The Chef’s Table – Chantelle Martuscelli

The morning I met Chantelle Martuscelli, I had to break the news to her, over a stiff cup of coffee and an episode of “Wonder Pets” (which her two children were watching in the background) that she is, in fact, a chef. What’s more, her name was to be subscribed in print as such, despite her insistence she “just cooks food” and has no formal training.

But to say Chantelle is self-deprecating would be misleading — she has the prowess of Mario Batali trapped in the petite body of a Disney animation character — think “Little Mermaid” without the tail. Indeed, Chantelle serves as the long-locked, doe-eyed heroine of Cugini. Not that she needed to save the place. Don and Jerri Maiuri renovated a run-down shoe shop to open Cugini Import Italian Foods in 2004 and have had a loyal following from the all’inizio (very beginning).

Enter Chantelle a few years ago. Hers is a recurring successful theme: starts as a dishwasher, moves up quickly to cook. Her last stop before Cugini was Creektown, which she credits as the place she “learned almost everything” — another recurring theme among chefs in town. At Cugini, Chantelle started out a few hours a week making meatballs — a bestseller.

The Italian take-out-market-turned-dine-in with beer and wine service was the perfect fit for our protagonist. It seems Chantelle has the historical and culinary equivalent of the Italian mafia on her side: Her great grandmother (who provides recipes) came to Walla Walla from Italy in 1910; her great grandfather in 1921. Her grandfather — a regular who lives a biscotti’s throw away (the biscotti is another family recipe) — sells the restaurant peppers and eggplant. Her grandmother has a say in the cooking. Chantelle’s cousins live down the road and ride their bikes to Cugini to pick up bread and other staples. Oh, and the mural on the walls was painted by her mother, Lynn.

LIFESTYLES: OK, so you’ve got the family watching your back. What things on the menu have your signature on them?

CHEF CHANTELLE: All the dinners are really from me just experimenting. The marinara sauce that we put on the lasagnas and everything, the Alfredo sauce that we sell, the sauce for lasagna, which is secret by the way (she won the Italian Heritage contest with it). The eggplant parmesan is my great grandma’s recipe, and my family still makes it all the time.

LIFESTYLES: What makes the eggplant parmesan special?

CHEF CHANTELLE: I’ve never seen it done this way: It’s hamburger patties with eggplant — like an eggplant sandwich fried on each side and baked in sauce. Don and Jerri butcher their own cows and use the beef in the dishes. It makes a big difference.

LIFESTYLES: Have you always experimented with food?

CHEF CHANTELLE: I remember when I was in the third grade, everyone was going to have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and I thought I would take all the peanuts and try and mush them up into peanut butter myself. I’ve always been interested in what would happen if I mixed things together.

LIFESTYLES: Has this adventurous thinking spilled over into other parts of your life?

CHEF CHANTELLE: Well, after high school I saved up some money and bought a Volkswagen van …

LIFESTYLES: (interrupting): Awesome.

CHEF CHANTELLE: … and I bought some land in Oregon, and me and some friends traveled down there until we ran out of money. I really wanted to build a cob house.

LIFESTYLES: Other than the cob house thing, quirkiest trait?

CHEF CHANTELLE: I’m a perfectionist — I get that a lot. It has to be perfect both in taste and visuals. And I don’t like shoes. I always wear flip flops, even in the winter time.

LIFESTYLES: Favorite kitchen tool?

CHEF CHANTELLE: I always cook with a wooden spoon. Oh, and a pureer (gesturing with her hand) – hand pureerer. Is that a word?

LIFESTYLES: Sure. Biggest fear (other than pureerer not being a word )

CHEF CHANTELLE: The ocean. I love it, but if I can’t see underneath, I think something’s going to bite my foot off.

LIFESTYLES: Favorite music?

CHEF CHANTELLE: Classic rock. Though in the kitchen we listen to smooth jazz or sometimes Italian.

LIFESTYLES: Quality in other chefs you most admire?

CHEF CHANTELLE: Grace under pressure. It’s the glue that holds the kitchen together.

LIFESTYLES: Overrated ingredient?

CHEF CHANTELLE: Flavored oils. I don’t use them, and I probably never would. I don’t even want to experiment with them. I like doing things from scratch so if I want to flavor oil  I’ll do it myself.

LIFESTYLES: Underrated ingredient?

CHEF CHANTELLE: (answered before I even finished the question): Eggplant. I use it in a lot of things and people who grow it in their gardens don’t know what to do with it.

LIFESTYLES: That would be me. Plus, I wreck it.

CHEF CHANTELLE: It’s like a sponge and will absorb any flavors of what you’re cooking so it goes with everything. You have to use enough oil.

LIFESTYLES: Food I’d find in your refrigerator right now?

CHEF CHANTELLE: Leftover beef enchiladas. (Chantelle’s partner) Brandon’s mom taught me their family recipe.

LIFESTYLES: Idea of perfect happiness?

CHEF CHANTELLE: Cooking I don’t really see as working so I guess this is it.