(Photo by Kris Todd) Josh Overbeck serves as the executive chef at Spencer Golf and Country Club. [Order this photo]

Josh Overbeck answers to "Josh," "Joshua" if his mother says it, and "Chef."

The 25-year-old has spent more than half his lifetime working in kitchens, fine-tuning his culinary skills.

"I've been in kitchens pretty much all of my life," said the Northwood native who moved to Dickinson County four years ago. "I started as a dishwasher, moved up to a fry cook, then to a line cook, and have been running my own kitchen."

Since moving to northwest Iowa, Overbeck started at Maid-Rite in Arnolds Park as an executive chef. The restaurant, which is now known as Coaches Corner, features a menu he redid. From Coaches Corner, Overbeck went to Millers Bay Restaurant in Milford. Next, he served as a supervising chef at Minerva's Restaurant and Bar in Okoboji for about one year before being hired as the on-line executive chef at the Spencer Golf and Country Club in January 2007.

In Spencer, he's responsible for the kitchen, menus, pricing, booking banquets and parties, running grills during tournaments, and the establishment's gardens. Overbeck, who often works 10 - 12 hour days at Spencer Golf and Country Club, said the one-line kitchen there caters to approximately 240 members, as well as members of the general public during Saturday and Sunday breakfasts.

Fruits, vegetables and herbs grown in gardens on the south end of the property are accentuated in feature dishes served at the club's restaurant.

"It helps us out with the way the economy is going," Overbeck said of the produce he tends to locally. "(The cost of) food is rising, and it's going to continue to rise for a while, according to what the industry is predicting. So, we're trying to find a way that we can still prepare very good food, but try to keep the cost down for everybody in the community. This is one of the ways we've decided to do it, by growing our own fruits, vegetables and herbs."

While Spencer Golf and Country Club highlights lighter menus on Tuesdays, the executive chef noted monthly wine-and-food features are also paired there under his direction.

"The main thing that I'm probably famous for here is my ribs," Overbeck said. "We do that on Thursday nights. Plus, this is going to be the only place in the area to serve certified Angus beef. We will be licensed to sell certified Angus here, so certified Angus dealers will all come in here, help to redo our menus and set them up so we can advertise that we are certified Angus sellers here."

Overbeck, who is ServSafe certified, received a majority of his training by "very, very good chefs in the industry." Ken Athey, the former executive chef at Signature Supper Club, a celebrated steakhouse in Overbeck's hometown, served as his primary mentor.

"I started off there as a 12-year-old dishwasher," the 25-year-old chef recalled. "I learned the ropes from him and his (former) wife, Rhonda. Everybody ate at Signature Restaurant. He had chefs coming in from all over the United States who helped him out. That's how I learned."

"He taught me how to butcher meat. I do all the steak butchering here myself now. (He also taught me) how to slice fresh fish, from lobsters to full fish, and how to debone fish. He taught me how to test meat temperatures with my hands," Overbeck said.

Athey also schooled his culinary student on how to know instinctively when foods are done. Because of this, Overbeck is comfortable judging doneness by a specific food's appearance, rather than using a timer.

"He also taught me how to do homemade alfredo, homemade Bernaise sauce and all of that," the Spencer chef said of his mentor. "He was very well-known for all of his food being homemade. And that's what I've actually brought here to the club: Everything is homemade. We cut our own steaks and all of our sauces are homemade. That's where you get peoples' attention: You can tell the difference between a homemade sauce and one that has come in a bag frozen."

Overbeck admitted to also learning through the preparation of recipes his mother, grandmother and other family members presented him with.

"The alfredo that I make here is a recipe from my mother that I've added my own (ingredients) into," he said. "She thought hers was the best, but every holiday now, she asks for my alfredo. For Christmas last year, she requested my alfredo, the way I do it. My sister had to have alfredo as part of her Christmas gift. And my aunt, who lives in Des Moines and runs the women's correctional facility in Newton, also had to have my alfredo."

Overbeck, who has competed in several cooking competitions, was awarded a blue ribbon in Des Moines recently for preparing the "best ribs in Iowa." He plans to participate in the fifth annual North Iowa Up in Smoke BBQ championship, a Kansas City Barbecue Society-sanctioned event, July 25-26 in Mason City.

"First place means $3,000 and another blue ribbon award," Overbeck said. "I'm trying to get into more competitions because I'm not actually certified through schooling. So by getting more awards, I won't need that certification through schooling to get where I want to go: Tiffany Federspiel, my fiance, and I want to open up our own place -- an American, casual dining restaurant -- some time down the road."

Federspiel and Overbeck, who met three years ago while both were employed at Maid-Rite in Arnolds Park, live in Okoboji and are planning to wed on May 16.

"She's not going to allow me in the kitchen at all during our wedding," Overbeck relayed with a chuckle. "But she knows that I'll be trying to sneak around, throw on an apron and run back into the kitchen to see if I can help out at all."

While the chef proudly stated he'll be responsible for preparing food at his mother's wedding this Saturday, Overbeck suggested that grilling is his favorite part about being in the kitchen.

"I run the whole kitchen here, but I like to be on the grill," he said. "I don't like anybody else to be on the grill because that's where the most expensive product comes from the kitchen. And, it needs to be perfect."

While he acknowledged that making Reuben sandwiches is his least-favorite task in the kitchen, Overbeck also admitted that a meal consisting of a grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup out of a can is a favorite he often craves at home.

"I don't do it the original way, though," he commented. "I use a provolone, melted swiss or a couple different types of sharper cheeses."

When asked about his somewhat portly stature, Overbeck chuckled as he replied, "I've been in kitchens all my life. I've gotten to try so much good food, and I can't keep my hands off it. It's hard not to take a little bit when you're around good food all the time."

"People don't realize what chefs actually do," the executive chef added. "It is a lot of work, and it is very fast paced.

"But, I love what I do, and I always have. I can't foresee myself doing anything else."