French chef Stefane Laporte knows a thing or two about the kitchen, and like any good chef, he thrives under pressure.
 
“He’s built two new menus and won a contest with us in the matter of four weeks,” 3315 Cut & Pour owner Steve West said of his restaurant’s new chef.
 
When Laporte started in early March, West and business partner Russell Snyder had already registered for the annual Wish Upon a Chef competition at UNCW’s Burney Center on March 17. The previous chef had decided on a lamb dish, and Laporte took it from there, winning the contest after less than two weeks on the job.
 
West and Snyder had worked with Laporte when he ran the kitchen at their other restaurant in town, Grand Cru Food & Wine. After Laporte left and worked at True Blue Butcher & Table for a short stint, West convinced him to work with them again, this time at Cut & Pour.
 
“We knew what he was capable of,” West continued. “The French have very big flavor profiles, and they use fresh ingredients. We don’t even buy our sour cream; everything we have is made fresh. He’s really opened things up for us and expanded our flavors, and he’s able to take a spin on the normal American comfort food.”
 
West knew things were going to be different when he recently noticed Laporte pull a 12-hour shift to prepare for a new Sunday brunch menu, which launched March 3.
 
Laporte’s culinary background is long and well-traveled. After two years with the French Navy, stationed in the Caribbean islands, he worked in Ireland, San Diego, Portland, Las Vegas and Kansas City.
 
“When I moved to Las Vegas, I was supposed to be there just for six months. I stayed 13 years,” Laporte said.
 
He met his “better half” in Las Vegas, moved to Kansas City where they had a child, then to Wilmington to be close to family.
 
His cooking philosophy is one shaped by three years at a French school, a six-month trip to Southeast Asia – where he grew in love with lemongrass and ginger, among other flavors – and more than two decades in American kitchens. One of his favorite dishes at Cut & Pour, a pan-roasted salmon with Carolina red spice, is made with dashi, a Japanese broth.
 
“We ran it as a special the first week I was there, and it sold out in two nights,” Laporte said, adding that he loved Japanese flavors because they are clean and light on the palate, complementing the natural flavors of salmon and other fish.
 
West said such creations lend well to the owners’ strategy of “not putting ourselves in a box that says we’re just a steakhouse.”
 
When Cut & Pour opened last July at the Courtyard at Masonboro shopping center, West and Snyder aimed to be more than a steakhouse. They wanted to carry on the tradition of the location’s previous restaurant, Siena Trattoria and Pizzeria, which had a strong pull with residents in the quickly growing Masonboro area, according to West.
 
After a recent dinner at Cut & Pour, nearby resident Mickey Webb said West, Snyder and Laporte were doing a wonderful job of attracting locals.
 
“The food and the people are awesome. We needed Cut & Pour to bring our ‘neighborhood place’ back. We have a great Tuesday night crowd there,” Webb said.
 
The menu serves a fish du jour every Thursday to Saturday and brunch every Sunday from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., reservations recommended. West said his new chef is also “opening up the pasta side” of the menu, currently working on several fettuccine dishes.
 
But when it comes to steak, Cut & Pour serves the best: cuts of prime beef, the highest grade of beef in the U.S,. and choice beef, the second highest grade, according to West. There’s even a 60-day, dry-aged tomahawk ribeye on the menu, which, at $125 a dish, Laporte said he serves several times a week to serious steak lovers.
 
Lifetime local Stephen Sonnenberg said he had to try it after his friend told him “it was the best piece of meat he ever had.” He said the restaurant fills a niche for a growing neighborhood with only a handful of bar-style restaurants.
 
“The area’s really grown over the last 10 years,” Sonnenberg said. “A lot more people are sticking to the neighborhood to eat out.”
 
Laporte said he is trying to provide something new for a growing area, using his broad culinary experience to do so. He pointed to how much he’s learned since his first job at an American kitchen, at a steakhouse at the Wynn Golf Club in Las Vegas.
 
“The first six months I was there, I didn’t understand everything,” Laporte said. “Everything was different, and it took time for me to appreciate it. And now, without even realizing it, when I do something I’m using those American techniques, those American ingredients, because it was good to me and I learned to love them.”
 
In his road to perfection, Laporte said he relies on the skills of his souschef, James Sparks, who he called “gold” for the pride he puts into his work. But that goes for all employees at Cut & Pour.
 
Laporte said, “I mean, from the dishwasher to the pizza guy, everbody’s on top.”