Sang Yoon is the chef and proprietor of the acclaimed gastropub Father’s Office and soon-to-open Helms Bakery in Los Angeles. Yoon began his career in fine dining in Michelin-starred kitchens of Paris, New York, and Los Angeles including work at Chinois on Main and later as executive chef of Michael’s, Santa Monica’s famous dining destination for contemporary California cuisine.
In 2000, Yoon opened his first restaurant, Father’s Office, which became known for initiating the gastropub movement in L.A. Father’s Office is critically acclaimed for its extensive and rotating signature craft brew selection of local and small-batch varieties and has become synonymous with the proprietary “Office Burger” which has been hailed as the country’s best burger by the TODAY show and Esquire magazine.
In 2011, Yoon returned to fine dining with the debut of Lukshon, a modern restaurant dedicated to creative Southeast Asian flavors and was named one of the top 5 restaurants in Los Angeles by food critic Jonathan Gold. This summer, Yoon will resurrect LA’s iconic Helm’s Bakery in its original landmark location with a modern approach including a bakery focusing on classic American favorites as well as a market and restaurant with flavors inspired by Los Angeles’ cultural melting pot.
David LeFevre is a veteran of the Los Angeles dining scene, often credited with transforming the culinary landscape of the South Bay in particular, with a diverse and growing roster of critically acclaimed restaurants. LeFevre is the chef-owner of multiple coastal restaurants along Manhattan Beach and Hermosa Beach, including Manhattan Beach Post (M.B. Post), Fishing with Dynamite (FWD),The Arthur J and RYLA.
His culinary career spans more than 30 years, having attended the Culinary Institute of America and working at some of the country’s most renowned kitchens, from the legendary American chef Charlie Trotter’s eponymous restaurant in Chicago to cooking in France at celebrated Bernard Loiseau restaurants La Côte d’Or, Restaurant Jean Bardet and Roger Vergé’s Le Moulin de Mougin.
LeFevre’s globetrotting adventures have also led to cooking in far flung destinations such as Southeast Asia, Japan, Australia, the Caribbean and Europe with top hoteliers and restaurateurs.
During his 6 years as executive chef of Water Grill, downtown L.A.’s seminal seafood restaurant, LeFevre guided the team to being awarded a Michelin star in 2007 and 2008.
When he opened his very first restaurant, Manhattan Beach Post (M.B. Post) in spring 2011, it marked a return to his roots and a highly personal menu of playful, artisanal dishes coupled with craft cocktails and small production wines – it soon became a beloved neighborhood gem and remains so. His sophomore concept, Fishing with Dynamite, heavily leaned into seafood when it opened in 2013 and became known for its superb oyster bar. In 2015, LeFevre introduced The Arthur J, a modern steakhouse featuring his updated spin on old-school steakhouse favorites.
In 2020, chef LeFevre launched a catering arm called Local LA Catering, which services venues throughout SoCal, Las Vegas and Texas, with clients ranging from cutting edge space exploration companies, nationally lauded wineries, and NFL franchise branded events.
His latest and fourth dining concept is a partnership with chefs Ray Hayashi and Cynthia Hetlinger to open RYLA after Hayashi spent nearly a decade as LeFevre’s chef de cuisine and R&D chef. RYLA celebrates coastal California cuisine through an L.A. lens with influences from chef Ray’s Japanese heritage and chef Cynthia’s Taiwanese upbringing. RYLA also marks LeFevre’s fourth Michelin-recognized restaurant.
Accolades/Honors:
▪ 1-Michelin Star – Water Grill (2007 and 2008)
▪ Los Angeles Magazine, “Best New Restaurants” – M.B. Post (2011)
▪ James Beard Semi-Finalist for “Best New Restaurant” – M.B. Post (2012)
▪ James Beard Semi-Finalist – Best Chef Pacific (2012, 2013, 2014)
▪ Los Angeles Times’ “101 Best Restaurants” – M.B. Post (2012-2018)
▪ Los Angeles Magazine’s “Best New Restaurants” – Fishing with Dynamite (2013)
▪ Michelin Bib Gourmand – M.B. Post (2019-present)
▪ Michelin Plate – Fishing with Dynamite (2019-present)
▪ Michelin Plate – The Arthur J (2019-present)
▪ Los Angeles Times’ “101 Best Restaurants” – The Arthur J (2019-2021)
▪ Los Angeles Times’ “101 Best Restaurants” – Fishing with Dynamite (2022)
▪ TimeOut LA’s “Best New Restaurants” – RYLA (2022)
▪ Infatuation LA’s “Best New Restaurants” – RYLA (2022)
▪ Michelin Plate – RYLA (2022)
▪ Los Angeles Magazine’s “Best New Restaurants” – RYLA (2023)
Born in 1935 in Bourg-en-Bresse, France, near Lyon, Pépin always found the kitchen to be a place of both comfort and excitement. He helped in his parents’ restaurant, Le Pélican, and, at age 13, began an apprenticeship at the Grand Hôtel de L’Europe. He subsequently worked in Paris, ultimately serving as personal chef to three French heads of state, including Charles de Gaulle.
