TULALIP — Dean Shinagawa is getting a couple of chances to shine this month.
On Nov. 8, the Golf Club at Newcastle hosted Shinagawa and 14 other Puget Sound chefs for the 11th annual “Chef’s Night Out” on behalf of Operation Frontline, which offers classes on nutrition, healthy cooking and food budgeting for those at risk of hunger and malnutrition.
Shinagawa, the chef and general manager for the Tulalip Bay restaurant at the Tulalip Resort, was invited back by event organizers for his third year at the fundraiser, in which patrons paid $200 per person to receive a five-course meal from one of the 15 chefs on site. Shinagawa was in such high demand that the patrons who tried to get him as their chef last year bought him with raffle tickets as their chef for this year’s meal.
“You try not to repeat yourself,” Shinagawa said. “I try to think about what flavors I want to capture, but I can’t get too crazy, because all you have there is two prep tables for your kitchen, and every plate has to have a garnish, a sauce and a drizzle, so what seems small adds up.”
Shinagawa nonetheless said that he has fun at the event, which he appreciates for helping a charitable cause and giving him exposure as a chef at the same time.
He’s getting more exposure through the two-day “Taste of Tulalip” event at the Tulalip Resort Nov. 14-15, along with Tulalip Resort Executive Chef Perry Mascitti and the rest of the culinary staff at the Tulalip Resort, where more than 60 Washington wineries share their expertise and products in cooperation with Wine Spectator and Cigar Aficionado magazines.
The event will include a celebration reception and multi-course dinner with wine pairings, wine education and lifestyle seminars, demonstrations by chefs including Shinagawa and Mascitti, wine tasting, and a challenge conducted by PBS’s reality show “The Winemakers.”
Shinagawa’s live demonstration will focus on Pan-Asian cuisine, one of his specialties. Shinagawa prides himself on how his Asian cultural roots, his Hawaiian upbringing and the European techniques he’s learned have all combined to create his own unique culinary style.
