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The 2025 James Beard Award winner for Best Chef in the Northwest and Pacific region was not from Portland or Seattle. Neither did the award go to the top dog at some high-profile house of haute cuisine. Instead, the winner was Timothy Wastell, a low-profile workhorse best known for preparing winery lunches at Antica Terra in tiny Amity, Oregon.
A few months after winning what many consider the most prestigious honor in the culinary world, Wastell decided to shed his hourslong daily commute from Portland and start cooking at Old Pal, a small Southeast Portland restaurant owned by Wastell’s old pals, Jeremy Larter and Emily Bixler.
I was able to catch up with Wastell recently to quiz him on work and life pre- and post-Beard Award.
WW: Where were you born and raised, and how does that connect with your culinary career?
Timothy Wastell: I’m originally from Port Huron, Michigan, but spent a lot of time a little farther south in Marysville, Michigan, with my grandparents after my parents split. Detroit is about an hour south. Port Huron reminds me of Astoria, Oregon, except the bridge there connects to Ontario, Canada, instead of Washington. The population of Port Huron was also more diverse than Astoria.
My first job was at a Burger King when I was 15, but I really first had a knife put in my hand when I went to work at a Greek restaurant in Marysville. Later, while I was still in high school, I worked at a pizzeria called Italia’s.
The most formative and informative restaurant job I had was when I was 19 or 20 and moved to Vail, Colorado. This was in 2003. I started at the bottom of the heap at the Game Creek Club, which was this very exclusive restaurant way up high on the slope at around 10,000 feet. It was the kind of place that Trump’s kids would go if they were in Vail. I had to take a snowcat or lift to go to work.
It was an old-school kind of kitchen where the chef and all the kitchen staff worked ridiculously long hours. But it was where I really learned how to make great food. I remember seeing veal heads bobbing around in a stockpot for the first time and working with head-on shrimp. Cooking at high altitude was also a new and different experience.
I spent four seasons at Game Creek, then was hired as the sous chef at a French restaurant in Vail called La Tour. More crazy hours. I knew then that I was not going to have a life.
My next stop was a stage at Tru (a now-closed, extravagant Michelin-starred restaurant in Chicago) in 2007.
What brought you to Portland?
Well, it was April 2008, the economy was bad, and this was back when Portland rent was cheap, so you didn’t need four roommates to live in an apartment.
My first job was at Paley’s Place where I worked until the winter of 2009, when the economy got even worse. I went on to work for a friend and make some actual money as a bartender at a spot called Vendetta. I got a call at some point from Greg Perrault who was doing great things with seasonal ingredients at DOC. He needed a sous chef. I took that job and stayed around for a couple years, even after he left. [Editor’s note: Wastell proceeded to recite when he first met the interviewer at DOC, whom he was dining with, what he ordered, and his comment that his dish needed more acid to make it better. “But I didn’t think you were being an asshole.”] After DOC, I went to Firehouse and then Old Salt.
The next job was with the Culinary Breeding Network, a collective of breeders, farmers and chefs, and also cooking farm dinners with [roving restaurant] Outstanding in the Field. By this point, I was pretty seriously involved in the whole farm-to-table movement.
When did Antica Terra come into the picture and how did this lead to the Beard Award?
This part starts in 2016. I was at another challenging time in my life. I was broke and now had a 6-month-old daughter. I got a call from Maggie Harrison, the head of winemaking at Antica Terra. They originally needed someone who could prepare to-go harvest foods, basically staff meals for the vineyard workers.
This doesn’t make sense, but once COVID hit, we ended up moving the meals indoors, and everyone gathered together at one table. This later evolved into me making farm lunches for maybe 40 to 50 visitors over the weekend. At the time, I was cooking with a four-burner electric stove, an oven, and a fire outside. We got some really good press, including a New York Times Magazine article in 2023, and a lot of national writers started to come through.
We did nothing to solicit the Beard Award. I remember being notified of my nomination and receiving a questionnaire from the Beard people. They were only asking for a short response to their questions, but I turned in something like a thousand words. I think that might have helped, but I don’t know. I’m really grateful to have won the award; I don’t chase awards and am not really interested in self-promotion. I wouldn’t put my name in the same world as a lot of Beard winners. I’m happy to have the farmers know who I am, cook in a rustic style, and feel good about what I’m serving. I love going to the markets and figuring out what to cook. And I love the pride my daughter has in me.
Other than the long commute, why the move to Old Pal so soon after winning the award at Antica Terra?
I was excited to connect with Jeremy and Molly. I was also glad that being at Old Pal would let me cook in my neighborhood for my friends and neighbors.
Who are your three most important culinary influences?
One, my great-grandmother Pearl Allen. I spent a lot of time with her in her giant garden. She was a master preservationist, and I can still smell the aroma of canning tomatoes. Two, Thomas Newsted, my boss at Game Creek. He taught me how to work. He told me to get my hands out of my pockets and “Don’t call me ‘dude.’” Third, Greg Perrault. I never worked with someone who was so creative and with such subtle technique. He showed me the ropes for shopping at the farmers market and taught me to use really good salt.
What’s your favorite under the radar restaurant?
Hot Pot Palace in Tigard. I also love Nong’s, Berlu for the pandan waffle, and No Saint.
GO: Old Pal, 3350 SE Morrison St., oldpalpdx.com. 4–9 pm Thursday–Sunday. Reservations via Resy.
