There's a new chef in town

International chef Wayne Martin came to the Saratoga Hot Springs Resort two months ago and is in a love affair with Saratoga and Carbon County. Martin said he can't wait until his family gets to join him and see the beauty and strong community that surrounds him in Saratoga.

"I love it here," Martin said. "This is where I want to raise my daughters, because look at this community."

He mentions the recent Saratoga Forest Management mill fire as an example of strong community atmosphere.

"Saratoga is how I see what America should be," Martin said. "Look at the fire recently. How often do firemen go fight a fire and the community is making sure they are fed and helping them any way they can because the communities appreciate their efforts. Really, where can you go to America and find this?"

Martin has earned the title international chef, having cooked all over the world and still has a stake in a venue in the Philippines where his wife and daughters currently live. Once he gets more settled in Saratoga, his family will join him.

Martin is originally from Jackson, Mich. and said his first job was at a Bob's Big Boy in Michigan when he was 15. At 17, after graduation, he joined the Army.

Martin said he has been a disciplined person since his days in the military. He served six years in the army. After the army he joined the marines for two years and during this time in the military he went into their culinary school.

"I went to Ft. Lee in Virginia to their culinary school and eventually taught," Martin said.

The experience he gained in the military influences how he manages a kitchen.

"I probably learned about leadership and the responsibility a leader has to workers," Martin said. "My feeling, when there is a problem with a worker, 90 percent of the time it is usually because leadership is lacking. To be succinct, I don't believe in management as much as I do in leadership."

He said there is no job in the kitchen he should not step up to if it needs to be done, whether it is being on the line or doing dishes.

"I have to lead by example, so that means there is no job I won't do in this kitchen," Martin said.

The past couple months he has been working at the Resort, he has been determined to bring quality with consistency to any meal he allows out of the kitchen.

"If I see something wrong, it doesn't go out the door to the customer," Martin said. "I instill that to staff too. We owe it to the customer for our food to always be the same in quality and taste if we serve it."

The military emphasized strong cleanliness of a kitchen and Martin is a certified food protection manager (CFPM) and has been teaching the program for years.

Martin not only takes all aspects of food preparation earnestly, he is extremely committed to training and teaching what he knows to his staff. He is excited about some international workers coming to the resort to learn food techniques over the summer.

"We have a responsibility to further their culinary training so when they walk out of here they will have a certificate of certain trainings and a recommendation from a first class restaurant in a resort setting," Martin said.

He believes in not only giving these global trainees an education in the culinary arts of food preparation, he wants them to experience what is great about Wyoming and the USA.

"Not only will they have all this culinary experience to take back to their home country, but I want them to get a chance to see the beautiful places around here and maybe get a chance for them to travel to Yellowstone and Denver, so they will understand that America is a really great place," Martin said.

This is not the first time he has lived and operated restaurants in Wyoming.

Martin lived in Douglas, where he owned a pizza restaurant and his first wife had family. Due to their success in Douglas, he opened two more pizza places in Evansville and Glenrock. However, the wind got too much for his wife and they moved to Orlando, where they started a restaurant. He ended up opening 15 restaurants in three years, but dissolved what he and his wife built up when they went their separate ways. From there he worked all over the globe. Countries in Central America, South America and Asia.

"I am familiar with taking care of restaurants in other cultures and this type of knowledge is important when you are serving guests, no matter where they come from," Martin said.

Martin is a chef who can prepare raw, vegan, organic, kosher, halal meals and realizes tableside manner is important. He said he will make something on the spot, if customers have special needs.

"I am a chef that goes to tables," Martin said. "I want feedback then and if there is anything lacking, I want to be able to fix it if possible at that moment."

His creativity can be seen on his Facebook page with the construction of a Tyrannosaurs rex cake. Martin demonstrated in photographs the assembly of the monster dessert.

Although no dinosaur dessert has been served at the resort yet, Martin is serving jumbo size chicken wings with sauces as diverse as bourbon barbecue to sweet Asian hot and spicy. Martin said the buffalo wings are made to be balanced with a spicy taste, yet not so overpowering that the flavor of the chicken is lost.

He has brought his pizza pie making experience and has noted he inow sometimes sells 15 plus pizzas in an evening. He knows that wings and pizza go great with craft beer-a house speciality-which is why he is excited about the response he has received for his recipes.

Beef still figures predominantly on the menu. Martin said they will be using black angus as the beef of choice.

He said he has been slow about changing the menu that took over, because he wants to listen to regular customers and guests on what they feel should be altered. He believes customer input is essential to designing menus.

Martin said the owner, Dr. Michael Janssen, has impressed him with the commitment he has to the resort. Martin is also very happy with the staff at the resort.

"I work with a management staff that really cares about the customers," Martin said qualifying he is not just saying the words because they sound good.

"I really feel like I found a place to spend the rest of my life," Martin said.