Chef Profile:
Smokey Masters and Christi Ferretti
Pine Valley Market
Christi and Smokey: In the Kitchen
Pine Valley Market serves up dual forms of edible pleasures to diners with its gourmet shop thanks to two passionate chefs. Christi Ferretti and Smokey Masters combine their culinary talents to compose dishes that saturate the taste buds with flavor. The two featured chefs completed a Q&A session to show ILM foodies what they are all about. Be sure to stop by and check out their menu October 20th – 27th during Wilmington Restaurant Week.
encore: Where did you attend school?
Christi Ferretti: BS Degree from University of Central Flordia in Education. Although, I am a self-taught chef!
Smokey Masters: Johnson and Wales, Charleston
encore: How long have you worked in the restaurant industry?
CF: 12 years
SM: 17 years
encore: What have you learned to be the most important trait and skill to have in the kitchen?
CF & SM: You have to have a tough skin to put up with kitchen people, and you must be able to think on your feet.
encore: How long have you been at the current restaurant?
CF: I purchased PVM in Jan 2003. Smokey has been with PVM since December 2003 (with a short “vacation” in Charleston for a year and a half).
encore: Do you have a signature dish?
CF: Our shrimp and grits and paella!
encore: What can diners expect of your menu during WRW, fall 2010?
CF & SM: We will serve our shrimp and grits, something that’s normallly only available for caterings.
encore: What do you love most about Wilmington’s culinary scene, and if you had a magic wand to wave for improvement, what would be the first order of business?
CF: Fresh, local food—cook what is here and what is plentiful.
encore: What is your favorite meal?
CF: Dinner at Freddie’s Restaurant in Kure Beach
SM: My mom’s Phillipino cooking
encore: What is your favorite guilty pleasure:
CF: I love Taco Bell
SM: Chinese take-out.
View the Pine Valley Market Restaurant Week Menu [more]
