Villa Afternoon

2010 Villa Afternoon Guest Chef

Cathy Whims, Chef and Co-Owner
Nostrana, Portland Oregon

A chef and co-owner of Nostrana, an Italian restaurant in Portland, Oregon, Cathy Whims has won numerous awards for her work, including two Restaurant of the Year awards while she was head chef at Nostrana.

Her cooking career began at Genoa, another Italian restaurant in Portland, where she flourished for 20 years and eventually became a co-owner. After leaving Genoa, she and three partners began Nostrana, creating a menu dedicated to the simplicity and purity of regional Italian cooking.

In Italian, the word nostrana means “ours,” and it’s an accurate shorthand for what Whims sees as the most important way to prepare food: uncomplicated, nutritious, local, and sustainable. “The real challenge,” says Whims, “is that I’m not even Italian.”

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2010 A Villa Afternoon [ top ]

We are delighted to announce our guest chef for Villa Afternoon 2010 will be Cathy Whims, James Beard nominated chef from Nostrana in Portland. Participants will enjoy a slow food experience featuring Oregon truffles paired with gorgeous Pfeiffer wines, as Chef Whims presents her authentic, seasonal offerings in the comfort of the Villa's gracious demonstration kitchen and dining area.

This limited attendance event is only available to those who choose weekend experiences The Gourmand or The Culinarian on a first-come, first-served basis, and sells out quickly every year.

Villa Evenings from years' past

photos courtesy of: Georgia Freedman