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Two Snooty Chefs

Last modified on 2009-07-08 18:06:16 GMT. 1 comment. Top.

Gary Fuller (l) and Chris Plemmons (r)

When four chefs went fishing at Ilwaco a few years ago, they stopped at a local spot for lunch on the way back.  Then, being chefs, they felt compelled to critique the restaurant’s food.

After a few particularly acerbic comments, one said: “Well, I guess we’re just a mess of snooty chefs.”

salmon chemise cheesecake

Little did any of them know at the time that this remark would lead to the naming of what has become one of the Puget Sound area’s hottest dried herb-spice combination companies, “Two Snooty Chefs”.   The two local chefs on that trip, Chris Plemmons and Gary Fuller, are now sole partners in the fast-growing company.

Not long after that trip, it all got started when  the well-known pair saw some herb-spice combinations done by another company.  Both had already been putting their own combinations together and almost at once, turned to each other and said  “we can do this”.

Snooty Spice Combinations

They puzzled over a name for their fledgling company for some time but Fuller says the name of “Two Snooty Chefs” just came to him in a flash.

“My wife and I were out walking and talking about a name for the company when I remembered that conversation from the fishing trip and it just seemed perfect.”

Plemmons readily agreed and during 2005 and 2006, the chefs got the necessary paper work completed to start the company  along with  perfecting the nine different herb and spice combinations they now offer in their repertoire of exciting  flavor enhancements.  By August 2006, their products were in the market place and in 2007, they became available in local markets in Kitsap County.  Today they’re carried in Town and Country Market, Central Market, the Bremerton Red Apples, Cosmos, and the Vanilla Bean in Gig Harbor.

“We try everything out first on our families,  students and  friends, but the two of us also have to agree on something before it passes muster,” said Plemmons.

Stew of Juan de Fuca shellfish

From the beginning, Two Snooty Chefs products were made in Plemmons  home kitchen, which is USDA and Kitsap County Health District certified. Only the highest quality  natural food products are used in their little tins of spices and herbs and no preservatives or chemicals are employed.  They are  manufactured under their company name, Seattle Seasonings LLC.

Fuller and Plemmons  are still doing on-line orders from Plemmons home for their web site and Amazon, but most of their commercial and restaurant orders are now carefully put together by Market Spice of the Pike Place Market…who sends them a sample of every batch they do.

Snooty Bean Soup

Some of the seasonings are made for particular products, such as “Salmon Chemise”.  This delectable combination contains paprika, kosher salt, herbs, spices, and honey granules.

“It can be brushed with olive oil on a fish and is great for grilling because, unlike sugar, honey doesn’t burn over the grill,” said Plemmons.

Another interesting combination is “Oaxaca Mole”, which is recommended for brushing on fowl. It’s a little “hotter” as it contains chilies, pepper, and cocoa powder, the ingredient Mexican cuisine uses for “mole”. It also contains honey granules instead of sugar.

Both men have been chefs for more than 20 years – they’ve developed and practiced their  life-long interest in food preparation through education, owning their own restaurants and  teaching culinary arts here locally.

Fuller grew up in Seattle’s south end, known for years as “garlic gulch” because  many Italian immigrants resided and always had something tasty on the table.  He says his parents loved good food and took their family out to eat often in local restaurants where he says he fell in love with the restaurant business.

“Dad was a police officer in what was then called Chinatown so we got to experience a lot of wonderful ethnic cuisine there ,” says Fuller.

Fuller graduated  from the Seattle Central Community College culinary arts program and later helped found their pastry program. He worked for a number of renowned Seattle restaurants including Rosselini’s 4-10 and  Ray’s Boat House. He owned the Clambake in Port Orchard  and the Original  Oyster and Steak Restaurant at the Gold Mountain Golf Course, then became the culinary program manager for the  West Sound Technical Skills Center in 1987, where he continues in that capacity  today.

Plemmons says his love of cooking likely started in junior high school in Auburn where he grew up.  He says he knew he was probably destined to become a chef when he became outraged after another  boy in his “bachelor living” class poured salt in his  cookies and ruined them.

“I think it was the only time I socked another kid other my brother,” says Plemmons with a laugh.

He originally began work in a juvenile correction facility but then was accepted into Western Culinary College in Portland for a year-long intensive course in the culinary arts. He worked in private clubs in Kentucky and Seattle for 13 years, as chef in the well-known Manor Farm Inn for a couple of years, then in the FareStart program in Seattle before going to Olympic College as the culinary coordinator.

But the word “snooty” is really a misnomer for these two chefs who devote countless hours to community and culinary trade service. Fuller is past president and a continuing board member of the West Sound Treatment Center.  Plemmons is the current president of the Washington State Chefs Association, is on the board of the Bremerton Foodline where he also volunteers with clients, and is volunteer chef for the Kitsap AIDS Society’s Red Ribbon Supper Club. Both help with local farms, P-patches and do work with food bank clients to show them how to prepare food.

So what’s next for these two chef extraordinaires?  They’re at work on a cookbook that they hope to have available by October through their web site and on Amazon – it’ll feature fabulous recipes using their splendid spice combinations.  But for those already familiar with or those anticipating the pleasure of these products, some of these recipes plus others can be found on their site at: www.twosnootychefs.com