People: The Flying Chef

The Alaska native began cooking out of necessity when he was a preteen as he cared for his younger sister when his educator parents traveled to the bush. He found inspiration from Jeff Smith, The Frugal Gourmet on public television. “I loved the thought process of putting meals together,” Bly recalled.

When he was a junior in high school, Bly learned to fly and discovered that he had a passion for cooking and flying. Both keep him striving for perfection.

“You’ll never have the perfect flight, you’ll never make the perfect dish, but the goal you are trying to realize [is] that you’re moving closer to perfection,” Bly said. “You do the best you can.” Bly said he also loves to make people happy, whether flying Twin Otters filled with freight and mail to the bush at the beginning of his career; delivering Amazon packages worldwide in a Boeing 747 today; or preparing meals for family, friends, and clients. Bly packed a sample lunch that he would make for clients going into the bush for AOPA to take on the road from Anchorage to Talkeetna, Alaska, which included rich, high-energy bacon-wrapped Gorgonzola-cheese-stuffed dates; scrumptious Kansas City-style barbecue pork ribs with his special rub; barbecue corn on the cob; and coleslaw. For après, he packed delicious foie gras with black truffle, caramelized onions, ploughman’s chutney, crusty bread, fresh raspberries, and a sliced pear.

Bly’s professional training started at the Hilton Downtown in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, after he inquired about a bowl of curry laksa and the chef offered to take him under wing. Over the next several years during stopovers, Bly would learn from the chef, then bring ingredients home to Alaska and cook them for friends.

“When I want to learn how to make a dish, I go to that country, that specific town and city, and I learn how to make it from the source,” he said.

Bly took late TV chef Anthony Bourdain’s words to heart—to travel as far as he could for as long as he could. After nearly three decades of flying internationally, Bly has gathered seasonings and cooking techniques from all over the world.

“I use the world as my grocery store,” Bly said. “I go to Hong Kong like people drive to the store.” He brings seasonings back to prepare food for friends and his catering business with partner “Delicious” Dave Thorne, who cooked for singer Neil Young, and chef Scott Johnson, who instructed Bly at a Viking cooking school. Bly will travel to his clients, cooking in their homes or in yurts. Bly is currently a partner in a Cessna 206 based at Lake Hood in Anchorage. “It’s like a truck around here,” he said.

Bly brings some of what he’s learned in aviation to the kitchen: Just like there’s no room for yelling in the cockpit, he doesn’t allow yelling in the kitchen. He’s also applied his never-give-up attitude as a pilot to his work as a chef—from being mentored by professionals to pitching multiple business ideas until they bear fruit. He has a cookbook and his own seasonings for sale. Bly’s latest is a quest for a TV show about flying his Cessna 206 and exploring the food and customs of Alaska. Maybe he’ll inspire a new generation of pilots and chefs with his exploits in The Flying Chef Alaska.

Email [email protected]