Harry's Culinary Team

Great food gets its start from great recipes. Impeccable execution by talented chefs brings the recipes to life. Meet five members of Harry’s culinary team who spend every day at Harry’s kitchen demonstrating they understand the combination of art and science that ensures our products will be at the peak of restaurant quality when they reach your table.

BRIAN WRIGHT – Operations Manager
SUSI HANDKE-GREINER - Research & Development Executive Chef
JOHN McCLELLAN – Operations/Culinary Manager

 

SUSI HANDKE-GREINER – Executive Chef of Research & Development

 

Career Highlights
I grew up in the kitchen – my father is a chef and I always I knew I would work with food. After earning my degree in Culinary Arts from The Culinary Institute of America, I spent over two years at Le Bernardin restaurant in New York City where I worked my way around the kitchen. My restaurant experience taught me the importance of food science in the kitchen and inspired me to return to school to for a BS degree in Food Science. I then broadened my experience beyond the kitchen by working in confectionery and flavor product development before returning to the restaurant world as a menu and recipe consultant for Chef Eric Ripert. My final project with Chef Ripert was working on a PBS pilot, which led me to Portland and to Harry’s.

Why Harry’s
I love the spirit and the attitude! I like the fast pace and teamwork involved to get such quality products to market. While science is fun, I’m not necessarily a proponent of overly worked products. I like that Harry’s uses an all natural approach with as little chemical science as possible.

 

 

JOHN McCLELLAN – Operations/Culinary Manager

 

Career Highlights
Though I’ve worked in the restaurant industry since I was 16, at one time I was attending college to become a CPA - however that was just too dry for me. Since cooking is something I’ve always enjoyed, I decided I was going to make it a career and graduated from the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco in 1993. I was fortunate to immediately land a job as a chef of a restaurant and have since been an Executive Chef at several independent restaurants, and also worked in foodservice. I’m also an active member of several industry organizations including the American Culinary Federation, Chef de Cuisine Society of Oregon and the Research Chefs Association.

 

Why Harry’s
The quality of products made at Harry’s, the history of growth the company has experienced as well as the future growth outlook drew me to Harry’s. We are always on the cutting edge in the market, so things are new and innovative. The Chef influence here is phenomenal. I don’t think you see that in many food manufacturing companies.

 

BRIAN WRIGHT – Operations Manager

 

Career Highlights
Spending a lot of time baking cakes with grandma made me realize my true calling of working in the kitchen. I graduated from the Chef Apprenticeship Program recognized by the American Culinary Federation and the Chef de Cuisine Society of Oregon. Most of my training came from fine dining restaurants and hotels before I was introduced to “Harry” where I was exposed to the food manufacturing side of the world.

 

Why Harry’s
I love the fast paced, teamwork environment Harry’s to offer. The products made here are extremely diverse and produced just as they would be in the back of a restaurant. The approach with fresh ingredients and minimal processing maintains the quality expectations that allow us to stand alone in the manufacturing world.