After moving to the United States in 1959, Pépin first worked at Le Pavillon, an historic French restaurant in New York City. From 1960 to 1970, he was director of research and new development for Howard Johnson’s and developed recipes for the restaurant chain. At the same time, he earned his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees at Columbia University.
Author of more than 30 books, he published his first cookbook, The Other Half of the Egg, with Helen McCully in 1967, the same year that his only daughter, Claudine was born. Pépin released his seminal text, La Technique, in 1976, and his autobiography, The Apprentice, in 2003. Jacques is also an accomplished artist, which he was able to showcase in his most recent book, The New York Times– bestselling Art of the Chicken. The book celebrates the humble bird through stories, recipes, and art.
Pépin is a former columnist for The New York Times and his articles have appeared in countless food magazines, especially Food & Wine magazine. He is the recipient of honorary doctorate degrees from five American universities, was awarded France’s highest civilian honor, La Légion d’Honneur, in 2004, as well as the Chevalier des Arts et Lettres in 1997 and the Mérite Agricole in 1992. He has received 16 James Beard Foundation Awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005.
In 2015, Pépin received the American Public Television’s Lifetime Achievement Award in November and the inaugural Julia Child Award, which was presented to him at The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History on October 22.
A longtime close friend of Julia Child, he starred with her in a PBS series called “Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home,” which won both an Emmy Award and a James Beard Foundation Award in 2001. He has also been executive culinary director for Oceania Cruises since 2003.
For the past 30 years, Pépin has taught in the Culinary Arts Program at Boston University and he served as dean of special programs at the International Culinary Center in New York City. He parlayed his dedication to culinary education into the creation of the Jacques Pépin Foundation, along with his daughter and son-in-law, in 2016. He has called Connecticut home since 1975.
Josiah Citrin is a culinary expert and veteran of Los Angeles’s gourmet dining scene, with more than 37 years of experience. He is chef and owner of Santa Monica, California’s Mélisse Restaurant. In December of 2019, Chef Citrin reopened the reimagined Mélisse restaurant as two distinct concepts- Citrin, an ala carte dining experience that won one Michelin Star in 2022-2023, and Mélisse, a 14-seat tasting menu, which won two Michelin Stars from 2021-2023 and previously in 2008-2009. Citrin is also the chef and owner of nearby Charcoal Venice and the newly opened Charcoal Sunset in West Hollywood, directly across the street from the famous Roxy. Citrin also oversees the food and beverage program at the LINE in Koreatown, as well as the restaurant Openaire situated at the hotel. Augie’s on Main, Citrin’s fast-casual concept, opened on Main Street in Santa Monica in August 2022. Citrin has also partnered with chef and friend Hans Röckenwagner for the iconic Sinatra-frequented Dear John’s in Culver City. In fall of 2022, the team opened up new permanent sister restaurant, Dear Jane’s, in Marina Del Rey. His culinary philosophy, “In Pursuit of Excellence” sets the standard for all his concepts, whether fine-dining or casual.
Born in Guangdong, China, Mei Lin grew up in Dearborn, Michigan working alongside her mother and father at their family-owned and -operated Chinese restaurant; and where she learned the fundamentals of being a well-rounded cook and how to run a restaurant. Mei Lin is a chef and television personality known for her appearances (and victories) on Bravo’s Top Chef: Boston and the fourth season of Food Network’s Tournament of Champions. In 2019, she opened Nightshade, the menu featured a concise point of view, showcasing an elegant elevation of classic Asian dishes. With the culmination of Lin’s personal culinary history on full display, the restaurant garnered rave reviews from Food and Wine and GQ’s 2019 Best New Restaurants lists and 2020 JBF Best Chef California & Best New Restaurant Nominations. In 2021, Lin opened her fast-casual Szechuan Hot Fried Chicken restaurant, Daybird, to critical acclaim.
