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Monday, March 19, 2007 9:21 PM CDT
New chef starts from scratch at Mattoon Country Club



MATTOON -- Brian True moved to Mattoon from the Chicago area and is ready to start from scratch.

True, the Mattoon Country Club’s new executive chef, started in January and said he believes in making as much as possible homemade.

“I like to do everything homemade,” he said. “No pre-made sauces or anything like that.”

True said he’s working to bring the food at the Country Club to the next level. He said one way he and his crew are doing that is to use fresh ingredients and add new choices to the menu.

True said the kitchen staff makes their own guacamole, hand-cut fries and seasoning blends fresh and from scratch each day. He said he also recently introduced several wraps to the lunch menu.

“I want to improve service and help improve the quality of the food here,” True said. “I’m trying to bring in fresh vegetables and different types of food and we’ve also done away with some of the buffet-style dining.”

True has been in the food business for 17 years. He said what attracted him to the industry was the “hands-on” aspect.

“I was always the kid cooking steaks on the barbeque for my family,” True said. “I started out answering phones at a pizza place, making pizzas and cooking and found out that’s what I’m good at.”

True said he began to learn high volume cooking in the kitchen at a macaroni grill. He eventually went on to culinary school at Kendall College to develop his skills.

The chef said he was ready for a change which led him here.

“I was burnt out on the city lifestyle and here I can buy a house and have some space to myself,” he said.

True said his goals for the Country Club include making it one of the best dining experiences in the area.

“The members are well-traveled and I want them to be able to get (here) what they find when they’re traveling,” he said.

True said he also hopes to eventually plant an herb garden at the club in order to provide fresh herbs for certain dishes. Bringing in locally grown produce and fish are also on his list.

“This community has plenty of rich farmland to work with,” True said. “I came here to work and I want to do what I can to make things better.”

Contact Kate Henderson at khenderson@jg-tc.com or 238-6858.


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shepsmsmollie wrote on Sep 23, 2007 2:29 PM:

" I am looking for the newspaper article that talks about the hydro wash mobile pet unit. It was in the paper about a year or two ago and showed a picture of the man washing a dog in his trailer "

 

CLICK TO ENLARGE
Ken Trevarthan (JG/T-C)
Mattoon Country Club chef Brian True prepares a skillet of mushrooms in the club’s kitchen as he gets ready for the day's dinner session on March 10.



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