter.  We ate cabbage for 6 months! That spring, I emerged starved to get vegetables in my system which brought home to me that it is not just 'oh cooking with the seasons and isn't that lovely' but that your body really wants this stuff and things taste really really great when you eat them seasonally".  His experiences in China, he says, "influence everything that we do, at Arrows, to this day". 

Glory, Glamour, and Good Old-Fashioned Hard Work

Chefs Frasier and Gaier have certainly had their share of glory and glamour, including a recent 'competition' on the Today show with Chef Charlie Palmer.  Chefs Frasier and Gaier won the competition with their "Barbeque Duck in Lettuce Cups with Vietnamese Coriander Dipping Sauce" creation which is a great Vietnamese influenced summery salad (see recipe below).

Despite these glamorous and high profile events, Chef Frasier is quick to point out that being a chef is not all glamour.   He says "people need to understand that being a chef is a long long time of commitment and a lot of work.  Frankly, it is a lot of routine; keeping things clean, keeping things orderly and working with difficult employees and guests.  It is not all glamour and for somebody going into this business it's important to have them realize this". Consider how Arrows was born.  Originally Chefs Frasier and Gaier intended on opening their restaurant in Carmel, California.  While Carmel and Ogunquit are both in coastal states they have more differences than similarities. But for two aspiring chef's with little financial backing the dream of opening a restaurant was quite dim in Carmel.  Hard work, exploring contacts and a bit of luck led them to Arrows.

And then there's the garden…

When Chefs Frasier and Gaier originally opened Arrows in 1988, finding fresh produce, bread and many other things was, as Chef Frasier says "tough".  But from desperation many wonderful things grow and the Arrows garden is the perfect example.  Chef Frasier says, "we decided to do everything in-house" including growing their own vegetables and herbs.  The first year, Chef Frasier says, "we woefully under estimated the amount of land we needed. Since then we've  doubled it and doubled it again. The garden is now about 3/4 of an acre with raised beds and a green house.  It can produce food from when Arrows opens in the beginning of April to when we close at the end of December".  To say the garden affects Arrows would be an understatement as the garden provides far more than the ingredients for their creations.  Chef Frasier says it is "fun to try new things" and that the garden "drives you as a chef to create new things".  The garden is also a refreshing retreat and source of culinary inspiration, Chef Frasier says "sometimes you are just brain dead but you walk in the garden find things, bounce ideas, and get excited...".  While being a chef is not all glamour and glory it clearly has its high points as well.

Barbeque Duck in Lettuce Cups

by Clark Frasier and Mark Gaier, Arrows Restaurant

Serves 6

Marinade

• ¼ cup brown sugar
• ¼ cup soy sauce
• 1 T chopped fresh ginger

Mix together

Numb & Hot Dipping Sauce

• 1 T chopped fresh ginger
• 1 T chile sauce (Sambal Rooster brand)
• ¼ cup soy sauce
• ½ cup sugar
• ¼ cup cider vinegar

Mix all ingredients together

Duck Breasts 

• 2 large duck breasts
• 1 cup corn oil
• 16 large shitake tops finely chopped
• 6 shallots finely sliced
• 6 Kafir lime leaves
• 1t kosher salt
• 36 lettuce leaves
• ½ bunch cilantro
• ½ bunch mint
• ½ bunch basil leaves

Place the duck breasts in the marinade

Start the barbeque.

Heat the oil in a heavy bottom sauce pan and gently fry the shallots and shitakes until golden brown. Remove with a slotted spoon or mesh basket and place in a bowl with the lime leaves; sprinkle with salt, toss with a spoon and set aside

Grill the duck breasts on a barbeque.

Arrange the six lettuce cups on six plates. Divide the herbs and shallot mixture onto each lettuce cup. Divide the dipping sauce into a bowl on each plate.

Thinly slice the duck breast and divide slices into each cup and serve immediately.

Vietnamese Coriander Clear Dipping Sauce

by Clark Frasier and Mark Gaier, Arrows Restaurant

The lime juice and rice wine vinegar in this dipping sauce provide a perfect balance to the coriander's opulent character.

• 4 sprigs Vietnamese coriander (leaves finely chopped)
• 1 small fresh Serrano pepper, finely chopped
• 2 Tablespoons lime juice
• 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
• 2 Tablespoon sugar
• 1/4 cup Vietnamese fish sauce (Nuoc Mam)
• 1 clove fresh garlic, minced

In a bowl, combine the chili, garlic, sugar and coriander;  Whisk in the liquids.