Marcus Samuelsson
Nov 30, 2023
Marcus Samuelsson is the renowned chef behind many restaurants worldwide including Red Rooster in Harlem (NYC) and Overtown (Miami); Hav & Mar in Chelsea (NYC); several MARCUS locations including the Bahamas, Newark, and Atlanta; and his newest concept, Metropolis at the Perelman Performing Arts Center (World Trade Center, NYC) which opened November 2023. Samuelsson was the youngest person to ever receive a three-star review from The New York Times and has won eight James Beard Foundation Awards. Additionally, Samuelsson has won numerous competition shows including Top Chef Masters and Chopped All-Stars and appears regularly on those franchises as a Judge. He also recently appeared as an Iron Chef on Netflix’s Iron Chef: Quest for an Iron Legend. Samuelsson is the author of multiple books including The New York Times bestselling memoir Yes, Chef and The Rise: Black Cooks and the Soul of American Food.
Follow Samuelsson on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter at @MarcusCooks and on TikTok at @Marcus_Cooks.
ABOUT HEAD BUTCHER AND CHEF ROB LEVITT: Acclaimed chef and butcher Rob Levitt first got his feet wet in the culinary world working as a dishwasher while pursuing a degree in Jazz Performance at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana. Sparked by his new passion for the restaurant industry, Levitt continued to cultivate his skills at the Culinary Institute of America before landing at the Park Avenue Café in Manhattan. With a desire to move back to the Midwest, Rob relocated to Chicago and worked his way through some of the city’s most popular restaurants including modern Spanish tapas spot, del Toro, Michelin-starred North Pond and acclaimed Italian eatery 312 Chicago before opening his first restaurant Mado, with his wife Allison in 2008. After three years of critical acclaim, the duo took the next step and opened The Butcher & Larder, Chicago’s first local, sustainable, whole animal butcher shop, which has been recognized for excellence in its craft by Food & Wine, GQ, The Travel Channel, The Food Network, The Good Food Awards and more. In 2015, Levitt joined Chicago-based Local Foods, to share knowledge and further expand The Butcher & Larder’s offerings with café, retail and wholesale distribution opportunities. After nearly 20 years mastering his skill and with nine years of butcher experience under his belt, Levitt eventually caught the attention of James Beard Award-winning Chef Paul Kahan, landing the coveted role of head butcher and chef of One Off Hospitality’s beloved Publican Quality Meats. Expanding upon Kahan’s signature "snout to tail” approach to butchery, Levitt captains the culinary program at PQM, creating a seasonal menu featuring rustic soups, gourmet salads, and sandwiches, while mastering an array of natural and organic meat products, house-made sausages and more at Chicago’s critically acclaimed butcher shop, neighborhood café, bakery and gourmet market.
Chef Neal Fraser, owner of multiple restaurant concepts in Los Angeles, started his career in the kitchen at age 20. Fraser touts an impressive resume that includes a degree from the Culinary Institute of America and an honor roll of kitchen credits such as Wolfgang Puck’s Eureka and Spago, Checkers Hotel under Thomas Keller, Joachim Splichal’s Pinot Bistro, Hans Rockenwagner’s Rox, and the highly revered Boxer. Currently, he and his business partner/wife Amy Knoll Fraser own and operate critically acclaimed Redbird and high-volume special events and performing arts venue Vibiana.
Located in downtown Los Angeles, Redbird is Fraser’s flagship where he showcases his signature sensibility of refined yet approachable modern American cuisine, influenced by the city’s multitude of cultures. Carved into one of the city’s most historic architectural gems, inside the former rectory building of Vibiana (the cathedral-turned-event-venue), Redbird is singular, timeless and “blissfully grown-up.” The restaurant has received many accolades including a coveted spot on Los Angeles Times' Jonathan Gold's 101 Best Restaurant List.
Prior to the success of Redbird and Vibiana, Fraser and Knoll Fraser opened two of Los Angeles’ most loved restaurants – critical darling Grace, and ever-beloved, breakfast, lunch and dinner bistro, BLD. A second location for BLD currently operates inside the Los Angeles International Airport.
Fraser has also been catering for over 30 years in and around Los Angeles and across the country with events ranging from intimate dinner parties in private homes to a week-long 3 meal a day Breeder’s Cup event at Santa Anita to open-air dining events with the Outstanding in the Field group, and at Coachella and Burning Man.
