Great Meals Start With Great Chefs
at Central Missouri's Lake of the Ozarks

 Lake of the Ozarks, Mo. – There are more than 100 ways to savor a great meal at Central Missouri's Lake of the Ozarks.  The “ways” are the area's 100-plus restaurants, many located on or overlooking the beautiful, shimmering Lake itself.

The selection includes a wide range of choices – from continental cuisine to Ozark barbecue, buffets to burgers, home-style fare to ethnic favorites and more.  What truly distinguishes one dining establishment from another, however, is the chef.  The Lake area is the home of choice to several world-renowned chefs who delight in sharing their culinary skills and personal charm with Lake-area visitors.  Among them are Chef Vince Charbonneau, The Resort at Port Arrowhead; Michael Hollingsworth, The Lodge of Four Seasons; and Andre Torres, Andre's Restaurant.

Chef Vince Charbonneau has a dream: to have his own cooking empire, including a TV show, cookbooks and merchandise just like The Food Network's Emeril Lagasse.  For now, he's content to be executive chef at The Resort at Port Arrowhead at the Lake of the Ozarks, where for the past seven years he has overseen food preparation for The Portside, a popular AAA 3-diamond-rated restaurant, and a busy catering department.

Born in Salina, Kan., Charbonneau says, “I started baking with my grandmother when I was pretty young and always enjoyed it.” He briefly studied computers, then landed in the kitchen of the Holiday Inn in Lawrence, Kan., where a chef encouraged him to complete the culinary program at Johnson County Community College. “I went to school but I learned a lot more from the chefs I worked for, who taught me how to apply knowledge to a particular situation,” he says.

Charbonneau, 30, moved to Jefferson City, Mo., where he was lead line chef, then banquet chef, at the former Carnegie's, the AAA 4-diamond-rated restaurant at the Capitol Plaza Hotel.  After two years he joined The Resort at Port Arrowhead at the Lake of the Ozarks.  Starting as a sous chef, he quickly moved up to executive chef.  “That always was the ultimate goal,” he says.  “It was exciting and scary at the same time, but I was ready for it.”

Creating menus for both the banquet service and the restaurant appeals to Charbonneau.  “I think working on just one or the other would become boring.” His banquet selections include Mediterranean Stuffed Pork Loin and Shrimp for the Archduke.  In the Portside Restaurant, guests may select Angus beef steaks, Chipotle Shrimp Capellini, Cherry Lime Pork or Grand Marnier Roasted Red Pepper Grouper.  Charbonneau's signature house salad is spinach with candied pecans and feta cheese tossed with a roasted garlic apple vinaigrette dressing.  His Tuxedo Brownie, a popular Portside Restaurant dessert, is a rich brownie topped with white and dark chocolate, served with vanilla bean ice cream and chocolate sauce.

Charbonneau says his kitchen staff of 10 offers a lot of input.  He also consults several culinary magazines and does a lot of Internet research to keep up with trends.

When he's not busy in the kitchen at The Resort, Charbonneau enjoys donating his time and talents to the community.  He participates in the annual March of Dimes Chef's Auction for which he will prepare a six-course meal with wine in the home of the highest bidder.  He's married with three children.

Charbonneau says working and living at the Lake of the Ozarks offers a lot of benefits: the beauty of the area, the busy summers followed by the quieter winters, the friendly residents and visitors.  “It's a great environment,” he says.  “I plan to stick around here for quite a few more years.”  Still, the ultimate goal is, “I want to be Emeril,” he says.  “He's got a really great job.”

When The Lodge of Four Seasons' Chef Michael Hollingsworth was growing up south of Detroit, he occasionally cooked with his mother, “but I never had any thought of cooking as a career,” he says. “I wanted to play sports.” However, as a teenager, Hollingsworth says, “the only job I could find that was flexible enough to fit my ballgame schedule was at a restaurant.  So I washed dishes and worked in the pantry, and never left the kitchen.” Fortunately, he adds, “I've never worked hard at this a day in my life.  The work can be hard but being a chef has been a natural for me.  I know I've been very lucky. “

After earning his Culinary Certificate from Monroe County Community College in 1989, Hollingsworth apprenticed at La Rotisserie, one of Detroit's finest restaurants, and moved up to Chef de Cuisine (Restaurant Chef).  He moved on to the Palm Court and Orchid Restaurant at the Omni Netherlands Plaza Hotel in Cincinnati as Chef de Cuisine, then to the Cincinnati Convention Center as Executive Chef.

In 1996 Hollingsworth moved to Albuquerque, N.M., to become Chef de Cuisine at a new restaurant, The Petroleum Club.  “It was a great opportunity to get involved in a restaurant from the ground up,” he says.  He remained in the New Mexico area for several years, working as Executive Chef at Rancho Encantado in Santa Fe and the Hilton Albuquerque.  He also was a Culinary Consultant and Co-Chef at the Antiquity Restaurant.

Hollingsworth's next stop was Houston, where he was Executive Chef at the Lost River Bar & Grill/Spellbinders Variety Theater. There he directed the start-up of the entire operation, including designing two kitchens.

After 10 years in the Southwest and Texas, Hollingsworth says, he and his family were ready to return to the Midwest. At the same time, The Lodge of Four Seasons at the Lake of the Ozarks was seeking a new Executive Chef.  It was a good match: He's now in his fifth year at The Lodge.

