- Executive Chef Gaurav Navin with vegetables from the Great Shawna Island Farm - Marc d'Entremont
From India to rural Pennsylvania, Chef Gaurav Navin brings a world's experience to Shawnee Inn and Golf Resort's menu using locally sourced products.
?I knew where the kitchen was in my house but that was all.? As a boy growing up in a privileged household in India, Gaurav Navin never learned how to cook at home. ?I?m not very good cooking Indian food,? Chef Navin confesses, although such an admission is not necessary. The 32-year-old Executive Chef of Shawnee Inn?s River Room has no problems with succulent Confit of Duck, Grilled Lamb Chops with Moroccan Spices, and I doubt his interpretation of Shrimp Tandoori would raise any eyebrows at home.
Home in India
Chef Navin grew up north of Delhi but received his B.A. in International Hospitality Management from Bangalore University, 1,200 miles south. ?I can?t speak 80% of the languages in India. I had to learn the language (of Bangalore). Everything changes ? soil, vegetation, food, recipes. They use coconut all the time in south India but not in the North, even in their coffee.? His university training included cooking, management and languages.
After graduation he worked in the kitchens of the five star Ashok Hotel Group as an assistant cook. To learn the secret of the Executive Chef?s famed fritters, ?I massaged his feet, bought him whiskey. On my last day he handed me a piece of paper. The secret was the ajwain seed ? a small ordinary seed but bursting with flavor.? It?s those little things, the attention to detail, that breeds success.
Opportunities in the USA
He joined Celebrity Cruise Lines as a cook?s assistant and received several promotions within a couple years. Realizing the expansive opportunities available in the United States he applied to New York?s Culinary Institute of America but failed to receive a scholarship to that very expensive school.
?Ruby Tuesday?s in India is more upscale than in America. I wasn?t prepared...? for the factory cooking chain restaurants? demand. Yet a stint in that establishment gave him the USA based job needed to start the lengthy year-long application for a permanent resident VISA. A Pennsylvania restaurant entrepreneur who was opening Pangea in Scotrun, PA, offered him the opportunity to become chef of the new kitchen. This executive position was followed with similar experiences at Saucon Valley?s Melt and Easton?s Blue Grillhouse. Despite the good reputations of these establishments, Shawnee Inn and Golf Resort was gaining a reputation for innovation and local sourcing. That gained the attention of Chef Navin.
Shawnee-on-Delaware
?Work experience matters the most,? Chef Navin emphatically states and with this confidence he applied to Shawnee Inn?s River Room for a sous-chef position, yet, unknown to him, the Executive Chef was moving on. At 27-years-old, Gaurav Navin became the resort?s new Executive Chef.
All successful restaurants are the result of team work. With no Food and Beverage Manager, Chef Navin reports directly to Shawnee?s General Manager Rob Howell whose only rule is to create menus that enhance the resort?s reputation. Firmly committed to the principals of local sourcing, the Chef takes full advantage of produce from the resort?s own Great Shawna Island Farm, honey from its apiary and beers from ShawneeCraft? Brewery.
Locally Sourced Menus
With a menu that changes with the seasons ? last autumn?s focused on game ? purchasing priorities go to members of the Foodshed Alliance. Indian Ridge Seafood and Paradise Stream are local sources for fish and seafood and Bear Creek Farm provides such items as game and quail eggs. Even a local roaster, Electric City Coffee, creates a special house blend which the River Room serves in individual French Press pots. ?Harvest Dinners? are held in September to bring farmers and chefs together since personal relationships are important.
Chef Navin admits that local sources cannot provide all the products required for Shawnee?s many large events such as weddings, nor can the restaurant obtain all they need in winter.
The Team
The River Room?s young Pastry Chef, Samantha Beers, does most of the in-house desserts except wedding cakes. Her creamy Tarragon Strawberry Fool with Almond Streusel, light and airy Peach and Blueberry Crostata and imaginative ice creams ? Rosemary Orange, Thyme Blackberry, Peach Sage, Lemon Balsamic ? attest to a long and successful career ahead for her.
Affable Dining Room Manager Barbara Hein doubles as Sommelier. The dining room?s menu provides suggested pairings for each item both for wines and ShawneeCraft? Beers. Ms. Hein holds seminars for her staff which shows as they demonstrated their own capable knowledge during my half-dozen meals in the River Room. Most of the selections are excellent French, Italian and West Coast vineyards, but I did suggest that they explore Pennsylvania?s increasingly sophisticated wineries, some within just miles of the resort.
Keep Things Fresh
It was obvious during my four day stay at Shawnee Inn and Golf Resort that Chef Navin and his staff are happy. He answered an obvious end of interview question with one of my golden rules for success in this industry. ?Yes, perhaps I?ll want to open my own place someday, but Shawnee is always evolving; something is constantly happening that keeps things fresh.?
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