New chef joins staff at Coyote Creek

Janette Sinclair in her kitchen. photo by Tom Chace

From Scottsdale, Arizona, where she taught culinary arts, to Sisters, Oregon is a "move up," according to Janette Sinclair.

Sinclair is the new chef at Coyote Creek Cafe.

"While I loved it there, this is a very special place and I am my own cook in a wonderful restaurant with marvelous people," Sinclair said.

She has traveled extensively and "been trained in many countries in their local cuisine," she said.

She lived with a family in Taiwan, "teaching their children English in exchange for learning oriental, especially Mandarin, cooking."

Sinclair grew up in Cedar, Utah, and attended Millard High School in Filmore. She then went to Paris and Le Cordon Bleu School of Culinary Arts. She also lived for a while in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, where she studied cooking on her own.

A book to come out this fall, published by Lyons Press called "Creative Chefs," names her the "Nomadic Chef," and will feature several of her recipes and lessons from her teaching at Le Cordon Bleu culinary school in Scottsdale.

While expert in regional and international cooking from the Southwest, China and Mexico, her favorite cooking is always local, "using whatever is fresh and in season."

Eric Metzel, Coyote Creek Cafe owner, said, "I wanted to do something no one else was doing. I wanted to be different; to change our menu with the seasons; to offer food a cut above, but still at reasonable prices.

"For too long, in Sisters, we've been told that to get a good meal we had to go to Bend. Now, we think, people in Bend will want to come here for good food," he said.

Sinclair is the daughter of Mills Sinclair, Metzel's brother-in-law and partner in Coyote Creek with Metzel's wife, Jane. Mills Sinclair owns 40 Abby's Pizza Parlors in the Northwest.

Among Chef Sinclair's favorite dishes is her Cornish game hen with a lemon sage sauce. She bones the birds herself leaving only a small joint bone.

Metzel suggests trying two or three of the small plates or starters "which can become a full meal, in themselves." He suggests the beer marinated, grilled tri-tip with tomato salsa and six mini-corn tortillas.

"I make all my marinades, which I keep as a proprietary secret for all my meats," Sinclair says. "But I will reveal that the tri-tip is done with beer, garlic and orange. It is very good."

She also makes her own mozzarella from fresh curd.

One of her favorites is the starter plate of blue corn griddle cakes, topped with duck or chicken, shredded cabbage and chipotle sour cream.

The new menu of 14 entrees is moderately priced from $12.95 to $18.95 for the "cowboy" sized prime rib.

The menu also states that it "may change daily or weekly depending upon the availability of these items and the feedback we receive from our guests."

In order to prepare for her dinner guests, Sinclair is on the job by 10:30 a.m.

"It takes a lot of time to make my own sauces, and marinades and prepare the entrees the way I like to present them," she said.

The restaurant has 62 employees and is open seven days a week for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The daytime manager at Coyote Creek Cafe is Stefani Kirsch, formerly manager at the Suttle Lake Lodge, Resort and Restaurant.

Call 549-9514 for reservations or information.