Cart
Cherry Hills Village, Colorado, USA
Name: Chef Penelope L. Wong
Age: 39
Nationality: Chinese/Thai
Country of Residence: USA
1. Your Restaurant/Business: Glenmoor Country Club
2. About Your Kitchen: Fast paced, high volume and multi-faceted with controlled chaos, camaraderie and solidarity.
3. Your Favorite Chef Works Item: The Elyse Premium Chef Coat and Women’s Comfi Pants. They both fit and move with a woman’s body properly during grueling hours behind a line. And they’re incredibly soft and breathable.
4. First Job: I was a dishwasher, prep cook, busser, server and a cashier at my parent’s restaurant. (Free Labor + Free Education!)
5. Your Favorite Cookbook: Working on it! I’m not a fan of the typical cook book structure; so I’m working on my own sort of “cook book”. I don’t have a favorite. Not all chef’s use cook books as reference tools, I’m one of those who would rather experiment.
6. Your Awards: Ranked #1 for Best Food out of all private country clubs in the state of Colorado.
7. Your Cooking Inspiration: My family. I learned all different aspects of Chinese and Thai cuisine from my mother, father, grandparents and aunts- from old world to main stream.
8. Your Speciality Dish: Seared Diver Scallops in an Avocado Tamarind Glaze with Coconut Steamed Rice.
9. Favorite Dish To Eat: After a long, hot day in the kitchen, I love going home and sitting down with a bowl of Tofu Pho.
10. Weirdest Thing You Ever Ate: Stir fried Grapefruit Rind. My grandmother loved this dish. Me? Not so much.
11. Favorite Ice Cream Flavor: Good quality Ginger ice cream or Ben and Jerry’s Chunky Monkey.
12. Favorite Drink: For fun: St. Germain, Muddled Blackberries, Ginger Beer and Vodka. To hydrate: Young Coconut juice/water on ice.
13. Favorite Wine: Hou Hou Shiu Sparkling Sake
14. Who Would You Most Like To Cook For: My mother. She passed when I was 16, so I never had the opportunity to cook for her.
15. Who Would You Least Like To Cook For: My GM. He likes his food the way he likes his food, and there’s no changing it up – boring!
16. Favorite Things To Do When Not Cooking: Going to matinees – solo – enjoying a bucket of popcorn mixed w/ peanut M&Ms and a diet coke all to myself. Also love writing, tennis, kick boxing and relaxing with my family.
17. Your Latest Project: I’ve got several projects: a cookbook in the works that will double as a narrative, building my consulting resume and getting more involved with community give-back projects
18. Favorite City and Why: Bangkok. For the food, of course.
19. Your Greatest Indulgence: At the moment? Anything with Gluten! – In all seriousness – sheet cake, especially the cheap grocery store kind with the fake sugar frosting. It is not uncommon to have a sheet cake in our fridge on a weekly basis.
20. Your All Time Best Culinary Tip: It’s not rocket science, it’s just food. Simplicity is the best method to preserve the integrity of the food.