James Van Dyke has been named executive chef at Pink Sands Resort, Harbour Island, Bahamas.

Van Dyke is the son of Jeff Van Dyke of Friday Harbor and Molly Read of Kirkland. He is the stepson of Marcia Van Dyke and Warren Read. He graduated from Oak Harbor High School in 2003. He attended culinary school in Portland, Ore., graduating in November 2005, and mentored under Chef Chris Nugent at Les Nomades in Chicago, Ill. Prior to moving to the Bahamas, Van Dyke was the chef de cuisine for Coobah’s in Chicago.

Van Dyke discovered his passion for cooking when he took his first job as a dishwasher at Downriggers in Friday Harbor when he was 14. “It was definitely nothing glorious, but I think it was there that instilled a sense of family and pride in the kitchen,” he said. “Bearded chefs yelling profanity, pots and pans flying, it was controlled chaos, like a ballet of overgrown, half-balding, harried men. They became my second family.”