Mrs. Wonderful Cafe welcomes new chef
"Every time I come in here, it's even better than the last time," said Mrs. Wonderful patron Tom Havens, here enjoying a berry scone and coffee with chef Gray Gordon. (Carolyn Hidy/Lake County Leader)
Chef Gray Gordon, offering a fresh-baked plum tart, recently joined the Mrs. Wonderful family, with Gino and Mary Frances Caselli and their daughter, Diana Sheffield (not pictured).
“I have been looking for Gray for six years, ever since I’ve been open,” said Mary Frances Caselli, the “Wonderful” behind the Mrs. Wonderful Cafe in Polson.
Gray Gordon joined the Mrs. Wonderful team in mid-October as their lead chef. Gordon, who polished his skills for the past three years as sous chef at Abruzzo Italian Kitchen in Whitefish, is delighted with the new gig. He bubbles about the focus on organic, local, non-GMO foods, the fresh-caught seafood direct from Alaska, the artisanal pane rustico bread baked daily, and the international cuisine that graces the menu.
“Gray fits right in with the Mrs. Wonderful vision,” Caselli said. “He loves great food, he’s got a great command of the kitchen, he’s confident but not cocky. I feel like he’s part of the family.”
Mrs. Wonderful serves fresh baked goods, breakfast and lunch from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday, with special brunch items such as huckleberry pancakes and eggs Benedict on the weekends. Wednesday nights they create pizza masterpieces with house-made crust and delectable toppings, and on Fridays they pull out all the stops for comfort foods and full gourmet dinners.
The Friday dinner menu shifts to feature what fresh ingredients become available, and the creativity of the chef.
“You might get an appetizer from Switzerland, an entree from Italy, and a dessert from somewhere else,” Gordon said. Dishes include pastas, local grass-fed beef, and seafoods such as sockeye salmon and halibut, fresh-caught and same-day quick-frozen in Alaska, delivered directly to Polson.
“We go with as much locally sourced food as we can,” Gordon said. That includes produce from Ploughshare Farm and Fresh Roots Farm, grass-fed beef from Wally Congden, and dairy from Kalispell Creamery. They offer gourmet olive oils and vinegars imported by Genesis Kitchen of Columbia Falls, locally grown fruits, charcuterie as well as local and European specialty cheeses. They use local organic butter and Montana-grown and milled flour, and organic, locally roasted coffee.
They also sell their own specialties, such as “Garlic Head,” a caramelized garlic tomato paste Gordon uses as a soup base and sauce, and Mrs.Wonderful’s herbed Celtic sea salts. “That’s why everything here tastes so good,” Gordon said, “because we season everything with this awesome salt.”
The Casellis (Mary Frances and her husband Gino) own a small wine grape vineyard outside Polson. With Gordon’s help they will be planting fresh herbs and vegetables for another source of the freshest farm-to-table ingredients. Gordon relishes the farming opportunity, having grown up on a large family organic market farm in Florida.
“I love culinary, and I love growing it as well,” he said.
Caselli’s daughter, winemaker and wine expert Diana Sheffield, curates the wine selection and offers a monthly wine club. Caselli said they emphasize delicious, affordable wines from small wineries all over the world that have “natural practices” in their vineyards and fermentation process.
“These wines come from vineyards that have no spray. Some have natural yeasts. Most have no added sulfites. It makes them healthier to drink,” Caselli said.
After their annual New Year’s Eve dinner, the crew will take a well-deserved break, closing the restaurant for most of January and February. But they will not be absent from the Wonderful food world, offering a Valentine’s Day dinner and special wine-tasting dinners.
And there are a few tickets left for an enticing five-day “Best of Napa Valley” wine and foods tour in February, sponsored by the Mrs. Wonderful family. A Tuscany Tour is in the works for September.
Customer Tom Havens, who visits Mrs. Wonderful regularly, said the restaurant compares favorably with the finest restaurants he has come across in his world travels.
“Mary Frances is a dynamic, fun, talented lady, and their food is incredible. Whatever you get here will be as good as you ever had. If you want a world-class experience, come to Polson for that view, and come to Mrs. Wonderful’s. You will for the rest of your life be happy that you did that.”
For menus, wine club, tours and other information, visit mrswonderfulworld.com or call 406-319-2080.
