Sear Away: The Bank and Get Grill Co.

The formula for good food is easy if you have a hot grill and a burning passion to serve the freshest vegetables and proteins. Chef Paul Freeman has definitely found the formula. Paul is an experienced French trained chef with over 15 years of catering experience. A fine balance of charisma blended with skill, and professionalism for his craft, equals a pleasurable meal. Watching Paul at the grill adds to the dining experience as he talks to his food and his guests using his own positive colloquialisms mixing greetings with kitchen terms such as “Sear Away.”

Growing up around agriculture, it was a natural for Paul to take his knowledge and perfect his grilling by using the finest meats and adding his “twist.” He also confides that when you are 19 years-old you discover that learning how to cook is a sure way to get a date.

Chef Paul would later introduce his cooking skills and his own twist on grilling while growing his business, Get Grill, at the Farmer’s Market in Moscow, Idaho. After several years of successfully running his business and working as the catering supervisor at the University of Idaho, Paul knew it was time for change and growth. He packed his mobile commissary and grill-on-wheels, and relocated to the Walla Walla Valley where he returned to school to attend the Culinary Arts and Science Program at Walla Walla Community College. Once in Walla Walla, Paul planted roots and has been seen at our own local Farmer’s Market and various local events. He can also be seen at Washington State University at Pullman where he serves his grilled delectable’s such as Santa Maria style tri-tip with fixing’s, at the campus’s Field House during WSU’s football season.

Always ambitious and looking to expand his ideas, Paul recently purchased the old bank building in Old Town Freewater Oregon at Milton-Freewater, 10 miles from the border in the Walla Walla Valley. Known by the locals as “The Bank,” the freestanding corner building with elegant Ionic columns was built in 1906. And as they say, “If walls could talk,” these walls would have their own tales of robbers on horses firing six-shooters and leaving with bags of gold riding off into the sunset. Paul has also left his own touch of nostalgia in his soon-to-be-opened restaurant named, of course, The Bank.

The once formal bank lobby is now painted in tones of warm apricot and trimmed in sage. The ornate vintage walk-in bank vault is now Paul’s office. Instead of bags of gold, inside of the vault, there are now starched white chef coats hanging from the vault ceiling. An assortment of old oak school teacher chairs and church pews create the finishing touch on the comfortable dining area. The entrance to the kitchen from the dining area is separated with an old saloon swing door fashioned from old barn wood. There is even a set of rugged old cowboy boots mounted like a metal sculpture reminding the visitor they are under the influence of the old west, yet infused with fine dining.

His goals for the new restaurant goes beyond dining, but also education about the food we eat and how we dine. Paul has a passion to teach and is eager to offer customers classes on how to hone their own cooking craft, from grilling tovarious ways of folding dining linens. A soft opening for the restaurant is planned for this summer. His pre fixe menu will include sustainable and in season produce and of course, special cuts of meat right off of the grill. Paul has promised slow food, but delivered fast – with energy. Sear away, Chef Paul!

By Catie McIntyre Walker