Meet Chef Carrie Trogan

Jan. 31, 2010

Meet Chef Carrie Trogan
She brings a touch of Chicago’s style to Hanna Bistro
By Rick Coates
Executive Chef Carrie Trogan of Hanna Bistro in Traverse City left her home in
Saginaw to pursue a psychology degree at Western Michigan University. Growing up, she had not given much thought to becoming a chef, but after college graduation she moved to Chicago where she found herself helping friends cater parties.
Trogan caught the culinary bug and headed off to chef school. After working in a variety of positions at kitchens in Chicago and out west, her parents suggested that she move to Traverse City (where they had recently retired) and try to get a job working for Amanda Danielson at Trattoria Stella (their favorite place). Lucky for Rob Giffer and Hanna that Stella was not hiring.
Chef Carrie took time after a busy Tuesday night dinner rush to share some thoughts:

Northern Express: To stereotype, this industry it has been male-dominated. So has this been a challenge for you, especially from a respect standpoint?
Chef Carrie: The respect thing has been an issue from my first day. It remains that way still and it probably will be that way in my lifetime. From my first day in a position of authority, I was the only female in the kitchen and there was definitely resentment.
I think men look at women as being more nurturing and mothering; they expect you to be baking muffins and not giving orders. A male chef can bark orders and he is being assertive; when I do it I am being bitchy and there is this sense of resentment. Even more so when they found my pay stub (at her first job) and saw that I made considerably more, it caused hard feelings. Regardless, I am not going to change my style of management.

NE: Describe that style of management.
Chef Carrie: I am not a yeller and a bang- the-spatula-on-the-counter chef. I tend to be more instructional and prefer that approach.

NE: This is a business in which you can find yourself here 16 hours a day, seven days a week. That must be a challenge?
Chef Carrie: I think it is important to have balance. Look, I work those long hours and days when I have to, but the reality is no one wants that grumpy, bitchy person in the kitchen and long work hours often result in that. So having balance and time off is important. I am fortunate to have a boss (Rob Giffer, owner) who believes that.
I am new to town and I have not had a chance to get to many places as of yet, but after the article on Chef Ted (Express 1/4), I went to aerie for the first time. Everything was perfect: the menu, the presentation, the food, and guess what? Chef Ted did not personally prepare it, he wasn’t even there. So that is a testament to his work as the executive chef there and I admire that. I think that is an important quality to a chef to be able to train your staff to prepare food on the menu as you would if you were there. I believe that balance between work and personal life is important and also for my line cooks and sous chefs to be able to not have me breathing down their backs every minute of every day. For me, time away also allows for research whether it be traveling or cooking at home and that benefits me personally and professionally.

NE: Describe a typical day.
Chef Carrie: Is there such a thing in this business? Typically I like to come in and get a handle on the product I have to work with for the day. I work the line during lunch as I love to cook. Typically mid afternoons I do paperwork, answer calls, meet with vendors and write menus. Other parts of a typical day include developing features, prepping the features and training the staff. I stick around for the start of dinner, usually for the first five to six plate ups of a new dish to make sure it is being executed the way I want it to be.

NE: There is so much talk about wellness and organic, local foods: what are your thoughts?
Chef Carrie: This is a challenge because if you are working in a place where food costs drive the bottom line you don’t want to hear those words because they are expensive. I am in favor of it, but it is just not for every restaurant, and consumers also do not always understand the costs in going organic and creating a wellness menu. But the restaurant industry is changing and so is the business model as well as guests’ expectations of what is being served on their plate.

NE: There is a lot of talk that we are becoming the culinary capital of the Midwest, do you agree?
Chef Carrie: I think we are very fortunate to have some wonderful restaurants in Northern Michigan, but the reality is we have a long way to go before we are even close to being in the same league as a Chicago or other large metropolitan areas in the Midwest. That in no way is to take away from what we have here and maybe someday we will get there, but we are not there yet. I think people like Chef Ted at the Resort, the Danielsons and Chef Myles at Stella -- and I could list others -- are delivering on a world class level, but the quantity of offerings here is nowhere close to, say, a Chicago.

NE: Hanna evolved out of Hattie’s in Suttons Bay and was owned by Jim Milliman who is legendary in culinary circles here in Northern Michigan. He had been the executive chef and proprietor, so this must have been a daunting task replacing him and trying to fill his shoes.
Chef Carrie: I worked for Jim for a year before he sold to Rob, as a line cook and pastry chef. I never took the approach of trying to fill his shoes; instead, I simply wanted to leave my own mark on Hanna. I am very fortunate to have a boss in Rob Giffer who has allowed me to express myself and we have seen eye-to-eye on the direction we are trying to take Hanna. This is a business about being who you are and not about trying to be someone else.

Hanna Bistro is open seven days a week and is located on Cass Street in downtown Traverse City. They serve lunch and dinner and offer a Sunday Brunch. Hanna typically hosts two to three special dinners a month along with a wine tasting. To view menus and upcoming events check out hannabistrobar.com or call them 231-946-8207.

Getting to know Chef Carrie Trogan:

Position: Executive Chef · Hanna Bistro · Traverse City, MI · Since December 2008
Employees: 8+ (depends on the season)
Volume: 45,000 plus served in 2009
Age: 36

Experience: 7 years commercially but started by helping friends cater.
• The Tasting Room at Randolph Cellars, Chicago, Internship
• Spring Creek Ranch, Jackson Wyoming, Sous Banquet Chef/Executive Chef
• Amara Resort, Sedona Arizona, Line Cook
• Sedona Golf Resort, Sedona, Kitchen Manager/Banquet Chef

Education: Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology, Western Michigan Chicago Culinary Arts Degree, School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Certified Chef Designation from the American Culinary Federation (in progress)

Affiliations:
• Women’s Restaurant Association
• Girl Scout Uncorked Cookie Dessert Challenge
• American Culinary Federation

Personal: Single, moved to Traverse City in 2007. Loves to travel (favorite hobby) abroad and throughout the U.S (Puerto Rico a favorite destination), loves sports, snowshoeing, downhill skiing, working out, voracious reader of fiction and food industry books. Cooking at home for research, fun and relaxation is also a big hobby. Jewelry making and mosaic tile art.

Quote: “My philosophy about the food I serve at Hanna is starting to reflect my own personal attitude towards food in general. I have a hard time trying to sell food that I personally would not choose to eat myself. I don’t open cans or pull from the freezer at home, I make things from scratch using local and fresh so why would I want to do anything different for the guests coming to Hanna?”