EASTON — Bas Rouge Executive Chef Harley Peet brought home the Eastern Shore’s first ever James Beard award last week, when he was named the Mid-Atlantic Best Chef at an award presentation in Chicago.
“To be able to bring that home to everybody, to the entire hospitality industry in Easton, Cambridge, St. Michaels and Tilghman, that’s what I’m excited about,” Peet said. “That has to be the biggest thing.”
The Easton-based fine-dining restaurant includes European-style dishes sourced from local ingredients. Bas Rouge’s website states that as chef, Peet “employs rare ingredients from around the world in addition to locally-harvested produce, seafood, and pasture-raised meats from Eastern Shore farmers and watermen.”
Hailing from a small town in Michigan, Peet appreciates the closeness of a small community like Easton.
“People in these small towns, we are doing amazing things,” Peet said. “...We are supplying jobs and sustainable work for immigrants, and for anybody.”
Peet joined Bluepoint Hospitality Group to run its Easton restaurants, including Bas Rouge, in 2014. Bluepoint’s owner, Paul Prager, “had been after (Peet) for a while,” the chef said.
Peet recalled Prager’s belief in him as a “giant gamble,” but one that has certainly paid off. Bas Rouge is now a hotspot for both tourists and culinary fanatics, offering dishes such as a wiener schnitzel and a Dover sole.
“I liked his vision, and I drank the Kool-Aid, and I was fully on board,” Peet said. “That’s why we did it, for us and for the town. We didn’t do it to get the accolades.”
This year’s competition was the first time Peet put name in for consideration for James Beard Foundation Awards, an annual ceremony recognizing the best chefs and restaurants across the nation.
“I have never pursued it because I was so intimidated by it,” Peet told The Star Democrat in February after his initial nomination.
The James Beard Foundation defines the regional best chefs as those “who set high standards in their culinary skills and leadership abilities, and who are making efforts to help create a sustainable work culture in their respective regions, while contributing positively to their broader community.”
The Bas Rouge chef was one of five finalists for the regional award, beating out chefs from Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware and Washington, D.C.
Along with meeting nationwide leaders in the culinary and hospitality industries, Peet was astounded by the wide range of work the James Beard Foundation does, including commitments to equality and sustainability.
Peet also met up with family from Michigan, including his brother. During his acceptance speech, Peet thanked Prager, his fellow team members and co-workers, and his husband, Spencer Carroll.
“He’s the one that’s got to bear the brunt of all of this in reality,” Peet said of his husband. “We’re not home a lot and when we are home, I’m either tired, cranky or hungry. … He’s an amazing, amazing person.”
Peet said he’s taking the weekend off to relax with his husband, but that he is as ecstatic as can be to return to the Eastern Shore and Bas Rouge next week.
“Really excited to get back to work, get in the kitchen, see some customers and go for it,” Peet said.
Tom McCall contributed reporting to this story.
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