To experience the flavor of downtown York, you don’t need to look any farther than the city’s emerging restaurant scene.

We asked the chefs from our Autumn 2017 edition cover story to give us their thoughts on cooking for and serving in York’s culinary community. This week, we introduce you to Executive Chef George Sheffer of Victor’s.

With a degree from the Culinary Arts at the Yorktowne Business Institute, George Sheffer has worked in many restaurant kitchens. His experiences range from Disney World’s Wilderness Lodge and Artists Point to the Founder’s Inn, Swan Terrace Restaurant, in Virginia Beach, Virginia. In 2008, he joined the Victor’s team as its executive chef. Over the past nine years, Victor’s has received recognitions ranging from best Italian restaurant to best fine dining restaurant. At Victor’s, Sheffer and his team commit themselves to delivering fresh, cooked-to-order food.

GEORGE SHEFFER, VICTOR’S

Q: How did you get interested in cooking?
A: I started in my teens [at Victor’s] as a dishwasher. Cooking always interested me. Although I tried other avenues in my life, my true calling is the restaurant.

Q: What do you like most about creating your own recipes?
A: I have great satisfaction out of making signature items — and have guests constantly request to have them back on the menu.

Q: What do you appreciate most about dining in York?
A: Patronizing independent restaurants. I feel it’s most important to support the locals.

Q: What do you think makes York an attractive place for foodies?
A: I’m excited to see a new surge in restaurants and bars coming to the area. With our establishment being here for 33 years, we also want to find a balance in the menu from our staple items to pushing ourselves forward with new creative dishes.

Q: What’s one dining concept or cuisine you’d like to see introduced to York?
A: A traditional Asian noodle house or maybe a permanent Indian restaurant.

Like what you’re reading here? Explore all the stories in the Autumn 2017 edition of YRK Magazine. 

To experience the flavor of downtown York, you don’t need to look any farther than the city’s emerging restaurant scene.

We asked the chefs from our Autumn 2017 edition cover story to give us their thoughts on cooking for and serving in York’s culinary community. This week, we introduce you to Chef Taylor Davis of Tutoni’s.

Davis has worked at Loxley’s in Lancaster County and the former Maewyn’s Irish Pub in York. Over his career, he has brought south-central Pennsylvania’s agricultural contributions to the table. At Tutoni’s, which delivers a farm-to-table mindset with its menu offering, Davis works to combine the freshest ingredients into dishes that blend flavors, textures and colors on the plate along with the restaurant’s signature house-made pasta.

TAYLOR DAVIS, TUTONI’S

Q: How did you get interested in cooking?
A: Cooking has been a part of my life as long as I can remember. Both my mother and my grandmother were avid home cooks, so naturally it was something that I would help with and develop a love for.

Q: What do you like most about creating your own recipes?
A: Creating my own recipes allows me to showcase my creativity as well as technique and execution. I believe that cooking has a lot to do with how you handle the ingredients, but also how you can assert your personality into each and every dish you’re creating.

Q: What do you appreciate most about dining in York?
A: The people. The people of York County and the surrounding area have been very open and welcoming to the new restaurants that have been coming into the city, and I’m excited to see how, as a collective group, we can change the way York views this industry.

Q: What do you think makes York an attractive place for foodies?
A: York City has had such an influx in new restaurants, and it’s exciting to see how successful they’ve been. I believe that because York never had a true culinary scene, it makes having a platform here all the more attractive for restaurants that are trying to build foundations in York.

Q: What’s one dining concept or cuisine you’d like to see introduced to York?
A: California-style Mexican food! I grew up in Southern California, so naturally I was raised on tacos, fresh chips and salsa.

Like what you’re reading here? Explore all the stories in the Autumn 2017 edition of YRK Magazine. 

 

To experience the flavor of downtown York, you don’t need to look any farther than the city’s emerging restaurant scene. The chefs of York are embracing more cultural cuisines and pairing culinary innovation with farm-to-table cultivation.

We asked the chefs from our Autumn 2017 edition cover story to give us their thoughts on cooking for and serving in York’s culinary community. This week, we introduce you to Executive Chef Hamir Patel of Infusion Indian Kitchen.

