andie-hubka

Chef’s Night Out

Andie Hubka likes to get out of her restaurant kitchen to engage the public at events like Citi Taste of Tennis.

Alexandria Rosales Current Digital, Restaurants

andie-hubka
Filet tacos is one of the small plate items at chef Andie Hubka's Cork & Fork in La Quinta.
PHOTOGRAPHS BY STEPHANIE CARDONA

It’s hard to keep Andie Hubka in the kitchen.

Beginning with her cooking classes appropriately titled, Cooking with Class, Hubka opened Cork & Fork in La Quinta followed by the fresh Heirloom Craft Kitchen in Indio. She has been engaging the public ever since, sharing her infectious joy for culinary creativity she has found in the kitchen with others.

You will find Hubka away from the kitchen to start March with the Citi Taste of Tennis on March 4 at the Hyatt Regency Indian Wells.

Hubka sees these type of events as a great way for her and her staff to take a break from the kitchen and showcase their signature Local Date Plate and Goat Cheese Bruschetta that she says “everyone freaks out about." She and her staff also find it an opportunity to be influenced by what other chefs are bringing to their table, she says.

Andie Hubka was part of our 2018 class for 40 Under Forty. View her profile and VIDEO.

“Specifically we’re always trying to get our name out there to people who are out of town to see what sorts of culinary arts are going on around here in the valley,” Hubka says. “At an event like ‘A Taste of Tennis’, it’s also about showcasing the local food scene for the tennis fans that come here in March. Also, to reintroduce ourselves to people who have been here before but it has been a long time since they’ve been here. And it is also just fun. We love doing these events.”

Citi Taste of Tennis takes place prior to the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden where local chefs like herself and celebrity chefs like Richard Blais will partner with professional tennis players to enjoy the taste of outstanding food and tennis talk.

“It’s usually a lot of my friends and we all know each others food,” Hubka says. “So it’s a lot of the same chefs usually but I do love when chefs come from out of town. Usually when they have a headlining chef or a celebrity chef that comes in. I try to make myself available to go see their demonstrations and to taste their food. Because obviously it is the way for us to taste and see things that is going on outside the valley.”

AndieHubka

Chef Andie Hubka has opened a pair of restaurants since coming to the desert in 2008.

Hubka updates her menu by 30 to 40 percent every few months to cater to the seasonal ingredients available as well as remain sensitive to customers with gluten intolerance and who are vegetarian or vegan.

“There’s about 20 dishes on the Cork & Fork menu that we just wouldn’t change because they are just so popular,” says Hubka. “And right now we’re bringing in a lot of seafood, because as it starts to get warm, people want seafood and lighter dishes. So we’re adding a lot of seafood to the menu. But that’s my favorite thing to do is changing the menu. It’s a lot of work but I enjoy it. If I can just do that all the time, I would be happy.”

Citi Taste of Tennis, 6:30-9:30 p.m. March 4, Hyatt Regency Indian Wells, 44600 Indian Wells Lane; eventbrite.com.

Keep track of Chef Hubka at Cork and Fork, or Heirloom Craft Kitchen.