Jeffery Powell

Contributor details.
Currently residing in Beijing, China Specialties include: Sous Vide, Braising and food pairing according to the principles of Feng Shui.

As a chef and culinarian, Jeffery Scott Powell brings over 30 years of experience to The Culinary Field. His menus showcase the rich, vibrant flavors of the season, and preparations are kept simple to ensure the purity of local ingredients. He often forages for ingredients and supervises the growing of many of the ingredients that appear in his dishes.

In 1990 Powell was lured to San Francisco, California for its reputation as a culinary Mecca. He gained invaluable experience at such noted restaurants as Lulu, Stars Oakville Café, Stars Restaurant, Rose Pistola, Red Herring, and Kuleto’s Trattoria. The draw of the mountains near San Francisco Reminded Jeffery of his Home in Idaho and he made the decision to accept the position as Executive Chef at Plump Jack Squaw Valley Inn in Squaw Valley, California.

The restaurant was awarded best food for a North American ski resort by Conde Nast Traveler Magazine readers in December 2001. Other awards included: received a 4 star review from the Sacramento Bee Newspaper, December 2002; voted best restaurant in Lake Tahoe by Citysearch Readers Poll 2002, and same in 2003; awarded Gold Medal, People’s Choice for both Food and the Marriage of Food & Wine, Lake Tahoe Autumn Food & Wine Festival, Fall 2003; awarded Gold Medal, Marriage of Food & Wine, and Bronze Medal for Food, Lake Tahoe Autumn Food & Wine Festival, Fall 2002; awarded Gold Medals for both Food and the Marriage of Food & Wine, Lake Tahoe Autumn Food & Wine Festival, 2001.

Powell’s first trip to China was in September of 2001 where he came to China with his first wife to study Feng Shui. (She is a Feng Shui consultant in San Francisco) He decided in particular to study Feng shui’s applications to food. When he arrived he began his love affair with China and things Chinese.

The following year brought Powell’s return to the middle kingdom brining several U.S. chefs with him in tow to study Chinese food and Powell’s newly found passion for Feng Shui food.

In early 2003 Mr. Powell received a request by The Smithsonian Institute to contribute to its sustainable Seafood cookbook where he contributed three recipes. He shared this honor with such noted chef’s as Alice Waters, Wolfgang Puck, Mario Batali, Rick Bayless, Thomas Keller, Julia Child, Charlie Palmer, Charlie Trotter, Roy Yamaguchi and numerous others.

In Late 2003 Powell returned to China to open a chain of California styled bistro’s where he worked until November 2004 before taking on other projects.

In early 2005, Powell Joined the Team at the Orchard in Beijing, China to Continue Improving the restaurants reputation and cuisine. While at The Orchard Powell garnered the reputation as a leading chef in the Beijing market and received several awards from the readers of “That’s Beijing” a very popular monthly English language magazine. In 2005 the restaurant received an award for best outdoor dining and In 2006 the restaurant received an award for best Sunday brunch, best place to impress visitors, and a first runner up award for outstanding restaurant of the year.

After a brief hiatus in the United States in summer 2007 to consult with a former employer, in early 2008 Chef Powell joined the team at Element Fresh as Culinary director where he was until January 2009. Mr. Powell’s seasonal fresh approach to food seemed to be just the right thing for the Busy and Trendy Restaurant Company. Powell’s menus are well received and the restaurant company is more popular than ever. While under his direction Element Fresh earned the most coveted restaurant award in Beijing from the Readers at the Beijing “Restaurant of the Year”

In April 2009 Chef Powell joined the team at the Kro’s Nest and Tube Station Bistro. While there, Powell developed a new concept for the company transforming Tube Station a simple sandwich shop into a full fledged Bistro concept with an extensive menu as well as expanded the menu at the Kro’s nest to include more appetizers and new exciting pizzas and salads.
At present, Chef Powell is the owner of a Restaurant consulting firm called Buzz Culinary Concepts the company specializes in the culinary and back of the house consulting, recipes, menu’s, systems, kitchen design, and management contracts for leading Restaurants, hotels and food service operations. And he has since launched two very successful restaurants Gung Ho Pizza, and Flamme International Grill.

Powell approaches food with simple preparations and pays specific attention to the flavors and textures of his dishes. He is most passionate about Southeast Asian, Middle Eastern, Italian, Modern American, Chinese and Southwestern U.S. cuisines, and these influences are evident in his diverse menus.

Favorite Quote: “There is more in us than we know. If we can be made to see it, perhaps, for the rest of our lives, we will be unwilling to settle for less”.