By Deborah Dasch
Mark Badin
Executive Chef Charlestown,
Catonsville, Maryland
You would think that someone who spent 18 years working for the Disney Company in Anaheim, California, would find it difficult (maybe even a little bizarre) to assume the responsibilities of executive chef at six restaurants serving more than 2,000 discerning palates.
Not so, says Mark Badin, who for the past three years has been wielding his whisk and tackling what he calls the age-old dilemma in serving large groups. “How do you appease 2,200 individuals—with crisp or soft vegetables?” he asks.
Like many high school students growing up in southern California, Mark went to work at Disneyland. “They put me in food services and I liked it a lot,” he remembers. “Over the years, I ended up running the food in 3 lands and 14 locations—everything from ice cream cones and chopped apples dipped in caramel to a 450-seat buffet and New Orleans river boat restaurant.”
Mark’s boss at Disney, Doug Garner, left to become Erickson’s director of dining services. Within six months, he called Doug about an opening at Charlestown and Doug immediately became an East Coast transplant. “I love living in Maryland,” he says, “it reminds me of southern Germany where many of my family still live.”
Mark also says that there’s a similarity between working at Disney and working at Charlestown. “I can come out from the kitchen every day and chat with the folks enjoying their meals.”
One of Mark’s favorite recipes is his version of his father’s beef goulash. But he wouldn’t hand over the recipe without insisting that two other recipes go with it. “These three things must be eaten together,” he explains.