Cathy Whims facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Cathy Whims
Born	1956 (age 69–70)
Nationality	American
Occupation	Chef restaurateur
Years active	1970s–present

Cathy Whims, born in 1956, is an American chef and a person who owns and manages restaurants in Portland, Oregon. She has been nominated six times for the James Beard Foundation Award, which is a very important award in the food world. Some of the restaurants she has owned in Portland include Genoa, Nostrana, and the pizza place Oven and Shaker.

Early Life and Cooking Start

Cathy Whims was born in 1956. She grew up in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Her parents were Harold Carter Whims Jr. and Ann Virginia Thomas Whims.

Cathy's mother was a great cook, inspired by famous chefs like Julia Child. Cathy has said that she started cooking because she truly loved it. She learned a lot from Italian cooking writer Marcella Hazan and French chef Madeleine Kamman. In 1998, Cathy even studied with Marcella Hazan in Venice, Italy. Later, she worked in restaurants in the Langhe region of Italy.

Cathy's Restaurant Journey

The outside of Genoa restaurant in 2012. Cathy Whims was a chef and co-owner here for 18 years.

The outside of Oven and Shaker in 2017.

Early in her career, Cathy worked as a bread and pastry chef at a natural-food restaurant. She also cooked for private dinners in Chapel Hill. Later, she worked in kitchens in the San Francisco Bay Area.

In 1979, Cathy moved to Portland, Oregon. She immediately started working at the Produce Row Café. She then became a prep cook at an Italian restaurant called Genoa. A prep cook helps get ingredients ready. Later, she became the main chef, known as the executive chef. After working there for 18 years, she became a co-owner of Genoa. This restaurant was famous for bringing fancy dining to Portland. Genoa closed in 2014.

Cathy Whims has opened several other popular restaurants in Portland:

• Nostrana (opened in 2005 and is still open today). This restaurant serves traditional Italian food. It's also known as a popular spot for a drink called the Negroni.
• Hamlet (open from 2015 to 2017). In 2015, Portland Monthly magazine called Hamlet one of Portland's best restaurants.
• Oven and Shaker (opened in 2011 and is still open today). This pizzeria specializes in Neapolitan pizza, which is a special kind of pizza from Naples, Italy. Food & Wine magazine named it a "best new pizza place."

In 2017, Cathy helped the James Beard Foundation with their Smart Catch program. This program teaches restaurants how to serve seafood that is caught in a way that protects the ocean and fish populations. In 2018, she opened Enoteca Nostrana, a European wine bar next to Nostrana. It has 40 seats.

Awards and Recognition

The outside of Nostrana restaurant in 2019.

After opening Nostrana, Cathy Whims was nominated for the James Beard Foundation Award for Best Chef: Northwest six years in a row, from 2008 to 2013. She was also nominated for a 2016 James Beard Foundation Journalism Award. This was for a story she co-wrote called "Into the Woods," which was published in EatingWell magazine.

Cathy also won the first "Wild About Game Cook-Off." This cooking competition was held in Welches, a town about 40 miles southeast of Portland. She won with her dish called "Qualgie Con Fiche." It was made with quail (a type of bird) roasted with a fig jam sauce. It came with braised greens and polenta.

Benjamin Tepler from Portland Monthly magazine has called Cathy Whims "the unofficial queen of Italian cooking" for the Pacific Northwest region. Katie Chang from Food Republic wrote that Cathy "helped train and bring up a new generation of talented chefs." Many people say these chefs helped make Portland a world-famous place for dining. Cathy's recipes have been shared in cookbooks and other publications like Epicurious, The Seattle Times, and The Wall Street Journal.

Personal Life

Cathy Whims is married and lives in Portland, Oregon. Her partner, David West, is a co-owner of Nostrana and Enoteca Nostrana. Cathy has said she feels like a "born-again Italian" because of her love for Italian culture and food. She also has a sister who works in the restaurant business.

When her mentor, Marcella Hazan, passed away in 2013, Cathy created a special tribute menu at Nostrana to honor her. Nostrana's menu often features recipes inspired by Hazan. It also includes dessert recipes Cathy learned from American chef and writer Nancy Silverton.

See also

In Spanish: Cathy Whims para niños

• List of American restaurateurs
• List of people from Portland, Oregon