At Fraser’s award-winning flagship property Vibiana, which houses his critically acclaimed restaurant Redbird in its rectory building, he and his staff execute over 100 events a year in the former cathedral and over 700 events in the 5 private dining rooms of the rectory building and adjacent garden. This is in addition to regular dinner service seven nights a week and brunch on the weekends in the 140 seat Main Dining Room. Redbird | Vibiana received the Los Angeles Conservancy’s 2019 Preservation Award Chair’s Award. The Chair’s Award is the LA Conservancy’s highest recognition celebrating the persistence, creativity and ultimate success of the revitalization for adaptive reuse of the cathedral, rectory building and surrounding property.
Over the years, both Fraser and Knoll Fraser have been active members in the community, donating time and talent to a variety of charities. Fraser currently resides on the board of LA’s Best. Nine years ago, Fraser and Knoll Fraser co-founded Beefsteak, an annual event benefitting the Los Angeles Food Bank with Simpson’s creator Matt Selman, comedian Eric Wareheim and comedy producer Cort Cass. As an avid cyclist, Fraser is an active participant in Chef’s Cycle, an annual event in support of No Kid Hungry.
Outside of the restaurants, Fraser has logged some hours on the small screen, most notably on Bravo TV's 'Top Chef Masters,’ Fox’s ‘Hell’s Kitchen,’ and Food Network's 'Iron Chef America,' on which he won his battle against chef Cat Cora. He also won his battles on Esquire TV's 'Knife Fight,' and Food Network's 'Beat Bobby Flay.’
Fraser and his restaurants have been featured in publications such as Food & Wine, Los Angeles Times, Conde Nast Traveler, Vogue, Rolling Stone, Architectural Digest and EaterLos Angeles.
Get ready to be swept away by the incredible journey of Jonathon Sawyer, a Chicago-born chef whose love for food was ignited by an old-world German chef. As a young man, Sawyer found himself trapped in an engineering program, staring at an auto-cad program every day. His only escape was cooking at a local restaurant every night, under the watchful eye of a stubborn and surly German chef. One day, the chef, with his thick accent, surprised Sawyer with high praise, telling him, "You, you are good at cooking." And just like that, Sawyer's fate was sealed.
Leaving engineering school behind, Sawyer enrolled in culinary school, where he discovered his true love and passion for cooking. But his journey was far from over. He went on to work for renowned Chef Charlie Palmer in New York City before opening his own restaurants, Parea in NYC and Lolita in Ohio, for Michael Symon.
But it was back home in Cleveland, where Sawyer built his small restaurant empire, including The Greenhouse Tavern, Noodlecat, and Trentina. He even ventured into the stadium business and started a probiotic vinegar business. Sawyer's talent did not go unnoticed, and in 2010 he won the Food & Wine "Best New Chef" award, followed by the James Beard Foundation Award for Best Chef: Great Lakes in 2015.
In 2020, Sawyer opened Adorn Bar & Restaurant in Chicago, which was a hit and earned a spot in the prestigious 2021 Michelin Guidebook. His latest venture, Kindling, located in the Willis Tower and a dream live-fire restaurant in partnership with The 50/Fifty Group, has been hailed as one of the best restaurants of 2023.
But that's not all! Sawyer has also made a name for himself on television. He is currently a celebrity chef on Food Network's highest-rated show, Tournament of Champions, and has appeared on several other shows, including the premier episode of Bobby Flay's Triple Threat, The Best Thing I Ever Ate, and Chopped. He has also authored two cookbooks: the best-selling children's cookbook, Noodlekids Cookbook, and House of Vinegar, a cult classic among home cooks.
When he's not busy whipping up culinary masterpieces, Chef Sawyer can be found exploring the great outdoors, hiking and foraging with his furry companions by his side. He also enjoys quality time with his family, engaging in friendly board game competitions with his wife, Amelia, and their children, Catcher and Louisiana.
Beyond his love for cooking, Sawyer is also dedicated to giving back to his community, regularly working with various charities to donate his time and culinary expertise where needed. With a heart as big as his passion for food, Chef Sawyer is truly a man of many talents and interests.
Drew Nieporent
Aug 02, 2023
Don’t hose me baby!!!!!
