Today we’d like to introduce you to Michael Skipper.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I got started when i was 22/23 years old, i was living in a central Pennsylvania town looking for a job. There wasnt much going on there and the only job i can remember hearing back from was a cooks position at this travel plaza/truck stop in Breezewood, PA. You see it in a meme online actually. I spent a year or so there really getting into the idea of cooking, i was always a competitive person and enjoy the comradery of being on a team and going into a service with the people around me nightly. I was looking to challenge myself after a while and found myself at a new location, a hotel and resort in Bedford, PA and there is where i was introduced to the world of chefs, restaurants etc. outside of TV. I spent just over 2 years there before i left to move to WV to help my CDC that i met at the hotel to open a restaurant. Things didnt go in our favor with that venture so even tho that summer was one of my favorites, the restaurant only lasted around 6 months or so. Once that closed i made my way to Staunton, VA in 2016 to start my first tenure at The Shack with Ian Boden who was then Chef/Owner. I was here until about December 2019. I left to try and change careers a bit and also work towards a move cross country that just didnt pan out. I worked various jobs from trying to get into wine sales, Managing a couple of Dominos locations, running a local pizza spot for a few months Eventually coming back to the Shack after a a small fill in night. Ive been running the restaurant as Chef since March 2024, weve gone through some changes along the way figuring out whats works best, people really saw it as a “new” restaurant i feel going from a tasting menu back to a la cart, I think some today think were still running that but we’re not. I offer a “BYO” pre fix based off our a la cart menu or you can order whatever and however youd like. People love the pasta trio where we offer tasting sized portions of our handmade pastas that are a big creative focus for us, i like to ride the line of classic but twisted to whats exciting to us and hopefully the guest. We also offer many other seasonal options of small plates and entrees that we try to express in ways you wont find elsewhere. We pride ourselves as being as hyper local as possible but also gathering the best ingredients we can regionally and sometimes internationally depending.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Not so smooth no, I dont think its been as rocky as some or most in this industry but there have been some small gaps of inconsistency that have felt leaving me shorted. A few restaurants were closed early on, a wine gig didnt pan out as i had hoped. The struggle of growth, for me i always describe it as one week it felt i belonged wherever i was and then the following week i would crash, make mistakes, not get things done, a lot of what i felt were silly things in my first two years and then i realized that my peaks were getting higher and my lows werent going as low and i framed it that way visually in my head and understood this was part of me growing. Looking back today i think the biggest struggle i didnt realize then was how my relationships with friends and family have been impacted by the route i took but i think im lucky and believe that all of them understand the demands of the roles ive placed myself in and also the way i approach things im committed to, im very much an all in type of person.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Well personally I wouldn’t say I specialize in any one thing specifically but I will say over the last year or so I’ve noticed more and more people coming to the Shack and associating me with pasta. My job isn’t just the food, I am the overall manager of the restaurant and I also run the wine program from tasting all of the wines that come in, purchasing, pairing and any questions that might come up during service to help our guests find what they like but also show them something fun and new. What I’m most proud of at the moment I would say is the growth that I’ve seen happen at the Shack in the last two years with my team. The food and service seems to continue to elevate every few months and I love that, my team cares about the job they do but also cares about the guests themselves and I’m fortunate enough to have a group of people around me with personalities that are so caring and hospitable, I think that’s what sets us apart the most at the Shack. We put a lot of care and time into the food and wine but what happens when you walk into the door and we can personalize the night for someone I’m really proud of my front of house for that, that’s really really big in my eyes. For myself I just recently finished my WSET Level 2 in Wines award, the wine angle has been very fun and fulfilling for me, learning wines, developing my palette and wine knowledge and language. Taking that course helped improve that and I’m excited to see what direction our wine list goes with the new bits of knowledge that I’ve gained from that.
Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
Ive taken a few but i think my biggest one in terms of career has been taking over the Shack and “rebranding” if you will. I had a previous experience of taking over a restaurant and told myself id never do that again but i did it. It weighs a lot on the perosnal mental for me to do a thing and hear its not liked or understood or compared to this or that which is funny because i feel being a chef at a restaurant in general the food and experience will always be compared to something. I dont dive into risks as much as i used to when i was a little younger so i know how fearful one can be to it, i do think its important that we all challeneg ourselves and break that wall of risk because as im learning today i think pieces of the happiness we all seek or imagine in our lives sit behind that wall of risk, not all of it but pieces to it. Plus we never know what were gonna get on the otherside of some stuff.
Pricing:
- three course tasting 65
- four course tasting 80
- pasta trio 50
- general range 60-80 per person
Contact Info:
- Website: https://theshackva.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_mskipper/?hl=en
Image Credits
Ian Boden took the portrait of myself.
The rest are from my iPhone.
