What is potential pantry?

Potential pantry is built on the idea that there are potential ingredients all around you, whether they be unrecognized plants, culinary mushrooms, or “extra” parts of vegetables often discarded. Through private chef services, foraging and cooking classes, professionally prepared meals, and preserved ingredients ready for use, Clark Barlowe uses his North Carolina roots, passion for foraging, and over sixteen years of culinary expertise to help you transform and preserve everyday ingredients and expand your pantry.

Clark Barlowe- Forager, Chef, Potential Finder

Clark Barlowe is a seventh-generation North Carolinian. Growing up learning how to hunt ginseng with his grandfather when the fish didn’t bite, Clark learned to look at the plants around him for the potential nutrients and delicious ingredients that they held while respecting their limitations and responsible foraging. His father, a North Carolina Forest Service veteran, would walk him through the woods and touch the trees until Clark could identify every one. This attention to detail continues to shape how Clark walks through the woods- with eyes wide open. He was formally trained as a chef at Johnson and Wales University in both Charlotte, NC and Providence, RI. After stages (a culinary internship) at The French Laundry and El Bulli, followed by chef de partie and sous chef positions at Chez Pascal and Clyde’s Restaurant group, respectively, Clark refined his expertise for preparing and respecting ingredients. While chef-owner of Heirloom Restaurant in Charlotte, NC from 2014-2019, Clark supported over 70 small businesses and producers throughout North Carolina while supplying the restaurant with only NC based ingredients. His ethos? “The purveyors do the hard work- our job is to not mess it up in the last 24 hours.” After selling Heirloom in December 2019, and moving to his new home in Springfield, Oregon, Clark is carrying this vision forward as he works to increase knowledge about how to bring the beautiful work of mother nature to your table, while respecting every potential part of each ingredient. He is beyond excited to share his passion for walking through the woods with you, whether you want to join him in the woods or hear about his forays as he prepares an exceptional meal and regales your with stories and his expertise.