While waiting for Kirsten Seltzer to emerge from the kitchen at the Wigwam Resort for her interview I was expecting a lady in her late thirties to early forties. Nope. There aren’t many women who become the Executive Chef of one of the most revered restaurants at one of the most prestigious resorts in Arizona before the age of 30. Impressed? Absolutely!

Chef Kirsten Seltzer is a breath of fresh air. I would wager her lack of airs and her straight forward demeanor are just a few of the reasons she is successful.

Selzer graduated from high school in Northern Pennsylvania and bounced around seeking her path. A few years later, a bolt of lightning struck, and she entered culinary school. After graduating from the outstanding program at Indiana University of Pennsylvania Academy of Culinary Arts, she was offered some choice options for externships; hence, her manifest destiny to the Wigwam Resort in 1999.

Selzer put in 450 hours of externship and within two years was promoted to Garde Manger supervisor for the entire the resort. Two years later she moved into banquet supervision then onto Chef Tournant, meaning “I’ll do it if you can’t,” and in July 2007, she was promoted to Chef de Cuisine of Red’s Steakhouse where she spent the next three years.

 

Under her tutelage, Red’s was awarded the Mobil AAA Four Diamond Status all three years. Selzer is currently in the position of Banquet Chef – that’s a lot of covers at the Wigwam. When asked why she moved around she stated, “I just want to know the whole operation.”  Good answer.

Selzer grew up as an only child with lots of male cousins. Undeterred by her gender, she “broke nearly every bone in (her) body keeping up with the boys.”  Although being an executive chef doesn’t always require body slams, her tomboy background plays well in her favor. “You gotta’ be tough to make it in this business”, says Selzer.  “If someone gives you crap, you’ve got to stand up and give it right back!”

When asked her inspiration for cooking, her answer is typically family oriented.  “My Grandmother taught me how to cook.”  

Her grandma spent 50 years in the biz, working as a Chef for a Nursing Home in Pennsylvania.  If you think it’s hard for a woman to break the barrier now, think how tough it was 50 years ago. Selzer must have been paying attention to that Grandma of hers.

Aside from all of her drive, talent and professionalism, she’s a little self-deprecating and a lot of fun. Someone I could most certainly have a few pops with. We asked her to smile for the camera and she said, “You’ll have to make me laugh to get me to smile for a picture.” So, I told her a joke, dropped the “F” bomb a few times and – voila!

Selzer has a really good sense of humor and a very strong sense of family. She saves up vacation time and heads home to Philly during the slow (i.e. hotter than hell) season here. A few days in the city visiting friends, and she’s off to her family’s beach house in Delaware. They do some serious water sports, go shark fishing (yes, you read that correctly), crabbing and enjoy a low country boil of corn, onion, potato, andouille sausage, crab and shrimp. 

I asked her for the recipe for the boil and she says, “Are you kidding?  I don’t cook when I’m home on vacation?”  So she settles in with her big family, knocks back a few cold ones and sponges up the relaxation she so richly deserves.

Selzer admits that she doesn’t cook for herself as much as she’d like to, but if she did, she’d go Italian with some pasta and good sauces. She nearly put on an accent for this part of the conversation while speaking highly of Tony Luke’s in Philadelphia and their signature Chicken Italiano Sandwich. When asked of her dream job, she mentioned her own catering company or, better yet, her own joint in the East with family stopping by for dinner. I’d eat there.

 

Back to reality and time to attend to the work for which she so passionate. So, for Chef Kirsten Selzer, it doesn’t really seem like work at all which is probably one of the biggest reasons for her success. I’m sure that her Grandmother is quite proud.