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 Chef John Huyck grew up in the southwest and from a young age was practically raised on the unique cuisine that the region has to offer. The unusual flavors and textures of this cuisine have remained his favorite and those he most enjoys preparing for others as well as himself.
Huyck first started in the restaurant business in 1977 when at the age of 15 he got a job dishwashing at a local pizza and ice cream hotspot in Boulder, Colorado. Within a year, he became manager. Even at the relatively young age of 16 Huyck seemed to have a passion for the business and a desire to broaden his horizons. He then moved on to a busy upscale Boulder restaurant institution, The Hungry Farmer. First staring as a line cook, he quickly became the kitchen manager and eventually general manager .
In 1983 Huyck left Boulder for Denver to become sous-chef (assistant chef) and later the head chef at Wilscams, one of Denver's top fine dinning establishments. Unfortunately, the restaurant closed a year later, a casualty of the city's economic decline of the mid 80's.
Remaining in Denver, Huyck moved to The Rattlesnake Club in 1984 where he worked as a sous chef for the head chef Jimmy Schmidt who was voted one of the nations top chefs. Schmidt's forte was food science and he excelled at having a thorough understanding of food interactions. Additionally, he was a master of product knowledge. To pass on this knowledge, Schmidt instructed weekly classes where Huyck was tested on comprehension. Chef Huyck's skills were honed, fined tune and polished in the 2.5 years he worked at The Rattlesnake Club.
Feeling the need to expand his culinary horizons and to find work with the cuisine he loved, Huyck left the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains and moved to the high desert of Sante Fe, New Mexico in 1987. It was there that Chef Mark Miller hired Huyck as sous chef at the Coyote Café. Chef Miller has been called the "Godfather of southwestern cuisine". According to Huyck, Miller was and is a very cerebral, philosophical-chef who insistent that his staff knew the history and the cultural origins of the foods prepared in the kitchen of the Coyote Cafe. Like the Rattlesnake Club, the Coyote Café was one of the top five restaurants in the nation at the time. Sante Fe offered Huyck the opportunity to immerse himself in the culture and cuisine of the southwest.
The Rattlesnake Club and The Coyote Café were a perfect match in the shaping of Chef Huyck's culinary style. On one hand there was a strict attention to detail, science and technique, while on the other, a creative and authentic approach, with respect and attention to origin.
In 1988 Chef Huyck was invited to be a guest chef at the Cajun Café in Portland, Oregon, where he presented a southwestern menu for two weeks. Huyck absolutely fell in love with the northwest. It was not long until he was offered and accepted the executive chefs' position at the Cajun Café. Working in the northwest, Huyck was like a kid in a candy store. The region offered an extensive selection of specialized foods such as wild mushrooms, organic exotic vegetables, the freshest seafood, and wild game. Oregon has been his home ever since.
At the Cajun Café Huyck introduced southwestern cuisine to northwestern ingredients. The menu was innovative, fun and traditional. It was a great introduction to Oregon and after a year at the Cajun Café, Huyck was offered the Executive Chef's position at Casa u Betcha, an upscale Mexican restaurant in Portland. The owners were opening a second Casa U Betcha in Seattle and wanted Huyck to design, set-up and institute the menu. The idea was to create an innovative, aggressive southwest meets northwest concept and Chef Huyck accepted the challenge.
After 6 months in Seattle, Huyck returned to Portland and continued to develop new menu items and expanding his unique cuisine. It was at this point when Huyck really began to look into ways to have his own restaurant. He wanted an avenue to express his own concept and culinary vision.
In the summer of 1991 Chef Huyck found that the avenue to express his vision led to the quaint town of Corvallis, Oregon where in August of that year, he opened Bombs Away Café. Bombs Away's menu features Mexican and southwestern traditional dishes, fresh baked breads and homemade desserts. Huyck uses innovative cooking styles that use the freshest local and organic foods.
Today, fourteen years later, Bombs Away Café is still a thriving part of the Corvallis community. Chef Huyck is always looking forward to the future and setting responsible goals for Bomb's Away Cafe. His vision incorporates serving organic/local produce and hormone/antibiotic free meats and dairy. Huyck feels that driving his restaurant in this direction is the responsible path to choose. His reasons for this direction are twofold: First, the integrity and quality of the product sold will increase and secondly, it will support an industry (organic and clean farming) that is an important foundation of the community.
In addition to taking a more natural step in the products sold at Bomb's Away, Huyck is creating, along with a group of local restaurant owners, a National model for a sustainable restaurant. He feels that sustainability is very important in order to attempt to reduce the impact that restaurants have on the environment. Huyck states that it is his goal to move Bombs Away as close to sustainable as possible. In addition, he is a member of The Chefs Collaborative, a network of chefs, restaurateurs, and other culinary professionals who promote sustainable cuisine by teaching children, supporting local farmers, educating each other and inspiring their customers to choose clean healthy food. Huyck feels that there is quite a market for natural products and with his background and skill, Bombs Away Café will move into the future with a responsible goal.
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