Shawn Niles—known across kitchens, fire pits, and fine dining rooms as The Fat Pastor—is a private chef based in Yakima, Washington, whose culinary journey has taken him from the pressure of MasterChef to international acclaim. After Gordon Ramsay famously told him he was “born to cook,” Shawn set out to do just that - learning and cooking throughout Italy, Spain, and Portugal, including learning directly from the legendary Chef Massimo Bottura in Modena. His food style is best described as Global Comfort Food with a refined Pacific Northwest Italian twist—rich in soul, rooted in the land, and usually centered around fire and flavor.

In Yakima Valley Wine Country, Shawn is a culinary pioneer. He’s the founder of Bite Club, the nation’s first legal underground dining club, with a loyal membership of over 250 adventurous diners. He’s also the creator of Urban Kitchen, a free culinary and business school for underserved youth, which has become a launching pad for the next generation of food leaders.

 

His talents have earned him multiple “Best Chef” honors, and his open-fire mastery made history when he became the first competitor to ever score a perfect 100 in the Live Fire Division of the World Food Championships. Since that honor, Shawn has served as a guest celebrity chef judge for the World BBQ Finals (alongside Famous Dave Anderson!), as well as the host of the Sam’s Club Bite Stage at the World Food Championships. 
 

Whether curating winemaker dinners, feeding celebrities and political figures, or filming his upcoming shows Wine Country Kitchen and Urban Kitchen, Shawn brings joy, excellence, and a deep sense of purpose to everything he cooks. His favorite kitchen companions are his wife, Tenielle, and son, Asher—MasterChef Junior finalist and fellow culinary phenom—proving that in the Niles household, flavor is legacy, and fire runs in the family.

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