Drew Nieporent, one of America's most respected and celebrated restaurateurs, is the founder and inspiration behind the Myriad Restaurant Group, which operates Tribeca Grill, Nobu New York City, Nobu Fifty Seven, Nobu London, Nobu Next Door, Bâtard, Porsche Grille at Citi Field, and Crush Wine & Spirits. Over the last 30 years, Myriad has opened and operated over 39 restaurants around the world, including Seattle, Louisville, Providence, Boca Raton, London, San Francisco, Moscow, Citi Field, home of the New York Mets in Flushing, New York.
Nieporent's first restaurant, the groundbreaking Montrachet (1985), earned three stars from The New York Times and kept that rating for 21 years. In 2008, the restaurant reopened as Corton, maintaining its three New York Times stars and receiving two Michelin stars with chef-partner Paul Liebrandt at the helm. In May of 2014, Nieporent reopened the space as Bâtard with the help of chef- partner Markus Glocker and partner John Winterman. Earning three stars from The New York Times, New York Magazine, and a coveted Michelin star, the restaurant opened to critical acclaim. As 2014 came to an end, Bâtard landed at the top of several end-of-year lists, including the number one spot on The New York Times' list of "The 10 Best New Restaurants of 2014". In May of 2015, the restaurant won the James Beard award for “Best New Restaurant”.
Tribeca Grill (1990), with partner Robert De Niro and an all-star roster of investors including Bill Murray, Sean Penn, and Mikhail Baryshnikov, opened to national acclaim and continues to be one of New York's landmark restaurants.
In 1994, again with partner Robert De Niro and sushi master Nobu Matsuhisa, Drew launched Nobu New York City to worldwide acclaim. Nobu NYC, Next Door Nobu, and Nobu Fifty Seven have all earned the coveted three-star rating from The New York Times. Nobu NYC was voted Best Restaurant in America by The James Beard Foundation. Nobu has gone on to open restaurants in all parts of the world.
Also in 1994, Nieporent was one of the few American restaurateurs to go bi-coastal. In collaboration with Robert De Niro, Robin Williams, and Francis Ford Coppola, he opened Rubicon in San Francisco.
Myriad's excellence in wine service is widely acknowledged. It is the only restaurant group to earn three coveted Grand Awards from Wine Spectator Magazine - for Rubicon, Montrachet, and Tribeca Grill. In 2005, Myriad opened Crush Wine & Spirits, which was named the best new wine shop by Food & Wine Magazine.
Nieporent graduated in 1973 from Stuyvesant High School and in 1977 from Cornell University with a degree from the School of Hotel Management. While at Cornell, he worked on the world class cruise ships Vistafjord and Sagafjord. In 1978, he began his management career with Warner Le Roy at New York City's Maxwell's Plum and Tavern On The Green. He then worked at the prestigious French restaurants Le Perigord, La Grenouille and Plaza Athenee's Le Regence.
Drew donates his time to dozens of charities. He is on the board of Madison Square Garden's Garden of Dreams Foundation, Citymeals-on-Wheels, and DIFFA, an Honorary Chair of the City Harvest Food Council and Culinary Director of the Jackson Hole Wine Auction. He has co-chaired SOS's Taste of the Nation event in New York City since 1997. He has been honored by Careers Through Culinary Arts Program (2009), American Heart Association (1999), the Tourette Syndrome Association (2000), Food Allergy Initiative (2001), American Liver Foundation (2003), Cancer Research & Treatment Fund (2005), and Kristen Ann Carr Fund (2006). Drew is in great demand as a spirited, highly effective auctioneer at charity events.
When Chris Bianco started the diminutive Pizzeria Bianco inside the back corner of a neighborhood grocery store, little did he know that he would be such a driving force in the slow food movement and specifically the artisanal pizza front. Chris, who won the James Beard Award for Best Chef: Southwest in 2003, helped spawn a generation of independent and artisanal pizzeria’s, lending his advice, wisdom and food philosophies to dozens of fellow chefs and restaurateurs. In 2005, Chris opened Pane Bianco, about four miles from the Pizzeria. Pane features split foccacia sandwiches and other baked goods including Bianco’s signature pizza al taglio. Pane Bianco has been voted best sandwich in Phoenix on several occasions. Bianco rounded out the lineup opening an elevated dinner restaurant, Tratto, in Phoenix. Tratto received the only 5 star rating from the Arizona Republic. There are currently two Pizzeria Biancos in the Phoenix area and in 2022 Bianco opened the first Pizzeria Bianco outside of the state in downtown Los Angeles. Recently, Bianco opened a Pane Bianco at the Row DTLA in Los Angeles, just across the street from the Pizzeria. In 2013 & 2014, Pizzeria Bianco was nominated for a James Beard Award in the Outstanding Restaurant category and in 2022 won the award for Outstanding Restauranteur to go along with his Best Chef Award. In 2010, Chris joined with third generation canner Rob DiNapoli to create a line of organic whole peeled tomatoes. The Bianco DiNapoli lineup has grown into a national consumer and food service brand. The New York times has rated Bianco DiNapoli as the best canned tomato in 2020 and 2022. Chris also supports many local and national charities, providing support to many worthy causes. He has supported Alex’s Lemonade Stand for many years, started by a young girl named Alex, who was battling her own cancer and yet wanted to raise money to find a cure so that other children wouldn’t have to suffer.
