Trap Landry has been in the food business for over 30 years and has been a chef since he was 19 years of age. He received training in French and Spanish cooking, but gained a lot of his knowledge working alongside professional chefs. He says, “I intuitively knew when I graduated high school that I wanted to become a professional chef.”
Trap was born in Austin, Texas and started his chef training in San Antonio. He was offered a job as Executive Chef for a Spanish restaurant in San Antonio when he was in his 20’s. He moved from San Antonio to Austin, then Portland, Maine, followed by New York where he continued to build his skills as a chef. He also says the book, “On Food and Cooking” by Harold McGee was a major educational tool.
In New York, when he was in his 40’s, he became a “consulting chef.” A portion of his job was “coming in and cleaning up the messes left by others.” He adds, “Lots of people who work in professional kitchens really don’t know what they are doing.”
While in New York, he became interested in doing fermented foods. He moved to the Seattle Area and began looking for a job. One day he paid a visit to the Pike Place Market, where he discovered a major pickle making operation based on Whidbey Island: Britt’s Pickles. When he contacted the owner to ask about a job, he was told, “We need a food professional.” In 2014 he became the Chief Fermentation Officer for Britt’s.
Trap wanted his own place, and opened Anthes Ferments in Langley four years ago. The pandemic forced him to close in 2020.
After closing the restaurant he decided to find a safe kitchen to rent and learned there was a commercial kitchen available at the Tilth Market space on Highway 525 and Thompson Road on Whidbey. He now has a rental contract with Tilth to use the kitchen.
He decided to create a personal service approach to providing meals. His personal chef and catering business is called “South End Kitchen,” and he has built a base of regular customers, as well as people who have learned from others about his special recipes and food service.
South End Kitchen is open for pick up orders Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Trap regularly offers several types of foods including Korean BBQ, smoked Vietnamese chicken wings, Mexican, Japanese and other ethnic foods on request. He has many other pre-cooked or ready-to-cook foods that can be picked up at Tilth, or you can request delivery service if you live south of Greenbank.
He caters for weddings, anniversary parties, and other events that are specific to a customer’s request.
To see what is available, visit the website: www.southendkitchen.net. You can order foods and arrange to pick up your order, or ask questions, by calling 425-238-0762, or emailing sendkitchen@gmail.com.
Trap Landry will be offering a special menu at the Octoberfest Nursery Sale at Meerkirk Gardens on October 2. The items featured will include grilled bratwurst, German potato salad and sauerkraut.
