News4U | Local Chef Spotlight – Mike & Shelly Sackett, Kitchen Affairs

Local Chef Spotlight – Mike & Shelly Sackett, Kitchen Affairs
Dylan Gibbs

So far, we’ve explored the kitchens and the people in them through restaurants; this month we go to an establishment that hosts a fine kitchen and equipment, ingredients, gadgets (some difficult to locate in Evansville): Kitchen Affairs. Mike Sackett and his wife Shelly co-operate the business, and bring with them decades of experience in business – some of the non-cuisine-related variety.

In keeping with our “keeping it local” theme, Mike and Shelly offer a unique perspective on food and fine feasting in this interview conducted recently:

The word "affair" is integrated into the name of the business; was it born of an affair of sorts with food?

Actually, before we opened the store, Shelly and a friend had a catering business called "An Affair to Remember," so to have some continuity we proposed Kitchen Affairs as one of several possible names for the business. We polled about 50 of our friends and this was the name that won the most votes. We were looking for a name that would say, "It's about food, but we're not a restaurant." This seemed to work.

What is your background? What did you do before Kitchen Affairs began?

Mike was raised in the oil fields of southern Illinois, while Shelly was born in Chicago and spent her teen years in Iowa. We met at the University of Illinois in Champaign. Mike started in retail in 1968 and spent 14 of the next 16 years in retail, selling men's clothing, unisex clothing, women's clothing and auto parts. We came to Evansville so Mike could join his family's oil production business. Unfortunately, our timing was terrible. The oil bust of the mid-80s nearly broke us, and we looked to return to retail. Kitchen Affairs is actually our fourth business.

Tell about the classes you offer, please, and what do you want people of all ages to go away with after they've completed a class?

All our classes are intended to be avocational (non-professional) and most are demonstration only. We hope our students will go home saying to themselves ‘I really enjoyed that. I ate well. I learned something, and am more confident in my own cooking ability than I was before the class. I can't wait to try . . . at home. And I can't wait to take another class. It's money well spent!’ Since you asked, this is what we really hope they'll be saying to themselves after a class.

What advice would you give to someone who is interested in cooking but is too afraid to ask? Or for that matter, doesn't know what to ask?

We tell our students and customers "The only stupid question is the one you DON'T ask." We consider our role in the community to be as much one of education as of selling product. We train our staff that their primary role is to make our customers feel comfortable in the store, and to educate them about the merchandise we carry. We always have hand-outs and brochures available, and every day we answer questions on the phone, often to people who are too embarrassed to come in and ask in person. We never ask if that person is a customer. We are happy to try to answer all questions concerning food and/or cooking. Sometimes we'll take their number, research the question, and call them back. We make a lot of new customers by offering this service. So our advice is "Don't ever be afraid to ask. It's a whole lot better to be slightly embarrassed in our store, than to make something that tastes less-than-wonderful for your family or friends." While we certainly are not going to make anyone into a TV chef, we have had students go on to become chefs, restaurateurs, food stylists, professional bakers, and other culinary professions. It gives us great pleasure to have helped these people along their way. And we'd like to think we've even improved the quality of more than a few family dinners served at home.