Oran Moér
2 SOUTH BEACH STREET

I could not think of a better place to launch my "Chef's Table" column than to interview Chef Chris Freeman of Oran Mór Bistro. Freeman is a relative new comer to owning his own restaurant and is one of the most respected chefs on island.

Oran Mór means "The Great Song" in Gaelic.

Freeman grew up in Kennebunkport, Maine, which he described as a "tourist town."

"I started like everyone else, washing dishes for one of those tourist restaurants in high school," said Freeman.

After Freeman graduated from high school, he took a year off to cook before enrolling in college and then transferring to the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y.

After studying at the CIA, Freeman worked in the Caribbean and helped open a restaurant. He later worked as a sous chef in Hawaii for six years.

Freeman came to Nantucket about 14 years ago as a sous chef at the Wauwinet, He later became the Wauwinet's executive chef and worked there for about a decade before striking out on his own four years ago when he bought Oran Mór.

Freeman and his wife, Heather, who he met and married on Nantucket, liked the Oran Mór name, which had already garnered some reputation, and kept it but decided to make the space their own.

PHOTO BY ROB BENCHLEY Chef Chris Freeman

"We kept the place about the same," Freeman said. "Most of the changes were designed to make the space more efficient."

When it comes to food and selecting his menu, Freeman said he uses the seasonal approach.

"I try to keep my food simple, clean, made with good technique. Some of the items are designed for speed during the summer," said Freeman, who usually serves around a hundred dinners in the 55-seat restaurant. "During the fall and spring, we might do something that takes a little more time."

Oran Mór's menu features native seafood, fresh local produce and naturally raised meats from select farms.

Freeman employs a sous chef, pastry chef and a number of line cooks. Two of the cooks have been there for four years.

The kitchen is small, but a hive of activity, with cooks and wait staff moving around effortlessly.

"They need to be committed and serious, have good attitude and respond well to criticism to push themselves to be a better part of a team," said Freeman of his staff.

Most chefs view cooking as an honored profession, since it is a combination of a craft, a science and art.

And, as do most chefs, Freeman has an interest in art, with several paintings by local artists on display.

"The paintings started with several island painters. We got the word out that we wanted to show some art, and I put up what I liked," said Freeman. "The art heightens the experience here."

"Food is art," he added. "The final dish is the art with all the science and craft going into it to create it."

When it comes to cooking, Freeman is interested in creating a dining experience.

"The whole feel of it, the food, the country setting we have here. The food is not over the top. It is something people can enjoy," he said.

As I left Freeman's kitchen, the grill cook had set aside a small end piece of grilled tuna and piled some of the vegetables and sauce on the top of it.

"Here you go dude," he said, pointing with his knife at the piece he had put on the corner of his board for me.

It tasted good.

The tuna, a fairly common menu item, was cooked rare and the texture of the fish went nicely with the buckwheat noodles and the crunch of the vegetables.

He wiped his board as I chewed, looking at me for a reaction.

"That's really good," I told him. He nodded, and continued with his work.

Harry Ludeman is a cook at Water Street. Each week he will interview a chef from one of the island's more than 80 restaurants. I