One of Houston’s most talked about chefs, Ryan Lachainethe chef/partner of Riel, was born and raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba. His culinary education began at the apron strings of his Ukrainian mother and grandmother as they churned out pierogies, cabbage rolls and other treasured family recipes. However, Lachaine did not set out to become a cook; he initially moved to Houston to enroll in the University of Houston's business program. After only a few semesters, he felt a pull toward his first love—cooking—and left business school to enroll in The Art Institute of Houston. Following the completion of his culinary arts degree, he jumped head first into Houston’s trailblazing food scene at Gravitas under Chef Jason Gould before working under Chef Bryan Caswell at Stella Sola. Lachaine discovered a mentor and teacher in Caswell, following the Houston chef to Reef, where Lachaine honed his skills in the high-pressure, fast-paced restaurant.
Lachaine then left Houston to further his 'on the job’ culinary education by staging at some of the country’s top restaurants, including Husk (Charleston), Herbsaint Restaurant (New Orleans), COI (San Francisco) and Animal (Los Angeles). Following his travels, he returned to Houston and took on the role of Chef de Cuisine at Underbelly where he was inducted into Eater’s 2013 class of Young Guns. Lachaine then went back to Reef, continuing to learn under Caswell before deciding to take a year off from the kitchen to plan Riel. Over the year, Lachaine continued his culinary travels, seeking out some of the best restaurants in Canada and the United States, while also spending time with his wife and twin sons. Through his travels and culinary soul searching, Lachaine focused his vision on what Riel would become: An articulation of his culinary point of view.
Riel has been a critical darling since opening, becoming a fixture on Houston’s top restaurant lists and drawing accolades from the likes of Food & Wine, Esquire and Forbes. It was named one of the “Best New Restaurants in Texas” by Texas Monthly in 2018 and the number one restaurant in Houston by CultureMap in 2019.
A former semi-professional hockey player, Lachaine serves on the advisory board for The Atlanta Food & Wine Festival and also has participated in Austin Food & Wine; Food & Wine Classic in Aspen; Feast Portland; Fire, Flour & Fork (Richmond, Va.); RAW:almond (Winnipeg); and Outstanding in the Field (2018, 2019). He has hosted two guest chef dinners at The Phoenix Resort in Belize and is a six-time participant in Indie Chef Week, including as host of the event at Riel in 2018.
You may recognize Rebecca from her victorious appearance on Top Chef: Just Desserts or the standout mention in Southern Living where her Houston-based, sweet tooth haven of a storefront, Fluff Bake Bar, was named one of the “South’s Best Bakeries.” The Wyoming native made her first “go big or go home” play back in 1999 when she secured a spot at the famed Le Cordon Bleu school in Paris, and soon after, a coveted internship at the landmark Le Bristol hotel. There, under the tutelage of Pastry Chef Gilles Marchal, she got a taste of Michelin-starred kitchens. After graduating, she worked her way through many famed New York City kitchens, eventually becoming head pastry chef at The Red Cat with Executive Chef Jimmy Bradley. After years of work in the Big Apple, Rebecca pivoted to Texas just as Houston’s culinary scene was starting to heat up. Masson accepted an invitation from Executive Chef Ryan Pera, now chef/owner of Coltivare and Revival Market, to oversee pastry for *17 Restaurant and the Sam Houston Hotel. She quickly generated a cult following in the 713, earning a nickname as the city’s “Sugar Fairy”. My Table Magazine designated her Best Pastry Chef, the first of many local honors, which led to positions with Houston-based and nationally noted chefs and restaurateurs ranging from Charles Clark to Chris Shepherd, as well as a role with HEB Central Market, before stepping out on her own with Fluff Bake Bar in 2011. Masson moved Fluff to its current, larger location in the Heights neighborhood in 2020 and her pastries and confections have received notable coverage in Food and Wine, Bon Appetit, Texas Monthly, Houston Chronicle, Culture Map, Saveur, and TimeOut among many others.
