Jon Mortimer was born into a “food family” with a grandfather, Charles Mortimer, who was chairman of General Foods in White Plains, New York. After moving to the resort town of Sun Valley, Idaho at the age of fourteen, Jon started his first restaurant job and instantly knew that this was what he needed to do with his life. After working in various restaurants into his early 20’s and attending the University of Arizona as well as the Horst Mager Culinary Academy in Portland, Oregon. Jon performed a pastry apprenticeship in Geilo, Norway and a hotel apprenticeship in Fiesole, Italy before returning to the U.S. to begin life as a corporate chef. In 1990 Jon returned to Idaho to own his restaurant and truly explore his culinary style. Mortimer’s restaurant, opened in 1999 and located in the Belgravia Building in downtown Boise, was created out of the culmination of this vast experience and Franco Latino restaurant was opened in September of 2007 outside of Boise in Eagle, Idaho .
With the release of The Idaho Table, Jon Mortimer has created a bible for “Idaho cuisine” that showcases the foods of the intermountain west using the techniques of the world. Along with being a cookbook author, accolades include Certified Executive Chef, adjunct professor to Boise State University School of Culinary Arts, Host of the weekly radio show Radio Café on KIDO 580 AM, television chef on KBCI channel 2’s “Culinary Tip of the Day”, spokesman for the United Dairymen of Idaho and consulting chef to Snake River Farms.
In the fall of 2008 a new path was established with a move to the Sonoma Coast of California. Feeling that no where in the country could offer more to an enthusiast of food and wine this was almost a foregone conclusion. Taking the helm at Alexander’s Restaurant at Timber Cove the creation of modern coastal comfort cuisine has found a home for this chef where Earth meets ocean.
Seared Halibut with Dungeness Crab Mashed Potatoes 
Chef Jon Mortimer CEC
Serves 4
For the Bisque:
½ lb. Dungeness crab shells
1 lb. fish bones (from halibut, sea bass or any white fish)
1 large onion (coarse chopped)
2 stalks celery (coarse chopped)
2 carrots (coarse chopped)
2 bay leaves
4 black peppercorns
2 cups dry sherry
2 Tbs. tomato paste
1-cup heavy whipping cream
1 Tbs. shrimp or lobster base
Kosher or sea salt to taste
Method: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Roast the crab shells with the vegetables and tomato paste in a pan for 25 minutes then place the roasted items in a 4 qt. stockpot. Add the fish bones, bay leaf and black peppercorns and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Skim any impurities off the top as they occur. After the stock has cooked for an hour remove it from the stove and strain it through a fine sauce strainer. Return the stock to the pot and add the sherry and allow to simmer for another twenty minutes. Whisk in the lobster or shrimp base and then the whipping cream and allow to simmer for an additional five minutes then set aside till ready to serve. Strain the bisque through a chinoix (fine sauce strainer) and keep warm till ready to serve.
For the halibut:
4-6 oz. filets of halibut (cut in cubes)
Kosher or sea salt
Ground white pepper
Flour for dusting
¼ cup canola oil
Method: Heat the oil over medium high heat in a 12-inch non-stick skillet. Season the halibut with the salt and pepper and lay the top of the filet in the flour, but don’t coat any other side with it. Place the filets flour side down in the pan and cook until they begin to brown. Place the pan in the 400 degree oven and allow to cook for eight to ten minutes or until the filet is just barely cooked through.
For the lobster mashed potatoes:
1 lb. Dungeness crab meat (tail, claw or knuckle fully cooked)
2 cups prepared mashed potatoes
12 strands saffron
½ cup ½ and ½
Kosher salt to taste
Ground white pepper to taste
Method: In a sauté pan bring the ½ and ½ to a simmer, turn off the heat and stir in the saffron, allow to steep for 20 minutes. Bring the mixture back to a simmer and stir in the potatoes and the lobster and cook till fully warmed.
To Present:
In four large, warm entrée bowls ladle 2 oz. of the bisque then distribute the lobster-mashed potatoes in the center. Place the seared halibut on top of the mashed potatoes and garnish with available herb sprigs.
Wine Recommendation: Flower’s 2006 Andreen Gale Chardonnay.