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By Jim Flint For the Tidings January 31. 2016 11:50AM Chef shines at fine dining Will Shine in Hearsay restaurant's dining room. Photo by Jim Flint Hearsay Restaurant, Lounge and Garden is just one of 16 restaurants participating in Ashland Restaurant Week Jan. 31 through Feb. 6, sponsored by the Visitor & Convention Bureau. When visitors check out Hearsay’s daily specials during the festivities, executive chef Will Shine wants to make sure they have a memorable experience. Shine, 35, moved from Martino’s/Macaroni’s where he cooked for six years to take the top job at Hearsay not long after it opened last September. Owner Julie Gurwell ran an ad looking for an executive chef and Shine responded. “There was no phone number in the ad, and that usually means it’s one of the top restaurants, so I put my resume out there. During the interview, right off the bat we meshed well,” Shine said. Hearsay is at 40 South First St. in the lower level of Ashland’s famous “Old Pink Church,” just below the Oregon Cabaret Theatre. The restaurant puts a modern twist on a 1930s speakeasy theme with its décor, music, handcrafted cocktails and menu. It’s open daily except Tuesdays. Hearsay’s winemaker’s dinner with Kriselle Cellars on Jan. 28 to kick off Restaurant Week was a rousing success. The $65 per person event was sold out. Shine, who also has worked at Ashland Springs Hotel, Jacksonville Inn and Omar’s, has had a passion for food since he was a youngster. “When I was 10 years old, I knew I wanted to get into the kitchen — or be a firefighter,” he said, laughing. His early specialties were crispy hashbrowns and egg dishes. But one dish was a big hit with the family: cornflake-encrusted pork chops. Shine is a life-long Rogue Valley resident, graduating from South Medford High School in 1998. He took a two-year culinary course at The Art Institute in Seattle and became the full-time chef of the Multnomah Athletic Club in Portland before moving back to southern Oregon. The menu has evolved since he joined Hearsay. He has added more small plates and continually creates new dishes. “The one I really like is tequila prawns,” he said. “We saute Blue Steely prawns with garlic, fresh orange zest and then flambé with tequila. When the prawns reach medium rare, we take them off the heat, add fresh orange juice to the pan, reduce, add heavy cream, reduce again, then add butter and fresh cilantro. We add the prawns back in and finish the dish. It’s like a tequila sunrise on a plate.” Another of his favorites is a riceless risotto, prepared with butternut squash. “The squash is cooked risotto style with broth and cinnamon butter. Then we add house smoked walnuts and serve with fried sage,” he said. “There’s a lot going on.” Shine has a kitchen staff of seven — two in the morning, and five at night. “Right now I’m doing a lot of hands-on,” Shine said, “getting the guys up to speed. I love teaching and training. When they get to a certain point, I’ll step back a bit.” His typical schedule is 8:30 or 9 a.m. until about 9 p.m., six days a week. In the morning he does an hour or two in the office, then supervises morning prep until the doors open. The doors will be opening earlier in the coming months. “We plan to add a breakfast menu in the near future,” he said. Shine said he enjoys the chef competitions. A few years ago he was runner-up in the local competition. When the winner couldn’t go to the Oregon Iron Chef competition, Shine filled in and placed second. Shine agreed to a quick Q&A session about his food preferences and lifestyle: Tidings: What’s your favorite go-to breakfast? Will Shine: I’m not a big breakfast person, but if I do, it’s definitely biscuits and gravy. Tidings: What are your favorite foods to cook? WS: For me the ultimate ingredient is seafood. I like to take a delicate shellfish, combine it with fresh ingredients, and make it shine on the plate. Tidings: Have you ever thought of owning your own restaurant? WS: I love what I’m doing, but after working in the business, if the opportunity arises I would like to start my own restaurant. I even have the name picked out: Blue Dawn, which is my wife Violeta’s middle name. There would be blue tones in the décor, a salt water tank, an open kitchen, and the house would be small, maybe up to 60 diners. Tidings: What food are you craving right now? WS: That’s easy. Fried chicken and mashed potatoes. Tidings: Is there a food you hate? WS: There’s one thing I’ve never liked: canned or frozen peas. Tidings: Is there a childhood comfort food that you think about? WS: That would be mac and cheese, and occasionally throw in a couple hot dogs. I’m thinking about adding a crab mac and cheese dish at Hearsay. Tidings: What kind of ethnic food do you think is underrated? WS: Indian food. Curries are great, and I love Tandori chicken. Tidings: If you could cook for and dine with anyone, who would it be? WS: Well, he’s gone now, but it would be Robin Williams. I always enjoyed him. Tidings: If you were going to write a cookbook, what would it be about? WS: It would be the recipes I’ve created that my family and friends have enjoyed. Tidings: What’s the trick to getting all the diners at a table served at the same time? WS: It’s all about time management, communication in the kitchen. The guy who’s preparing some prawns will ask the guy doing a well-done steak to tell him when he’s five minutes away so he can fire up the prawns at the right time. Tidings: If you are going to dine out on your night off, where would that be? WS: I like to take the family to The Grotto in Talent. The pizza is very good. Or take them to Bonsai Sushi in Ashland. If it’s just my wife and I, we like to try new places. Shine and his wife Violeta have four boys, ages 18, 17, 10, and 9. They live in Talent. Jim Flint is a retired newspaper publisher living in Ashland. Reach him at [email protected].   Culinary scene in the spotlight during Ashland Restaurant Week Ashland’s culinary scene is in the spotlight Sunday, Jan. 31, through Saturday, Feb. 6, during the annual Ashland Restaurant Week. But it’s more than that these days.“We’ve evolved in the five years since our first Restaurant Week five years ago,” said Katharine Cato, director of the Ashland Visitor & Convention Bureau (VCB). “We have more restaurants participating, more specials, and we’ve added lodging packages. We’re promoting the whole scene.”The VCB operates under the same umbrella as the Ashland Chamber of Commerce. It was created to promote what Ashland has to offer to potential visitors from around the region, not just to local residents.Competing chefs from the November Ashland Culinary Festival will be featured during Restaurant Week, which is held just before the Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) starts. Participating restaurants offer specials, there are drawings for $25 gift certificates from local businesses, and one lucky participant will win a grand prize, a culinary basket filled with goodies.“All year round we’re promoting OSF, our outdoor attractions, and cultural events,” Cato said. “But our mission also is to promote the off season. Anytime we can put the spotlight on our culinary scene, that’s good for business in Ashland.”To enter the prize drawings, people can visit www.ashlandchamber.com and click on the link for Ashland Restaurant Week information where they will find a link to the entry form. Participants also can request an entry form at participating restaurants.The website lists participating restaurants and their specials during the week, as well as lodging packages available.  http://www.dailytidings.com/article/20160131/NEWS/160139988 © 2016 Copyright © 1995-2011 Crain Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved. Terms of Use Privacy Statement -->