Michael Symon
Jun 06, 2023
Chef Michael Symon cooks with soul. Growing up in a Greek and Sicilian family, the Cleveland native creates boldly flavored, deeply satisfying dishes at his restaurants: Mabel’s BBQ,Bar Symon and Angeline. Michael also shares his exuberant, approachable cooking style and infectious laugh with viewers on Food Network shows Symon’s Dinners & Throwdown.
Since being named a Best New Chef by Food & Wine magazine in 1998, Michael and his restaurants have been awarded numerous honors: in 2000 Gourmet magazine chose Lola as one of “America’s Best Restaurants;” in 2010, Michael was the first and only chef ever to host the annual Farm Aid benefit concert. In 2009, Michael earned The James Beard Foundation Award for Best Chef Great Lakes.
Michael’s television career is full of appearances and hosting gigs, starting back in 1998 when he made his debut on the Food Network. You might remember him on The Melting Pot, Sara’s Secrets and hosting Cook Like an Iron Chef, among many others over the years. In 2008 he went on to win The Next Iron Chef, earning him a permanent spot on the roster of esteemed Iron Chefs. In September 2011, he joined the cast of The Chew on ABC as one of the show’s five hosts. The Chew ran for seven seasons and received widespread critical acclaim including Daytime Emmys in 2015 and 2016, and as well as the hearts and stomachs of audiences across the US. In 2015 Michael traveled throughout the United States and hosted Burgers, Brew and Ques, on Cooking Channel, tasting the best of America’s classics.
Partnering up with his best pal, Bobby Flay in 2019, they engaged in some healthy competition in Food Network’s BBQ Brawl: Flay Vs. Symon. In June 2020 Symon’s DinnersCooking Out premiered on the Food Network and his fans quickly fell in love with watching Michael use his grilling and BBQ skills in his very own backyard. Most recently, Michael traveled across the U.S. to check out some of the nation’s most prestigious BBQ competitions to get an inside look at some of the competitors and their techniques for BBQ USA.
While Michael shines on television, he is a genuine hometown guy who made his name cooking in his acclaimed restaurants. Lola opened in 1997 and was a cornerstone of Cleveland’s dining scene for 24 years. Roast brought Michael’s meat‐centric cooking to Detroit’s Westin Book Cadillac in 2008 and was immediately named Detroit’s Best Restaurant and credited with reviving Downtown as well as named one of the ten best steakhouses in the country by Playboy. Mabel’s BBQ opened in 2016 and introduced a new style of mustard-‐based barbecue Clevelanders could call their own and was quickly recognized nationally as USA Today called their ribs the best in the U.S. A second Mabel’s opened at the Palms In Las Vegas in 2018 to more rave reviews with critics calling it the best BBQ in Vegas. In 2017, he opened Angeline at the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City which was named Atlantic City’s best new restaurant and is a nod to his Italian mother, Angel.
Michael published his first cookbook, Michael Symon’s Live to Cook – Recipes and Techniques to Rock Your Kitchen, in 2009, sharing home cook-‐friendly recipes that draw on the flavors of his heritage. Since Michael’s first cookbook release, he has also put out Carnivore, dedicated to meat lovers, 5 in 5, inspired by a popular speed-‐cooking segment on The Chew, 5 in 5 For Every Season. Michael’s latest releases include “Playing with Fire”, “Fix It with Food” and “Fix It with Food: Every Meal Easy”. “Playing with Fire” is a cookbook focused on BBQ and live fire grilling, while both versions of "Fix It with Food" came out of his own experiences in addressing auto-immune diseases and inflammation. All of Michael’s cookbooks were hugely successful and Carnivore, 5 in 5 and Fix It with Food made The New York Times Book Review best sellers list. He has a new book coming out in the Fall of 2023 called “Simply Symon’s Suppers” which will give readers over 150 recipes for any dinner occasion.
When he’s not working, Michael is playing golf, gardening in the backyard and spending time with his wife, Liz, their granddaughter Emmy, grandson Butch and English staffie, Norman.
