Thomas Schmock
Joel Olson (center) leads Christine Bourne (left) and Jen Gregor through a recipe.
When chef Joel Olson hosts his upcoming Holiday Wine Dinner at Smoky’s Club on Dec. 8, he plans to have 12 dedicated food lovers in attendance. The small number is optimal, he says, because there’s more to Olson’s dinners than spreading out at a table full of delicious food.
“They’re all going to be with me in Smoky’s kitchen with their aprons on, helping prepare the meal,” Olson says. “My goal is to make sure everything gets done, we all have fun, and no one gets hurt.”
Olson is a culinary teacher and proprietor of Hemmachef — Swedish for “home chef” and a nod to Olson’s heritage — who travels the country teaching people how to cook. He is not a personal chef who prepares meals in clients’ homes; rather, his mission is culinary education delivered as frequently and in as far-reaching a manner as possible.
“I tried catering and being a personal chef and didn’t like it. I felt like an indentured servant,” says Olson. “I like cooking with people, not for them.
“Think of it as, ‘Have pans, will travel,’” he says. “It’s something I really love to do.”
Olson always liked to cook, but considered it a hobby, not a vocation. Originally from Marshfield, Wisconsin, he came to UW-Madison for college and earned a sociology degree, but fought the idea of attending culinary school.
“My sociology degree made me a pretty great bartender, but I thought going to culinary school would ruin my hobby,” he says.
He wound up cooking at the former Nate’s Supper Club in Viroqua and his viewpoint changed: “This was not just a hobby; it had become my passion.”
Olson enrolled in L’Academie de Cuisine in Bethesda, Maryland, in 1994, where he became dedicated to French culinary arts. He also discovered a passion for teaching, and the experience set him on his life’s course.
“I come from a long line of teachers, and I know it can be total entertainment,” Olson says. “I love sharing techniques and making people laugh, and the beauty of cooking lessons is that they provide immediate education. At the end of the night you get to eat your work.”
Olson enjoyed the D.C. culinary scene, but longed to return to Wisconsin, specifically Viroqua. His wife, a D.C.-area native, did not share his passion for Viroqua, but in 2003 agreed to move to Madison. Hemmachef is based here, but Olson travels east regularly to teach culinary arts at McLean Community College in McLean, Virginia.
In Madison, Olson has held classes at Orange Tree Imports, Vom Fass and the UW-Madison’s Memorial Union. His most frequently visited classrooms include St. Mark’s Lutheran Church and, of course, Smoky’s, where he counts co-owners Tom and Larry Schmock among his friends. The Dec. 8 wine dinner will be the fourth one held at the restaurant.
The menu is ambitious. Olson will start the evening with foie gras crostinis with buttered apples and caramel port, followed by roasted chestnut soup with mushrooms and crispy pork belly.
The main entree will be olive oil-poached beef tenderloin with herbed red wine sauce, angel hair pasta with truffled lobster butter, and sautéed vegetables. Salted caramel and chocolate tartlets with espresso Crème Chantilly will be served for dessert. Wines will be paired with each course.
To register or to find out more about this and other upcoming dinners, contact hemmachef@gmail.com.
