By Lacie Johnson, Communications Intern, Home Builders Association of Fargo – Moorhead
Fall is the time for going back to school, watching football, eating comfort food and, of course, enjoying the Fall Parade of Homes and Remodeled Home Tour. To welcome the event back, we are sitting down with area chefs to find out what their dream kitchen looks like.
Last week, we had the chance to sit down with Anthony Bachman, owner of VIP Catering and Fargo Fillies. Anthony has been fulfilling his love for food since middle school.
“I decided that I wanted to be a chef when I was in 6th grade. We were on summer vacation at the lake and my neighbor had me help him grill supper. I helped him prepare supper every night we were there. He had a real passion for it. He taught me some things and I’ve just wanted to do it ever since,” Anthony says.
His love for cooking may have started at the lake, but took him to bigger bodies of water, including the Pacific Ocean on the California coast, where he did an internship at Bertrand at Mister A’s Restaurant in San Diego.
Ultimately moving back to Fargo, he took over VIP Catering in 2017, and has been sharing his love for cooking with the Fargo-Moorhead community through his businesses, also including the Fargo Fillies food truck.
We asked Anthony some questions to get the scoop on what a pro wants in his dream kitchen.
What is one thing you would love to have or is a must-have in your kitchen?
“If I do remodel or build my own kitchen, one thing I’ll for sure want is a gas stove and six burners. When I cook at home, it’s usually to entertain or to do something a little more than normal. Instead of pulling something off to the side, it’s nice to have six burners to cook it all at once.”
Would you prefer a stove in the kitchen or on an island in the center of your kitchen?
“I would probably say an island, because it puts on a show. I recently catered at Audrey Newman’s house, from JW Kitchens. She has a built-in steamer into the island, with a sink right next to it so you can fill the steamer. You can steam veggies and fill it up with water to boil noodles. It even has self-draining mechanisms, so it is really convenient. We do a lot of pasta at my home, so that’d definitely be something on my wish-list.
“Audrey also has a Teppanyaki flat-top grill right next to her induction stove, and I enjoyed using that. I know for a lot of gas stoves, they have flat-tops built right into it, or at the very least you could have a griddled plate that goes over it.”
When you have time to cook at home, what is your go-to dinner to make for your family?
“When I cook for fun at home, it’s usually just for me and my wife, so my go-to would be a good ribeye or New York strip.”
Why do you love cooking?
“There’s a reason I love cooking at home and a reason I love cooking in the restaurant. When I am cooking for myself or a small group of people, I love it because it is relaxing and allows me to be creative and try new things. I love to be able to take my time, feel and smell the ingredients. Then I get to taste every part of it, put a lot more into it and have fun!
“I love working in the restaurant because of the rush. It’s organized chaos and we feed off those busy nights. At the end of the night, once you get through everything, it’s very satisfying.”
Most importantly, if there was only one food that you could eat for the rest of your life, what would it be?
“Probably a seafood. I like halibut and mahi-mahi so definitely one of those. Hopefully, I’d have some other ingredients to switch it up every now and then, like different spices or additional ingredients to make fish tacos or sushi.
To get inspiration for your own kitchen visit the Fall Parade of Homes and Remodeled Home Tour! Event details at paradefm.com