With a passion for cooking and teaching, Patel brings people together to share meals and a sense of community with his approach to taking traditional Indian dishes and infusing them with flavors from around the world. Patel’s roots in the York restaurant community extend to the days of his first catering company, Hampat Specialty Foods.

In 2016, he auditioned for and was accepted as the first candidate in the Taste Test: Pop Up Restaurant Series for his Infusion Indian Kitchen restaurant concept. Two separate pop-up opportunities — one in 2016 when Taste Test operated at YorKitchen inside Central Market and most recently at Taste Test’s 105 S. Duke St. bar and restaurant —garnered Patel rave reviews and a loyal following of patrons. Following his successful Taste Test run, Patel will now move into a permanent brick-and-mortar space at 24 S. George St. this fall.

HAMIR PATEL, INFUSION INDIAN KITCHEN

Q: How did you get interested in cooking?
A: Being a foodie and a picky eater looking for unique flavors all the time, I started creating my own by trial and error along with sampling my dishes with family and friends for flavor and consistency.

Q: What do you like most about creating your own recipes?
A: Unique flavor requires unique recipes; therefore, I wanted to step out of the box of traditional Indian food by creating fun fusion dishes where I can incorporate ingredients from different ethnic cuisines with Indian flavors providing a one-of-a-kind taste.

Q: What do you appreciate most about dining in York?
A: I appreciate dining everywhere in York for one reason. I appreciate the countless hours, dedication and hard work by the chefs of restaurants. I am thankful to YRK for spotlighting the heart and soul of the restaurant chefs and the kitchen team — my heartfelt thanks to them.

Q: What do you think makes York an attractive place for foodies?
A: The current revitalization of downtown York is making a huge impact on the local dining out community. Anywhere in the states, people go downtown for food and drinks. For us, the Taste Test program invites the hidden talent and the missing flavors to come alive in York. It’s an excellent concept that showcases one’s talent and makes them part of the York restaurant community.

Q: What’s one dining concept or cuisine you’d like to see introduced to York?
A: I would love to see different flavor profiles and ethnic cultural cuisines from all around the world in York. It’s definitely time for the unique flavors that York is demanding.

Like what you’re reading here? Explore all the stories in the Autumn 2017 edition of YRK Magazine. 

To experience the flavor of downtown York, you don’t need to look any farther than the city’s emerging restaurant scene. The chefs of York are embracing more cultural cuisines and pairing culinary innovation with farm-to-table cultivation.

We asked the chefs from our Autumn 2017 edition cover story to give us their thoughts on cooking for and serving in York’s culinary community. This week, we introduce you to Executive Chef Abby Shelley of Rockfish Public House.

Shelley is no stranger to the downtown York restaurant scene. She worked previously at Rockfish Public House’s sister restaurant, the White Rose Bar & Grill, before becoming the executive chef at Rockfish in 2016. She and her kitchen staff deliver Rockfish guests an experience they’d get at the best seafood restaurants by the beaches without having to leave downtown York to do it. From lobster rolls to freshly shucked oysters on the half shell, Rockfish’s focus on premium fresh, never frozen, seafood has made the new kid on North George Street’s restaurant row a prime space for lunch, happy hour, dinner and special occasions.

ABBY SHELLEY, ROCKFISH PUBLIC HOUSE 

Q: How did you get interested in cooking?
A: I randomly decided I wanted to do this as a profession. In high school, I had several jobs cooking. However, one chef helped me to fall in love with the hard work, long hours, humor and passion you get from being in a kitchen.

Q: What do you like most about creating your own recipes?
A: I like hearing people talk about a recipe that I have created. It’s amazing to hear the positive, but it’s also important to hear the negative. It helps you to change and better yourself.

Q: What do you appreciate most about dining in York?
A: I personally love the fact that every place is so different, but we are all tied together. As a result, you feel comfortable in any of the settings.

Q: What do you think makes York an attractive place for foodies?
A: Close proximity and plenty of options: We are trying new things as a community and open for the growth.

Q: What’s one dining concept or cuisine you’d like to see introduced to York?
A: I am not sure. I am excited for the next great idea to see it come to life and grow in this exciting downtown.

Like what you’re reading here? Explore all the stories in the Autumn 2017 edition of YRK Magazine.