Kären Jurgensen
Executive Chef, Baciartful Catering & Cafe
1801 East Marion St (Central District), 323-6986.

Kären leads the fast-paced and highly innovative cooking staff at Baciartful Catering, a swanky catering service known for designing unique events. Jurgensen and Baciartful also designed the café and menu for the Baci Café, located inside the Henry Art Gallery.

What factors drove your career to the point it is now? "I've loved to cook since I was a child, and I was always afraid that if I did it professionally, I would grow to dislike it. But I had a series of life changes--including my mother passing away--that put me back in the restaurant industry. I started with a few private gigs, and then started working part-time and learning from other people. It just sort of grew from there--and I'm never bored. I'm exhausted, but creatively fulfilled."

What were your constraints when you were planning the museum café menu? "Well, there's no kitchen space at all [at the Henry]--just a tiny closet and a small refrigerator--so that's why we do most of the prep here in our central kitchen and then send it to the museum to finish. You also can't have an open flame or odors in a museum. Because of that, and the [museum's] hours, it's basically a lunch menu, but with a European flair."

Your most memorable catering gigs? "The most fun we had was with the Henry Gallery bash. It was their 'Erotic Evening.' We had all aphrodisial foods. We did gorgonzola breasts with gelatin nipples, and made a little chain out of bread between the two nipples. We had an oyster bar, and made stiletto heels out of bread!"

So what's your honest opinion on aphrodisial foods? Do they really work? "I think food is really sensual, and there are certain things that have just the right texture. I don't know if there's really a chemistry thing... although I do believe that with oysters!"

So you have a couple of outside projects. "I'm a member of WCF [Women Chefs and Restaurateurs], and I'm president of the local chapter of the Chef's Collaborative, which I just relaunched in Seattle. It's all about educating chefs and customers about sustainable foods. Most of that has to do with seafood and supporting your local farmer--understanding how your menu can set a trend and make a difference in the environment. It's something I've been concerned about for a while. I think the recent awareness about the growing extinction of Chilean sea bass has gotten the public concerned again--and we're wiping out Patagonia fish as well. We had a sustainable seafood conference at Flying Fish [recently], and started getting a lot of feedback about folks wanting more information on sustainable foods."

Interview by Hannah Levin