Government Camp, OR - Executive Chef Leif Eric Benson, CEC, AAC, has announced his retirement from Mt. Hood's National Historic Landmark, Timberline Lodge, effective April 9th. His Timberline career began in 1979 when area operator Richard Kohnstamm hired him to improve the culinary offerings at Timberline Lodge. Over the past 31 years, Benson has done just that, and more. Almost immediately, Benson's culinary approach fused the culinary traditions of his native Sweden, as well as an eclectic blend of other influences from around the world, with what he called "The Bounty of Oregon," featuring high quality, fresh Pacific Northwest ingredients. In the mid 1980's he helped pioneer this into the popular regional cuisine now generally referred to as "Northwest Fresh." In 1987 he authored one of the trend's seminal cookbooks titled "Timberline Lodge Cookbook - Northwest Regional Recipes" and it went on to be a regional best seller. That same year, he served as the president of the Chef's de Cuisine Society, and in 1988 he founded the first Oregon Culinary Olympic Team featuring Oregon products in Frankfurt, Germany. The team brought home 16 culinary medals. Since then, Chef Benson has served as a consulting chef for many of Oregon's governors, and has served as an ambassador for Oregon's culinary agricultural products, including various official trade missions to Asia.
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