If you are a fan of the Food Network show Beat Bobby Flay, you might have seen Chef Natascha Hess featured on the August 11th episode, “Just Dill With It,” making a cucumber salad with Chili oil from the secret ingredient- Persian Cucumbers. Hess is the Chef and Owner of the Ginger Pig, an Asian restaurant serving traditional Chinese and creative Asian fusion dishes. Over the past years, Hess, and the Ginger Pig, which operated as a food truck for four years before becoming a brick-and-mortar restaurant, have experienced significant critical acclaim including the awards for Westword’s Best Food Truck in Denver in 2018 and Best New Pan-Asian Restaurant in 2021. Ginger Pig was also featured as a new addition on Eater Denver’s Essential 38 Restaurants List this past July, a source I heavily rely upon for finding excellent restaurants in the Denver area.
Recently, I have had the pleasure of speaking to Chef Hess, who was kind enough to take me on the journey through her life, including her story about starting and growing the Ginger Pig. The journey was anything but straightforward, to say the least. Studying as a Chinese major in college, Hess traveled to China, where she lived with a host family. This is where she fell in love with Asian cuisine. She shared that the family gathered fresh ingredients daily from local vendors and would prepare 3-4 dishes together: chef Hess helping in the kitchen as well. She described this as her “first exposure to farm-to-table” cooking and was mesmerized by the layers and complexity of flavors that the food contained. She was also fascinated by the different approach to vegetables in China, in which “meat is almost the garnish… and vegetables are kind of the star,” a stark contrast to the United States where meat is often the center point of a dish. Hess recalls pot stickers and Disanxian (meaning ‘the three treasures from the Earth’), a flavorful stir fry of eggplant, potato, and pepper, to be some of her favorite dishes that her host family made. The culinary knowledge Hess gained through this experience created a special connection between her and food, however, she would not pursue her food-related endeavors for quite some time.
My client is innocent, objection! Chef Hess, or should I say, Attorney Hess, worked as a lawyer after graduating from the Sturm College of Law at the University of Denver. She practiced criminal, bankruptcy, and divorce law, but stated that she was “not a desk person” and craved a sense of teamwork and comradery that lawyering did not provide. Hess later returned to sports broadcasting, which she did before attending law school, doing the pre- and post-game shows for the Colorado Rockies, Denver Avalanche, and Denver Nuggets. But this too, was not entirely what Hess wanted to do.
Ingrained in her mind was the idea to start a food truck, however, Hess had no prior culinary experience. While enjoying dinner at Brazen in Denver whose Executive Chef was Carrie Baird; Baird, the fourth-place finisher on Top Chef Season 15, overheard Hess discussing her food truck aspirations, and offered her a stage (internship) position at her restaurant. On her first day as an intern, the dishwasher failed to show, and Hess was happy to step into the role. She stated that she was lucky to have this as her first restaurant work experience claiming that “if you do not want to do dish for a day, you are not gonna be able to do this (working in the restaurant industry).”
At Brazen, the relationship between Baird and Hess blossomed, with Baird becoming “an incredible mentor, friend, cheerleader, and support system” for Hess. As Hess’s food truck idea began to further develop, Baird was by her side, helping her with both the business and culinary aspects of the venture. Baird believed in the idea that “great chefs also put out other great chefs,” and Hess heavily attributes Baird for helping her become the exceptional chef she is today.
The Ginger Pig operated as a food truck for four years before opening their first permanent location in Denver. Chef Hess describes that having a food truck was a “great entry into the food world” and an excellent way to test dishes, target markets, and locations for operation. Upon opening the restaurant, Hess was very confident that people would enjoy the food that she and her team put out, considering the endless trials on the food truck over the four-year period. With flavorful dishes such as Sichuan Spicy Eggplant, Char Siu Pork, and Vietnamese Garlic Noodle, it is no surprise that the Ginger Pig has been such a tremendous hit within the Denver food scene.
Chef Hess and her restaurant’s success has been recognized on the national scale with the Food Network inviting her to participate on the show Beat Bobby Flay this past summer. This creative culinary contest involved more than just Hess, with her kitchen staff giving her mystery ingredients including blue cheese, guanciale, and chicken livers, to practice with. More than just being an incredible experience, however, Hess describes this event as “validating her career change” and giving her a broader platform to inspire people to change careers in order to do what they love.
After working as both lawyer and sports broadcaster, some may feel that entering the kitchen environment would have been otherworldly. Not Hess, not one bit. Hess, who played both Hockey and Softball for much of her life, felt immediately comfortable in the kitchen, comparing the comradery amongst the kitchen staff to a sports team. Hess also loved the aspect of redemption that comes along with working in a kitchen, “if you don’t have a good day today, you can go back and try again tomorrow.” On the busy line during a rush, you always have the opportunity to improve upon the work you did before. Hess’ vast work experiences have given her a sense of perspective; sitting at a desk, unpacking difficult case files, may have ingrained persistence, grit, and dedication in Hess, but she also states that, “every day I rather do dishes now than go to court.”
Stepping aside from Hess as a chef at the Ginger Pig and going to a chef at home, I asked her what she enjoyed making when not working in a busy restaurant. She explained that after two years of not wanting to cook at home due to being burnt out, she had finally started to cook again, often going to the farmers market, picking up some fresh produce, and making a few delicious salads. What concerns eating out, Hess stands by Savory Vietnam Restaurant and a filling deli-style sandwich from Carmine Leonardo’s Italian as her go-to local spots.
Ginger Pig and Chef Hess have already been highly successful, and anyone living in Boulder, Colorado, should be very excited because a new Ginger Pig location is opening right on the Hill before the new year. Hess might have suspensefully mentioned something about a “ghost concept” at the Ginger Pig in Boulder, but when I asked for more detail, she did not care to elaborate at this time…. I guess I should have gotten the memo about the “ghost” part. Anyway, I cannot wait to try out the Boulder location of the Ginger Pig!
I want to thank Chef Natascha Hess for taking the time to meet with me and for sharing her story!
If you enjoyed this post, check out my last food opinion piece on Why More Restaurants Should Have Mocktails On Their Menu.