Culinary innovation

September/October 2023 California Bountiful magazine

cross — Partnering with her husband, chef Andie Hubka has helped reshape the culinary landscape of the Coachella Valley. Photo: © 2023 Mollie Kimberling

Chef brings diversity to Coachella Valley food scene

From a geographical perspective, the Coachella Valley is a desert. But from a culinary perspective, the east side of the valley is no longer the food desert it was when chef Andie Hubka and her husband, Mike, moved there 20 years ago.

“The culinary scene now has become really diverse,” she says.

Step by step, the couple has propelled an expansion of food and beverage options in and around Indio, which lies about 25 miles southeast of Palm Springs, its glitzier neighbor.

“We opened the first wine bar, we opened the first plant-based restaurant in the East Valley, we opened the first Baja-style Mexican restaurant. So we have really tried to be innovators,” Hubka says. “It’s neat to see when those things are embraced, because I think it helps everybody else as well. We love to see that happening and we’re very much involved with the community in that way.”

Hubka is executive chef and co-owner of Cork & Fork and Heirloom Craft Kitchen in Indio. She has also run a cooking school, is writing her fourth cookbook, leads culinary tours with her husband and partners with him on a line of dry rubs for meats.

Hubka says her goal at their restaurants is to overdeliver on the flavor and presentation of the food as well as on the less obvious elements.

“I just really am passionate about people having an experience. I think about everything from the lighting to the music to the seats, because all of that and the value that you get, that’s the stuff you remember and why you go back to a place,” she says. “It’s how you feel when you’re there.”

Barbara Arciero

Roasted carrots with carrot top pesto: Pesto from carrot tops? Sure! Chef Andie Hubka says you can use any leafy green. “Carrot tops have a very basil-like flavor,” she says. “It’s a little bit more herbaceous, but very similar.” Bonus: You use the whole plant, so there’s minimal waste.

Watermelon gazpacho: Watermelon is the surprise ingredient, adding a sweet, refreshing twist to a traditional gazpacho. “It’s almost like a margarita,” chef Andie Hubka says. “It’s so, so good. Everybody loves that soup.”

Roasted salmon and arugula with avocado herb yogurt: Aside from its myriad health and taste attributes, this dish is also easy to prepare.
“It gives maximum results with minimum effort,” chef Andie Hubka says.

Avocado chocolate chipotle mousse: Chef Andie Hubka says salt is one of a cook’s most important ingredients. This dessert, for example, “completely changes when you add salt, especially sea salt, which has a high salinity.”

Material Girl: This cocktail is similar to a lemon drop but has rose flavors and is garnished with Himalayan pink salt. “It feels very girly, like something Marilyn Monroe would drink,” chef Andie Hubka says, recalling with a laugh the origin of the cocktail’s name.