Elsah Payne, Head Chef, Wild Fish Pacific Grove
Image courtesy of Wild Fish Restaurant
The first thing you notice meeting Elsah is warmth and kindness.
Her demeanor is comfortable, and she exudes engaging energy. She is excited about the opportunity to talk about food and what it means to her. You immediately get the sense that she is someone you want to learn more about.
Born and raised in central Wisconsin, Elsah grew up on what she describes as a hobby farm. Her family raised goats, chickens, and ducks. Everything was made from scratch, and she was surrounded by whole organic foods. This was a normal part of life throughout her upbringing and ultimately served as the source of her inspiration to follow a culinary path.
She jokes a little, saying that cooking is how she processed emotions— good, bad, and everything in between. When she felt happy, she would whip up a dish. When her boyfriend left town, a chocolate souffle was sure to come shortly after. The very first dish she ever cooked was baklava. Her mom made an intense effort to find phyllo dough, but she found some, and the baklava was quite a success.
Becoming a Chef
At 21, Elsah decided to leave her roots in Wisconsin and venture into culinary school at Le Cordon Bleu, College of Culinary Arts in New Hampshire. Not only did this experience deepen her love for food, she also met the love of her life there, Roger Payne, who is now her husband. After graduating, the dynamic duo moved south to Florida and started working right away in restaurants. Making their way back to Wisconsin before the pandemic, they put their hearts and souls into building their own catering company. COVID-19, as it did to so many others, put a permanent wrench in their business endeavor, setting the wheels turning for Elsah and Roger to figure out next steps.
Having spent time in both the mountains of New Mexico and by the water in Florida, it had always been a dream of theirs to live somewhere where they could have access to both, in addition to farmland. California was top of their list. Elsah stumbled across an ad for a chef position at a lovely community-based restaurant in Pacific Grove, and while it sounded like a dream, she knew the competition for a position like this would be high. Connecting with the owners of Wild Fish, Liz and Kelvin, the stars could not have aligned more naturally. Shortly after that, they packed up with two of their three children (the third is in the coast guard in Alaska) and headed west to the Pacific Coast.
Sustainability, flexibility, and the story behind your meal
To Elsah, sustainability is about using as much of a product as possible—everything down to the “scraps” to make broths. She is also hyper-focused on seasonality and local sourcing, acknowledging that when you prioritize these underlying values, you are helping to reduce the amount of energy used from food source to plate. She emphasizes the importance of getting to know the local fishers and farmers that harvest your food, building those relationships to better understand the story and sustainability of the ingredients.
Elsa particularly loves when people come into the restaurant eager to share a product they have and think she might like to try. Take note local vendors and purveyors!
Another mantra of Elsah’s is flexibility—both with the menu and in practice. Especially when it comes to fishing, she notes, you may not always know what products will be available or when you might get them. Tying yourself to a plan is not always an option. This same level of flexibility extends to how she cultivates her team. There is not much staff turnover at Wild Fish. Respectful interactions, work-life balance, and genuine care for each other easily explain how they maintain their staff. As she says, “the most satisfying part of my work is seeing a happy dining room and team.”
The importance of telling the story of her food is an integral piece of the dining experience so diners can appreciate what they are enjoying on the plate even more. She wants the customers to know that the Crème Brulee has dried mushrooms in it and loves to see them excited and open to trying new things.
The atmosphere Elsah, Liz, and Kelvin have cultivated creates an experience for the diner that starts the minute you walk through the front door until you step back out full and happy. Take the time to enjoy this local gem for yourself, and keep an eye out for Elsah while you’re there; her smile will add something extra special to the dish you’re enjoying.