About our Chef

Lone Mountain Ranch is ecstatic to welcome Chef Bill Baskin as the new Executive Chef and Food and Beverage Director. Chef Bill is no stranger to the Ranch. He was a chef here in the late 90’s for four years and is very familiar with the Ranch, our guests and the quality we offer.
 
“I couldn’t be happier to be back in Big Sky. After years of pursuing work interests in several cities, my wife & I have come full circle.  We met here & have always wanted to return. Lone Mountain Ranch is where I learned to cook & where I met many of my closest friends. I take a lot of pride in the culinary tradition of this place & look forward to putting my stamp on the Food and Beverage program.”

Chef Bill Baskin has been cooking with the seasons since childhood. His farming grandparents put a big emphasis on always cooking fresh food and harvest was a family affair. He bought his first cookbook at a fair in West Texas in second grade and started cooking for his family.

Throughout his career, Baskin has traveled extensively gaining hands on experience in “farm to fork” cookeries with a focus on local, sustainable foods, classic techniques and modern cooking. This has taken him to work at the Veritable Quandary in Portland, Cosmos and Red Stag Supper Club in Minneapolis and Stephen Pyles in Dallas along with stages in London, Oxford, Chicago, San Francisco, New Orleans, Washington, DC and Boston. Furthering his interest in food from the source and regional cuisine, he worked in a traditional Mayan kitchen in Guatemala, volunteered on a goat cheese farm near Salem, OR and worked as a Charcutier in a butcher shop. His interest in wine has taken him to the Culinary Institute of America Greystone, frequent visits to the Willamette Valley, and touring with KWV wines in South Africa.

While in Minneapolis, Baskin was twice recognized as the “Top 50 People, Products, Places that make Minnesota the Place for Food Lovers”  by the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Nationally, he has been featured in Bon Appetit for “Best of the Year,” Restaurant Trend of the Year in ’09 and received press from the New York Times, Food Arts, Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times.  

We look forward to all of you meeting Chef Bill and experiencing his cooking.