From Ocean View to Olympic View

Maria Fraser is the owner of The Café on 26, coined “The Beach’s Premier Boutique Restaurant” in Ocean View. She became the sole owner in 2011 and is currently the executive chef.

This winter, during the off-season, she traveled to Italy to cook on an international stage at the Winter Olympics. She was recruited for the experience by world-renowned truffle chef Carlo Zarri, culinary director for the Olympics since 2004, who invited her to be part of his team after he hosted a truffle dinner at The Café on 26 in 2024.

Suddenly, a small-town chef on a global stage, Fraser cooked nightly for athletes and the NBC broadcast team at the Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina, Italy, for six weeks.

“After two days in Milan, I went to the Livigno Snow Park in Livigno, Italy,” she explained.

A small town in the Italian Alps bordering Switzerland, Livigno hosted all the freestyle skiing and snowboarding events.

This was Fraser’s first trip abroad and her first time visiting Italy.

“I traveled a lot with my three sons exploring the United States – north, south, east and west – but this was my first time using my passport, which I have had my whole life and never used,” she said with a smile.

“Livigno is a small town in the valley between the Dolomites. Everything – all extra buildings pertaining to and just for the Olympic logistics – had to be constructed, mostly tented structures.”

Fraser spent most of her time in the main kitchen at Livigno Snow Park cooking for the NBC team, the OBS team (Olympic Broadcasting System) and Olympic athletes during competitions.

“Our kitchen and dining hall were just a huge heated tent right in front of all the venues, in a tight security zone. But that first week was horrendous. We had to set up the entire kitchen, organize every piece of equipment for maximum functionality, along with stocking the walk-ins and dry storage areas. We even had to put together shelves and tables and stack shelves to make it all work,” she said.

“Total insanity working 14-hour days, yet we rocked it out.”

She smiled.

“I was privileged to have one day off a week after the second week. Maybe because I was old enough to be all of their mothers,” she joked.

Fraser worked alongside four other chefs. The team started with four chefs, with another joining during Week 3. Fraser was the only woman, and it was her first time cooking for crowds of this size, while the other chefs had several Olympics under their belts.

“The team was Head Chef ‘Ninja’ David from California, Chef David from New Mexico – we used the nickname ‘Ninja’ because there were two Davids – Chef Stefano Paganini, a Michelin-starred chef from Magliano, Piemonte, Italy, and Chef Dan from Australia, who arrived in Week 3 to help us out as our numbers climbed after the Olympics started.”

Before the Olympics officially began, Fraser was cooking for 200 to 400 people daily for lunch and dinner.

“The news teams and athletes all arrive early to set up and practice, so we start feeding them.”

Once the Olympics were in full swing, that number jumped to more than 1,000 people.

“There were only 13 of us total – front of house and back of house – to prep and cook each meal,” she said. “We got the job done as a team. I made such wonderful friends for life. We became a well-oiled machine.”

Fraser explained that Zarri, who recruited her and serves as Olympic culinary director, planned the menu years before the 2026 Games.

“Once the city is confirmed for the Olympics, winter or summer, the menu planning begins.”

Each chef had designated menus to prepare, but they all helped one another.

“Each day consisted of two fresh soups to prepare, three to four hot proteins and starches for lunch and three to four different hot proteins and starches for dinner, along with hot and cold sandwiches, leafy salads, specialty salads, bread service and desserts.”

Fraser was responsible for the cold portion of lunch and dinner service.

“I prepared all leafy salads, specialty salads, sandwiches, bread service and all desserts – cakes, pies, cheesecakes and more – including 15 to 20 dozen cookies every day.”

Menus changed daily.

“The menu sheets that we taped to the wall were three across and five down for all the weeks. It took up an entire wall. We had recipes for each dish in books marked for the week. I would take a picture for the whole week and work from my phone.”

All of the ingredients in the walk-in coolers were labeled in Italian.

“Google Translate not only came in handy for translating between me and Chef Stefano, who spoke little English, but it was also a great tool for reading product information,” she said with a laugh.

