Centrum’s 2008 Gala welcomes chef Craig Hetherington from TASTE Restaurant at the Seattle Art Museum. He will be one of four chefs lending their culinary skills to producing this year’s Gala menu.

“As a chef, it is my responsibility to support the local farmers,” says Craig. “It is my goal to ingrain that responsibility into everybody who comes on board so that when they move on they have that sense of awareness. I don’t want them to look at food as something that comes out of a box.”

Craig Hetherington learned about culinary responsibility during his boyhood spent in Pittsburgh. He comes from a family of avid cooks and gardeners, who spent summers preserving the bounty. That immersion in food instilled in him a desire to become a chef.

With a degree from South Seattle Community College in hand, Hetherton began his professional cooking career at Elliott’s Oyster House.

Subsequently, he cooked at Baci Catering and Stimson-Green Mansion before joining TASTE Restaurant as sous chef in March 2007. He was promoted to executive chef a year later. He is a member of Chef’s Collaborative and served on the board for four years.

As the executive chef, Craig oversees the kitchen at TASTE Restaurant as well as the menus for the TASTE cafes at the Olympic Sculpture Park and the Seattle Asian Art Museum.

The Centrum Gala takes place on Saturday, November 15 at the Fort Worden Commons in Port Townsend, Washington. Besides a wonderful dinner of Northwest cuisine, the Gala will also offer guests the chance to purchase fixed-price specialty trips, adventures, and experiences from the Gatherings Catalog, which will premier that night. Light entertainment and a giving opportunity to the Centrum Scholarship Fund will round out the evening. The Gala is $125 per person and is open to everyone.

Please call the Centrum office at 360.385.3102 x116 for reservations and more information.