Back in 1996, chef Jack Strong was new to the culinary world working at a restaurant in Eugene when his approach to cooking and dining changed forever. Strong, then learning the ropes of the industry, remembers his mentor challenging him to come up with a special that spoke to him—a dish inspired his heritage and culture.
Strong, a member of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, grew up on the Siletz Reservation on the Oregon Coast and had developed an affection for down-home foods that incorporated pantry staples—such as roasts, chicken noodle soup, and meat-and-potato dishes. "Everything we had was made from scratch, but it was all really simple, humble food," he says.
Eventually, Strong developed a tostada-like dish made from fry bread, smoked salmon, capers, and onions. "It represented perseverance and being able to take these commodities and make something versatile," he says.
That early challenge stuck with Strong, and he'd go on to refine his culinary approach over the following decades as a chef on the Oregon Coast, across the Pacific Northwest, and in Arizona. Today, Strong is the executive chef at The Allison Inn & Spa's Jory Restaurant in Newberg—where he and his team imbue each dish with a sense of story and place that incorporate Strong’s Siletz roots and the flavors of the Willamette Valley.
Strong grew up on the Oregon Coast and has fond memories of cooking for others from an early age. He was raised by his grandfather and grandmother, and remembers making the most of whatever pantry items they happened to have on hand. Buying a microwave became a formative childhood memory.
In high school, Strong started working at a fish-and-chips restaurant in Newport—where he'd see the eatery's owners head to the docks on Yaquina Bay and source the day's fish straight from the anglers who caught them. Seeing that practice brought Strong back to his childhood, when relatives would drop by with fresh crab and seafood. To Strong, it embodied everything a meal should offer: fresh flavors, locally sourced ingredients, and a sense of community.
Strong carried that ethos with him as he pursued his dreams in the culinary field
In 2009, Strong left Eugene for a string of chef positions throughout the West—including various culinary roles at a number of hotels in Arizona between 2017 and 2022.
In Arizona, Strong met members of the state's 22 federally recognized tribes—where he learned about their traditions, cultures, and cuisines. And as chef de cuisine at Sheraton Grand at Wild Horse Pass, home to the award-winning Kai restaurant, Strong started seeing how food could tell impactful stories that left a mark on satisfied diners.
The wellness-minded Sheraton Grand at Wild Horse Pass sits on the Gila River Indian Community and is owned by the Pima and Maricopa people who have lived on the land near present-day Phoenix since time immemorial. Early in his tenure at Kai, Strong marveled at how the tribes told their stories in countless ways.
Strong's teenage years in Newport had given him an appreciation for fresh, local ingredients—and soon after arriving in Arizona, he was imbuing another kind of history and heritage into his dishes. "It was great as a Native chef to really elevate and showcase first foods and tribal foods in a way that was approachable and also respectful," he says.
While in Arizona, he even co-authored a cookbook—New Native American Cuisine: Five-Star Recipes From The Chefs Of Arizona's Kai Restaurant—that reimagined Native American cuisine through the prism of European techniques, imaginative wine pairings, and creative cocktails.
Master Gardener Anna Ashby tends to the Chef's Garden at The Allison Inn & Spa—which provides ingredients for the hotel's on-site Jory Restaurant.
Strong enjoyed Arizona, but he missed Oregon's disparate seasons and ever-present greenery. So in October 2022, he returned to the Beaver State to take over as executive chef at The Allison Inn & Spa's Jory Restaurant in Newberg.
It wasn't long before Strong became enamored with the resort's 1.5-acre Chef's Garden—which, under the watchful eye of master gardener Anna Ashby, produces 300 pounds of honey annually, as well as zucchini, melons, peppers, tomatoes, herbs, and other crops that are used for the rotating menu at Jory. "That's such a neat thing to be so connected to literally the soil out across the street," Strong says.
When Strong and Ashby can't source a crop from the Chef's Garden, Strong is mindful to bring the item in from a regional producer. Wherever the ingredients come from, however, Strong and his culinary team are always looking for innovative ways to highlight local ingredients and seasonal flavors.
One recent example is the "Celebration of Bees" dessert that Strong and his team put together to highlight the Chef Garden's prolific beehives. Its exact ingredients may change slightly with each season, but a recent recipe included a honey-lemon verbena semifreddo, honeycomb tuile, blackberries, blackberry sorbet, goat cheese mousse, and fennel pollen soil. "Until we put that on the menu, how many people really know that we have beehives across the street?" Strong says. "We have over 300 pounds, and it gives us a chance to tell that story."
Incorporating fresh, locally grown ingredients tells only part of Strong's story. Soon after returning to Oregon, he wanted to use seasonal ingredients that also told the story of Native American tribes that have lived in the Pacific Northwest for generations.
Early on, for instance, Strong and his production sous chef created a dish centered around mussels, which Strong says have provided Pacific Northwest coastal tribes with sustenance for millennia. "I really got to do something I've been wanting to do for most of my career," he says.
In the years since, Strong and his team have used elk sausage, butternut squash, and other items that provided nourishment for the region’s first Native Americans.
In 2023, Strong's team spearheaded a Native American heritage dinner to celebrate National Native American Heritage Month—where each course reflected different cultures and traditions from throughout South, Central, and North America. One course, for instance, incorporated Pacific Northwest-grown heirloom tomatoes and Olympia oysters. Another course included beans, corn, and cacao. Potatoes, meanwhile, were used in a few courses—and Strong sourced them from a tribal farmer. Strong hopes to expand the event to multiple nights in upcoming years.
For day-to-day diners, Strong sees the chance to pass along education on heirloom tomatoes, huckleberries, and other dishes that have long been important to the region's Indigenous communities. "It's about using the ingredients that are here, and that's the bounty of the Northwest—but then it's reminding and telling the story of what those are and how they're important to a tribe."
