$150 Gift Certificate to Andina Restaurant, Portland: a Taste of Peru in the Pearl.

ABOUT THE CHEF

Head Chef & Kitchen Manager Hank Costello

After two years in the position of sous chef, Hank Costello assumed the role of kitchen manager at Andina in 2009, and of Andina's head chef in the year following. He has since overseen the growth and training of an extraordinary kitchen team, fluent in the techniques and history of Peruvian cuisine, and constantly responsive to the particular spirit that informs the restaurant as a whole. Costello's earliest formative experiences in fine cuisine began in the Castilla region of Spain, where he learned from family and friends the craft and tastes of Spanish gastronomy. With ten-years training in the culinary arts, Costello's bilingual, bicultural, and executive experiences contribute to the range of his activity at Andina. He has fostered close relationships with local farmers in order to find and grow fresh Peruvian ingredients amenable to the western climate. In 2010, in the company of Andina's founder, Peter Platt, Costello traveled to Peru to study and work with leading chefs in Lima and Cuzco, including Coque Ossio, Pedro Miguel Schiaffino, and the kitchen team at La Huaca Pucllana. An untiringly curious and inventive learner in all matters of cuisine, both local and Peruvian, Costello continues to draw deeply from this journey to Peru's political and cultural capitals, which are at once the country's gastronomical centers. Costello has for many years also owned and operated a catering business which focuses on local, healthy foods. A native of Piedmont, California, Costello resides with his wife in Sherwood, Ore.