By Keith Gamboa
THE ERICKSON TRIBUNE
Henry Doyle
Chef de Cuisine
Oak Crest in Maryland
Training: Chef Doyle trained at the Baltimore International Culinary Institute in 1980.
Favorite type of cuisine to cook: “I enjoy working in traditional French cuisine, primarily in a formulation of sauces & sauté. With sauté, all of your ingredients develop together in the pan. You sauté, flambé, and finish the creation, thus turning the plate into a canvas with its own individual identity.”
What inspired him to become a chef: “Creativity, the endless sea of food varieties, makes for a wonderful hands-on playground! Also, the opportunity to travel and all the people that gravitate to the culinary field—we are a special breed!”
His favorite chef: “The Galloping Gourmet, Graham Kerr. Anyone under the age of 50 hasn’t a clue of whom I’m speaking.”
Where did he work before coming to Erickson: “The early stages of my career were spent traveling—the summers on Cape Co, Mass., Lake Winnipesuakee, N.H., and Ocean City, Md. In the winters, I would head to Florida, generally to Sanibel Island, Sarasota, even Virginia Beach. I generally gravitated to smaller privately owned continental restaurants, where I could be a big fish in a small pond.”
The highlight of his career so far: “Meeting my wife of 20 years. She was the sales director at Boordy Vineyards and hired me to do their spring wine tasting parties. We starting dating, married, and then opened a restaurant and catering business called The Country Gourmet, in Bel Air, Md.
“It was a wonderful experience. We operated the business for 12 years.”