CHEF VICTOR SCARGLE

Chef Victor Scargle is an avid grapeseed oil lover. Victor loves Salute Santé! Grapeseed Oil so much he uses it everywhere! He uses it for sautéing, for marinades, for salads and dressings, for desserts and even in the deep fryer! “I love the light taste which brings out the flavor of our fresh garden herbs, and the high smoke point for our hot food preparations.” says Victor.

“Salute Santé! Grapeseed Oil is great because it adds body without competing with the flavors in a dish. For example, a little drizzle with some verjus brings out the highlights in my salad mix or with tuna tartar. The Chardonnay grapeseed oil adds a little acid to balance the richness of the tartar.” Victor also creates a lavash cracker with the Salute Santé! Chardonnay Grapeseed Flour on which he serves the tuna tartar.

Victor Scargle has loved cooking since childhood when he and his father would prepare such family favorites as spaghetti with clam sauce, lemon meringue pie, and sugar cookies. He cooked in restaurants during high school and college so no one was surprised when, after studying economics at the University of California, Santa Barbara, he returned to his childhood passion by enrolling in a one year apprenticeship at Fess Parker’s Red Lion Resort under Executive Chef Brian Bird. Following Chef Bird’s advice to travel and work with a variety of chefs and ingredients, Scargle worked for a year each under Chef Robin Haas of the Colony Bistro in Miami’s South Beach and Douglas Rodriguez at Patria in New York, then did stages at some of Manhattan’s best restaurants including Gramercy Tavern, Tribeca Grill, Park Avenue Cafe, Lespinasse and Aureole.

In 1995 Scargle returned to the West coast. He worked for Michael Mina at Aqua, San Francisco for three and a half years before assisting in the opening of Aqua, Las Vegas in 1998. Scargle was Executive Chef at Pisces in Burlingame, Ca, where he received three stars from the San Francisco Chronicle and was also one of the newspaper’s annual “Rising Star Chefs.” Most recently, Chef Scargle worked in San Francisco for the highly acclaimed Jardiniere as Chef de Cuisine, followed by the Grand Café as Executive Chef.