Kent cook caters to good health<\/b><\/p>\n
Stevan Ahlbeck, the owner and founder of Gourmet Steve\u2019s in downtown Kent, was good at his job in the banking industry, but something was missing.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought I was going to make a career in banking and it didn\u2019t work out,\u201d Ahlbeck says in his quiet manner, adding a slight shrug, \u201cI just got burned out at it.\u201d<\/p>\n
But at home or out camping with friends, Ahlbeck usually could find his peace behind the grill or camp stove, preparing food for 15-20 campers, and enjoying every minute of it. He mostly cooked light fare, he said, including made-to-order omelets, but there was something about the preparation and cooking that fired him up.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was something I really enjoyed,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
After moving from banking to collections for Verizon Wireless, Ahlbeck found himself watching hours and hours of the then-still-new Food Network and began collecting cookbooks until he had hundreds.<\/p>\n
\u201cI reached a point where the cookbooks I was buying were consuming me,\u201d he says. \u201cAdditionally, I realized a point where I was stale at Verizon Wireless.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ahlbeck decided to turn his hobby into a new career and enrolled at the Art Institute of Seattle, where in June 2004 he graduated with honors.<\/p>\n
Soon after, he got his first cooking job, working as a production head for Sodexho at Falcon\u2019s Landing on the Seattle Pacific University campus. Ahlbeck bought all of the food, picked out the menu, ran the grill and supervised a full staff.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was like a small restaurant,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
But cooking someone else\u2019s recipes didn\u2019t really appeal to him.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing told to cook food I know I can cook better … isn\u2019t something I like to do,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
So Ahlbeck branched out, starting a personal-chef service preparing meals at clients\u2019 homes and decamping before the guests arrive, leaving a clean kitchen and only the smells of cooking lingering in the air.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe only thing you\u2019re left with is prepared food,\u201d says Lynne Ahlbeck, Steve\u2019s wife and business partner.<\/p>\n
As his business took off, Ahlbeck began to make a name for himself as both a personal chef and a caterer, being named Best Caterer in the Federal Way Mirror\u2019s Best of Federal Way 2006 edition. Among his triumphs as a caterer was a lunch for the Northwest Chiropractic Association, at which Gov. Chris Gregoire was an attendee.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis was the beginning of Gourmet Steve,\u201d Ahlbeck says.<\/p>\n
To Ahlbeck, the word \u201cgourmet\u201d means \u201cthat little, extra-special touch that adds additional quality to whatever is being prepared,\u201d he said. It\u2019s something he takes special care to ensure in meals he crafts.<\/p>\n
As an example, he says that anyone can make a burger, but a gourmet burger wouldn\u2019t just be meat on a bun. It would have a specialty mayo or caramelized onions, a choice of cheese and bacon, all on a kaiser roll. And, of course, it would use the freshest ingredients possible.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have a real problem with a lot of other food,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
According to Lynne Ahlbeck, her husband\u2019s fascination with cooking probably came from his mother, whom she calls \u201ca wonderful cook.\u201d Lynne Ahlbeck jokes that the because of the size of the spread his mother would put out at any meal, you could gain five pounds simply by looking at the table.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was a wonderful cook,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
With the success of the catering business, Ahlbeck and his wife began looking for a place to open that they could call their own.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I found it here in Kent,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Ahlbeck bought the small building at the corner of Gowe and Central last summer and Gourmet Steve\u2019s opened its doors in May. Designed as a \u201cgrab-and-go\u201d place for lunch, Ahlbeck still does his catering and his work as a personal chef.<\/p>\n
He is working a \u201csmall bites\u201d catering menu into his offerings at the shop, where he said people seem to want lighter fare during their lunch hour.<\/p>\n
Ahlbeck is maintaining his commitment to fresh ingredients and makes as much of the food from scratch as possible.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t buy my tartar sauce, I make it,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019d much rather cook with fresh ingredients all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Though the menu at the shop varies, Ahlbeck says he is focused on healthy food and enjoys \u201cfusion\u201d menus that combine cultures, such as his Asian Wrap, with fresh vegetables on a rice tortilla.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want it so people can really get a cross section of what good food is,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
To Ahlbeck, the right balance in cooking is as important as it was on the balance sheets at the banks where he used to work and he takes great pains to make sure those balances are right.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf people are out there eating just to survive, they\u2019re not eating nutritionally,\u201d he says. \u201cI want people to eat healthy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Contact Brian Beckley at 253-872-6600 ext. 5054 or bbeckley@kentreporter.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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