Gavin McMichael

Talent, opportunity and pure motivation have been the hallmarks of Executive Chef Gavin McMichael’s 15 years of culinary experience. Rated one of the best new restaurants in the world by Condé Nast Traveler (May 2004), McMichael’s two-year old Blacksmith Restaurant opened to immediate accolades from residents and tourists eager for an upscale, new American menu.

Using one of Bend’s treasured historic buildings as his culinary stage, McMichael fuses wide-ranging experience to create New Ranch Cuisine. Patrons travel from Portland and surrounding states to indulge in their favorite dish, ranging from “Cider-Brined Pork Rib Chop” with apple chutney and two-year old smoked cheddar macaroni & cheese to “Pan-Seared Halibut” with roasted sweet potato enchiladas and spinach beurre blanc.

Throughout his career, McMichael has been sought after for his capabilities and has risen quickly through the ranks. He received most his training in some of America’s top kitchens, and he gained first hand knowledge of French and Italian culinary traditions when he rented an apartment in the south of France, training in some of southern France’s best-known restaurants.

McMichael has worked with Mark Kiffin, corporate executive chef for Star Canyon Restaurant in Dallas and Stephan Pyles, executive chef at Star Canyon and one of the fathers of Southwestern cuisine. At the time, McMichael was executive sous chef at Star Canyon, where he worked on special projects as assistant to Pyles and helped with his television show, New Tastes from Texas.

McMichael’s formal education includes a marketing degree from the University of Texas and a degree from the School of Culinary Arts in Denver. Much of his incremental development came from galleys in challenging venues. He has been a chef on some of the largest, most luxurious yachts at sea, such as Destiny and Excellence II, preparing meals for well-known personalities like Mick Jagger and Tommy Hilfiger and working alongside celebrity chefs such as George Pierre of Philadelphia’s Le Bec Fin and Todd English of Olives in Boston.

Making Condé Nast Traveler’s Hot List of Best New Restaurants in the World (May 2004) is all in a day’s work for Burk Daggett, co-owner of The Blacksmith Restaurant. This renaissance carpenter joined Gavin McMichael in 2002 to design and build a restaurant to complement New Ranch Cuisine to perfection. Daggett restored wooden beams and exposed brick walls in a local, historic blacksmith shop and hand-crafted rough-hewn, fir tables to create a look and feel that can best be described as “rustic elegance.”