Evening meal at Canby Grove

My family and I attended the wedding of our niece and her husband in Port Gamble, Washington, yesterday. On the trip north, we met Chef Ira Krizo for breakfast in Canby Grove, Oregon, where he invited the family to dinner on Saturday evening on the homeward bound leg of the trip.

We arrived at 5:30 p.m. after a four-hour drive from the Kitsap Peninsula in Northwestern Washington, in time to watch Ira and his staff serve the meal to the guests of the camp. Ira served the staff dinner at 6 p.m.

This is the third time that we've enjoyed meals at Canby Grove Christian Center, where Ira is the executive chef. Even after 41 years in the business, I enjoy watching others work in the kitchen. It's a pleasure watching the cooks in motion as they put the finishing touches on the meal and filled serving bowls.

In the photograph, Sous Chef Jay Gillett (right) dips pasta cabronara into serving bowls while Chef Ira (center) portions sliced chicken onto the pasta. Other staff filled bowls with roasted vegetables and garnished the chicken and pasta.

According to Chef Ira, the menu consisted of grilled chicken with pasta carbonara (prepared as a bacon cream sauce). He garnished the chicken and pasta in each serving dish with steamed peas and extra shredded Parmesan cheese.

Canby Grove hosted around 200 guests at a weekend family camp. The meal was served family style at some 27 large round tables. Ira and staff served three meals to the group today. They leave after breakfast tomorrow. The cooks used Friday to prepare for the four meals.