Chef Spotlight: Chef Michael Glatz of HOTEL FAUCHERE in Milford, PA

Chef Michael Glatz was born with culinary passion in his heart and began his career in hospitality at the Culinary Institute of American in 1981. His professional experiences weaved through kitchen and dining room, vineyard and wine classroom, pasture and milking parlor, cheese cave and cheese shop. His life experiences of sailing around the Cyclades in the Aegean Sea, exploring the wine regions of South America and discovering the origins of coffee in Costa Rica, have combined with the former to fashion the chef he is today.

Following almost two decades of being immersed in the culinary and life experiences of living on a small Caribbean Island off the coast of Puerto Rico, he has returned to Pike County, Pennsylvania to celebrate the legacy of Chef Louis Fauchere, a task he began at the rebirth of the Hotel Fauchere in 2006.

Chef Michael, most recently from Vero Beach, Florida where his many hats included host of a weekly radio talk show "FoodSpace" now resides in Milford, Pennsylvania and is Executive Chef of the Hotel Fauchere.

Broadwayworld.com had the pleasure of interviewing Chef Glatz for our "Chef Spotlight."

What was your earliest interest in cooking?

I loved helping Mom in the kitchen, especially with baking at a very young age. Making Christmas cookies with her each year was a special treat! My first attempts in the savory world started with omelets. While my childhood friends watched Saturday morning cartoons, I was obsessed with making the perfect omelet!

Who were some of your career mentors?

My mother was a family home baker, my grandmother was a professional Chef with a strong Eastern-European/German style. Weekends and school vacations where a treat spending time in her restaurant and home kitchen. And then there was Julia Child. Thank you Julia. Through her early television shows and her cookbooks, she was my true professional mentor.

What culinary styles have influenced your career?

Born into a German/Lithuanian family, these ethnic cuisines were part of my everyday life and started the foundation to my career. My education at the renowned Culinary Institute of America earned me a knowledge and appreciation for Classic French cuisine which was truly the anchor of my first decade of professional cooking. Living in California and Puerto Rico took me out of the regimen of classic cuisine and enlightened me to be more creative as a young Chef. In my later years, spending time in South America and Greece broadened the depth and knowledge of my culinary world. Everything came full circle as I rebirthed the Classic French/European legacy of Chef Louis Fauchere at the Hotel Fauchere in Milford, Pennsylvania.

What do you consider the most distinguishing features of your work as a chef?

It all comes back to passion in your heart and the basics of method and technique. These are the strongest influences in my style. Travel and life experiences are shaping the rest, and they are ever changing and growing. Many years ago I saw "Sushi Pizza" on a menu and ordered it out of curiosity, but the chef failed with it. I went to work and perfected my own, and today it's my signature!

What is your favorite meal or meals?

As a chef, I'm often asked for my favorite dish. Impossible to answer as I love everything and my daily hankerings vary with how I feel, the weather and what inspires me! Cheese, I love cheese! An aromatic pot of ossobuco... a perfectly roasted crispy skin chicken.

Tell me a little bit about your restaurant for our readers.

The Hotel Fauchere in Milford, Pennsylvania has three dining venues. The Delmonico Room celebrates the legacy of Chef Louis Fauchere utilizing seasonal menus and local farm ingredients creating a time and place in food. Bar Louis is our casual French-inspired American comfort food bistro where classics like French Onion Soup meet contemporary dishes like Sushi Pizza. Patisserie Fauchere features handmade breads and pastries, sandwiches and locally found honey, juices and roasted coffees.

Hotel Fauchere, a Relais & Chateaux boutique hotel, is located at 401 Broad Street in Milford, Pennsylvania, 18337. Milford is in the heart of Northeastern Pennsylvania's Pocono Mountains and is considered an ideal destination for day trips, weekend getaways and leisurely vacations. For more information about Hotel Fauchere and to learn about their fine restaurants, visit www.hotelfauchere.com or you can call them at (570) 409-1212.

Photo: Courtesy of Michael Glatz

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