FAST FIVE: In the kitchen with Chef Mark Bertram

Meet Mark Bertram, a husband, a father and a grandfather. Mark has been cooking meals for the great people of the Northwest for 40 years. He loves to bring people joy with the great food he cooks.

Generation:

I am 56 years old, which makes me part of the boomer generation.

Career and community involvement:

I have worked for the same company for the past 40 years. I started as a dishwasher on March 20, 1980. I love being creative and cooking new things. Thinking up new dishes for the Beverly's menu, or for a contest I have entered, is a passion of mine. When a dish finally comes together, when it looks and tastes even better than you thought it would, what a great feeling that is. I try to remember to give God all the glory for my success. God has blessed me with my skill set, and has provided me with a great job that I love. I try to bless others with my talents God has given me, by donating my time to our community in the form of auction dinners. My aunt, Karen Schomer, had the great idea to donate the cost of the food, if I agreed to donate my labor. Children’s Village held its auction online recently and sold two dinner packages for $1,100 each. Dinner for four, catered to their home, for $1,100.

Parental status: I am lucky to be the proud father of four great kids, who are all adults now. Three of them have worked with me at Beverly's in the past. My oldest son, Travis, has blessed us with a 4-year-old granddaughter, Ariannah. I have two sons, Travis and Nathaniel. I also have two daughters, Madelynn and Jessica. My wife Pam and I love spending time with our kids. We camp as a family on the St. Joe River during the summer. Travis helps me by taking all of my food photos for my contests.

1. What new recipes are you cooking up at Beverly's these days?

The chef and sous chef of Beverly’s are always welcoming input from the cooks on new specials. They order in great products to choose from, like 28-day dry-aged bison ribeye steaks, or fresh halibut and salmon. I am making it a goal of mine to become more involved with the creation of specials.

2. Have you entered any fun contests or cooking competitions lately, or do you have your eye on any down the road?

I am working on a contest entry right now using hatch chilies. I am also registered for another contest to create a recipe without salt or fat. It’s called the Life or Death Recipe Challenge. Spiceology is a spice company that came up with 13 different salt-free spice blends, to help people with kidney disease, hypertension,and high blood pressure. This contest is all about saving lives.

3. What words of advice do you have for people who are expanding their culinary abilities as they're spending more time at home?

My advice to people is not to be afraid to try something new and different. Unique foods and different cooking techniques are waiting to be explored. Your next favorite new meal will never happen if you don’t try something new!

4. What is something people would be surprised to learn about you?

You might be surprised to learn that at the age of 56, I still enjoy riding my longboard, which I built myself out of an old snowboard from the '80s.

5. What was one of your biggest cooking successes - or flops - that was a big learning lesson for you in your career?

During this pandemic, I went from being Beverly’s main lunch cook, to being unemployed for a couple months, to being back as the Beverly's night broiler cook. In the first couple weeks, I was getting a lot of steaks back, overcooked. I had to re-learn how to cook steaks correctly, after being a lunch cook for four years. Now I am back, and better than ever, thank God! I hope to see all of you very soon for dinner at Beverly’s. I will be the one cooking all the steaks!