“The pace was insane. Nonstop prepping and cooking. Each of us chefs was doing the work of two chefs for the size of the crowd. We had to plan our bathroom breaks.”

Lunch was ready by 11 a.m. and dinner by 4 p.m.

“I also was in charge of the to-go meals for the teams working at the tops of the mountains at each venue.”

Those meals had to be prepared each night for the following morning, often totaling between 75 and 200 meals per day.

Fraser admits the experience was not at all what she expected.

“I truly thought the kitchen would have been ready to walk in and start prepping. But we didn’t have enough general chef supplies – knives, whisks, peelers – until the end of the second week. We had to improvise.”

She also admits to dreading delivery days.

“We had to stop prepping to help put deliveries away, and there was never enough room for all the deliveries. Organization was key, along with thinking outside the box for storage. On the flip side, we blew through product just as fast as it came in.”

While cooking her heart out, Fraser also experienced the wonder of the Olympics, including witnessing the opening ceremonies from just steps away.

“The arrival of the Olympic torch was incredible. They paraglided the torch in at the halfpipe, paraded it downtown and lit the Livigno cauldron.”

She was also able to witness athletes from around the world enter the venue.

“I was able to watch the opening ceremonies only 30 feet from the athletes from all the nations that walked through the gold rings. My pass gave me front-row access to watch all competitions and ceremonies from where the camera crews were stationed. It was such an unbelievable experience. It was so surreal and still is. I think about it every day, and it still doesn’t seem real that I was just there a couple of months ago.”

Fraser plans to return to Italy this fall.

“I am offering a travel package to Chef Carlo Zarri’s Villa San Carlo, located in Cortemilia, Italy. It’s an action-packed week featuring a stay at his family-run hotel, cooking classes in his restaurant kitchen, two meals a day, visits to local attractions, wine tastings and more.”

For details, visit thecafeon26.com or email Fraser directly at thecafeon26@verizon.net.

Despite the challenges, Fraser says she would do it all again.

“There definitely was mention of going to the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028, so fingers crossed this comes to fruition. I especially look forward to it because my youngest son lives in San Diego.”

Fraser documented her experience in Italy through a blog on her restaurant website, and local fans will undoubtedly be watching to see if she heads to the Summer Games in 2028.

Favorite Behind-the-Scenes Moment

“Teaching Chef Stefano, who was my partner in our prep area – we called it the Bat Cave – how to make chicken wraps for lunch service. He didn’t know what a wrap was and was so excited to learn that he ended up posting a picture of us after we completed a tray on his restaurant’s Facebook page in Italy. I even made a classic BLT for lunch service one day, and Chef Stefano learned another American classic. The simple cooking things in life meant a lot to him and put a huge smile on his face.”

Favorite Memory

“I really enjoyed working with my fellow chefs. We all worked wonderfully together with no drama whatsoever, as you sometimes see in kitchens. We had each other’s backs and helped one another. It would have been a disaster if a chef had walked out. It would have made it so much harder for the rest of us to prep and cook all that food.

“Working next to Chef Stefano day in and day out was really special. I not only polished up my Italian, but I learned so many techniques and recipes from him. We joked around quite a bit to keep our sanity. We used Google Translate most of the time. He would turn to me and start speaking in Italian, and by the end of our tour, I actually understood most of what he was saying and vice versa.

“I truly learned to keep pushing forward no matter how hard the situation became. There were many times I almost cried due to the stress and pressure, but I never gave up. I kept my composure and kept moving as fast as I could. By the middle of the second week, I was on target each day, which was great because we were now in full swing and the numbers kept increasing.”

Favorite Athlete

“Flora Tabanelli from the Italian team. She placed third in the women’s snowboard big air final despite having a torn ACL. Also, Chloe Kim from the USA, who was totally amazing in all her competitions.”

Favorite New Dish After the Italy Experience

“Pizzoccheri. It is a hearty northern Italian pasta dish from Valtellina in Lombardy, where I was staying. It combines homemade buckwheat tagliatelle, cabbage, potatoes and Casera cheese. It is true Italian comfort food, which I thoroughly enjoyed.”