Former Olympian, New York chef in Eugene serving dinner to visitors - KVAL
Source: KVAL
A former Olympian, New York Chef Michael Stember is offering his talents to serve dinner to athletes and visitors in Eugene during Oregon22.
By Angelina Dixson and KVAL.com Staff
EUGENE, Ore. — The World Athletics Championships aren't the only thing cooking in Eugene.
A former Olympian and New York chef is offering his talents to serve dinner to athletes and visitors in town.
He's serving nightly at Whitburger in Eugene.
Chef Michael Stember is chopping up some delicious dinners for Worlds athletes and visitors.
He's a former track and field athlete who almost went to the University of Oregon because he loves Eugene so much.
But now that the Oregon22 games are here, he wanted to be a part of it - as a chef for his 10-night dinner event called the Family Meal 22.
"I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to take the last 20 years of my chef craft and bring it full circle to the athletic community,” Stember tells us. “Especially for the World Championships in Tracktown USA. I couldn't miss it, couldn't miss sharing my art form. So, I'm really honored to be here."
He and his staff are using the Whitburger on Blair Boulevard for 10 nights to cook up their mouth-watering entries.
It's $100 per person, which pays for his travel, ingredients, and his staff.
Athletes and visitors who come to dinner will dine out back on a lit-up patio setting designed to fit about 70.
"As soon as they all hustle over here, we have a cocktail ready for them, a glass of wine from Willamette Valley, and I jump right into this new way of looking at raw fish,” Stember says. “I have two raw fish meals on the menu, and I’m not preparing them with white rice, which is the traditional way the Japanese have done it."
Menu items for each night are geared to be nutritious and to run parallel with a performance-based diet.
"On the back end of the meal, we have some cooked meats from local ranches. Carlton Ranch, Carlton Farms for the pork and Anderson Farm for the beef and lamb. We smoke that with a berbere, an Ethiopian spice, and it's absolutely delicious."
If you'd like to join the reservation list, email Michael at michael@michaelstember.com.
Dinner starts around 8 p.m. and is nightly until July 24.