The Someone’s In The Kitchen lunch challenge
I am posing a challenge today to lunch eaters throughout Walla Walla: Could you have lunch at Someone’s In The Kitchen everyday for 3 months and not eat the same thing twice? Well even if you don’t take me up on the challenge you will enjoy your lunch just the same.
Chef Gene Soto changes his menu weekly for a variety of reasons – availability of local ingredients, for one - but I think there is a good chance he enjoys the challenge of an ever-changing menu more than anything.
The menu is not the only thing constantly evolving at Someone’s In The Kitchen; their business model is as well. Chef Gene started with the goal of running a cooking school. He wanted to teach everything from the basics of learning and reading a recipe to the creation of sophisticated, themed dinners. What he found was a niche.
The restaurant currently serves lunch, prepares ready-made dinners, harvest lunches delivered to local wineries, once-a-month specialty dinners and has a successful catering business as well. They just added a baker, so starting early in the morning you will smell the fresh bread. Does it sound like Chef Gene has a “full plate”? Well he does but he is always looking for a new challenge.
Gene’s pedigree is varied although northwest cuisine driven. Most recently he was the executive chef for Desert Wind Winery in Prosser and before that he was the executive chef at Deschutes Brewery in Bend, Oregon.
Someone’s In The Kitchen is open Monday – Friday 11-2:30 p.m., holds 2 cooking classes per week, and they are open until 6:00pm for pick up of ready-made dinners. If you decide to take up the challenge they have a frequent visitor program where you can earn a free lunch!