“The restaurants here evolve every year,” Hollingsworth says.  “We made big leaps and bounds last year.”  That includes redoing the menu at the popular HK's Restaurant which until recently was located at Witch's Cove, a Robert Trent Jones Sr. golf course. Now the “new” HK's is located in the main Lodge building.  “HK's is not just a steak house anymore, but a very upscale yet casual bistro,” he notes. In addition, Hollingsworth is involved in menu modifications and interior remodeling at Breezes, the lovely and casual daytime restaurant, and he's adding more full-service options at Soleil's, The Lodge's favorite breakfast gathering place.  “We also will revise some of the food service at the golf courses,” he says.

Hollingsworth says everything is prepared from scratch at all the restaurants at The Lodge.  Specialties include southwestern cuisine and wild game, like pheasant, boar and squab.  “I really like the diversity and unique flavors of game birds,” he says.  “You can do so much with them.”

You'd think in the off-season a chef at a resort area could relax.  But in fact, “I work harder in the winter,” Hollingsworth says.  “There's a lot more planning and physical labor.  But because we have fewer line employees, I get a chance to actually cook on the line.  I miss it when I'm not doing it.  But I enjoy meeting our winter guests.”  Many of them come for The Lodge's special Spa Packages.

When he's not cooking or thinking about cooking, Hollingsworth plays amateur paintball on a traveling team.  “I've been doing that as long as I've been cooking,” he says. He is married and has a daughter, age 10.

Hollingsworth says he has no plans to leave The Lodge or the Lake.  “I like the small community of the Lake.  Several of us who are chefs know each other,” he says.  “Also The Lodge is a great atmosphere.  The management takes the culinary team very seriously.  I think I'll be here quite a while – then possibly open a bed-and-breakfast in New Mexico.”

Though he calls himself “a French hillbilly,” Chef Andre Torres , the only Certified Executive Chef at the Lake and a member of Academy Culinaire de France, brings an impressive international background to his highly acclaimed restaurant, Andre's.  This French chef, born in Algeria, was taught to cook at an early age by his mother, who also trained as a chef.  After attending culinary school in France, in 1958 he began his career at the historic and glamorous Aletti Palace Hotel in Vichy, France.  “We had 81 cooks in the kitchen and only Michelin 3-star chefs,” Torres says.  “Everything was completely fresh, the way it was supposed to be done. It was for the Rolls Royce crowd only.”

After serving in the military, Torres cooked his way around the world as a chef for Pan Am's Intercontinental Hotels, working in Amsterdam, Tunis, Pakistan and Kenya.  He also worked at the Hotel New Otani in Tokyo for five years, then helped open the Hotel New Otani in Los Angeles.

“I was treated very well.  When you work for the Japanese it's for life,” Torres says. He was supposed to go back to Tokyo, then on to Singapore; however, by that time, in 1979, he had been recruited by The Lodge of Four Seasons.  He also had been joined by his son, whose health required a climate with clear air.  “I saw an article about the seven places in the U.S. where the air is best to breathe and it included the Lake of the Ozarks in Central Missouri,” Torres says. “So I made up my mind to stay at the Lake.  My son's health improved. By then I had made some friends and that makes or breaks a place too.”

Torres remained at The Lodge for 15 years, then in 1994 opened his own restaurant, Andre's, which consistently earns three diamonds from AAA.  His specialties are fish and dessert.  “My Chilean sea bass is cut thin and seared and I add pureed red bell peppers and sautéed vegetables.  It looks very nice and is very healthy,” he says.  “We make our own sweets too.  Everything is made from scratch like our bread pudding, flour chocolate cake and crème brulee.”

The menu changes approximately every six months, Torres says.  He reads magazines and journals for inspiration.  “Really there's nothing new under the sun,” he says.  “We always think we created this or that but maybe somebody did it 200 years ago!”  His popular monthly International Buffets feature the authentic food of different nations.  Torres also has taught a weekly cooking class for five years.

Torres' three sons all work at the restaurant now. “They all came to help me retire but I still love what I do,” he says. One son is in charge of the kitchen, one handles marketing and another trains the staff.  Then there is Torres' wife, Anju, who greets and visits with guests.  “She remembers everyone's name.  Everyone knows her and loves her.  So it's a nice family business,” he says.

Since his arrival, the Lake area has changed tremendously, Torres notes.  “The number of people here has grown so much.  There are more people coming from the cities.  They're more sophisticated and used to going to a nice restaurant, so there always will be a demand for fine dining.”  Above all, he notes, “Running a restaurant is a hospitality business. No matter who comes in, we always give the same service and the same smile.”

Among the other great chefs in the Lake of the Ozarks area are Chef Marcus Bench of The Duck, Chef Paul Bashinski of Tan-Tar-A Resort & Golf Club, Chef Jim Faye of Plaza III The Kansas City Steakhouse at Old Kinderhook, Chef Ted Wiggins of the Bourbon Street Grill at The Country Club Hotel, and Joseph Boer of the Blue Heron and the Potted Steer restaurants.

For more information about other dining opportunities at Central Missouri's Lake of the Ozarks – as well as lodging, shopping, events, attractions, entertainment and more – contact the Lake of the Ozarks Convention & Visitor Bureau at 800-FUN-LAKE or visit www.funlake.com .

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