Paul is a self-taught landscape, fashion and sports photographer and music video director and has worked with musicians such as Die Toten Hosen, Marteria and Lena, as well as with football player Odell Beckham Jr. and basketball player Dirk Nowitzki.
Back in 2014, when the German national football team won the World Cup Final in Rio de Janeiro, he was very close to the team at the Maracanã Stadium and able to capture the most emotional moments of the World Cup title. The resulting photos can be found in Ripke’s comprehensive photo book, ‘One Night in Rio’. He has accompanied the Formula One driver Nico Rosberg and the Mercedes AMG team around Lewis Hamilton as a content creator to their respective championships and has worked with brands such as Nike and Hugo Boss.
In addition to that, together with the German TV host and Entrepreneur Joko Winterscheidt, he has a podcast called “Alle Wege führen nach Ruhm” (english: All ways lead to fame), for which they won the Goldene Henne, a German media award, in 2019. Also in 2019, he published a vegan cooking magazine called „RIPKYTCHEN #VEGAN“, followed by a collection of his favorite „CHEAT“ recipes in his second „RIPKYTCHEN“ magazine.
Today he runs his own textile label named “PARI” (PAul RIpke), which started in collaboration with ABOUT YOU in 2019. He has more than half a million followers on Instagram and works mainly as a digital creator. Ripke lives with his wife and three children in Newport Beach, California.
Michele Forgione is a Montreal chef and restaurateur. Executive Chef/co-owner four restaurants, Impasto,Pizzeria Gema,Chez Tousignant and Vesta are located in the heart of Montreal's Little Italy and have been garnering critical acclaim since their respective openings in July 2013 and July 2014 , December 2015 and July 2019 Forgione comes from a long line of excellent home cooks, yet his formal training took place at the Pius X Culinary Institute, followed by the Institut de Tourisme et d'Hôtellerie du Québec in pastry and baking.
Forgione has also taught in Tuscany at the Villa Campestri olive oil resort He has also appeared on numerous television programs. In 2014, Forgione was named by the Montreal Gazette as one of the city's 10 Next Generation Chefs and won silver medal in the Gold medal plates competition in Québec given by the Canadian Culinary Championships. He is (co-author) of his first cookbook Montrealissimo history of food of the Italian-Montrealers and also co-owner and culinary director of ailments Faita-Forgione .
Mangia Québec is a six-part documentary series that will explore multiculturalism in Québec through the lens
of the province's diverse culinary traditions. The series follows acclaimed Chef and Montreal restaurateur
Michele Forgone will travel to six communities across the province, meeting and interviewing Italian
Canadians on century-old farms, in family-owned restaurants, and everywhere in between.
Every decade or so Chef Will Goldfarb finds a few minutes of sunshine. Recently named by The World’s 50 Best as the World’s Best Pastry Chef, 2021 saw the revamped Room4Dessert, his endearingly resilient dessert bar, surrounded by a garden full of medicinal plants, taken to another level. A new menu. A new attitude. A new way to share millennia of local wisdom on health and healing to life.
Chef Goldfarb was featured on Chef’s Table, Season 4, capping a delightfully unexpected 2018, which also saw the release of his first book, Room For Dessert, published in swinging style by Phaidon. He previously enjoyed a breakthrough at the original R4D in NYC, all the way back in 2005, following years of training at El Bulli in Roses, Cibreo in Firenze, and Gerard Mulot in Paris.
Most recently, during a buoyant pandemic adventure, Chef Will and the swashbuckling R4D team braved new spaces (and another new garden!), taking care of people and community in new and most important ways: simply cooking for those who need it. At the same time, the relentless drive in search of new sustainability continues. Look for more adventures in Botanical Modernism soon!
About R4D
The little dessert bar that could
Where it all started. A restaurant serving delicious and innovative desserts in NYC. Bringing joy to people through fresh culinary experiences. The need for purpose brought us to Bali, where the powerful connection between people, nature, and the community re-shaped what we celebrated and served.
Expect the unexpected at R4D like the current menu, Season 13 part 2: The Golden Age, a 15-course journey through some favorite nouvelle cuisine dishes using the natural harvest schedule of our medicinal plants garden at Room4Dessert. A walk through the garden to gather herbs or savor perfumes welcomes you to our home. Savory snacks, decadent desserts, and playful petits fours among the orchard whisk you off into Ubud’s good night. Exquisite drink pairings accompany, while warm hospitality from the team of young and enthusiastic service professionals ease you into the accessible luxury of our island home.
Paramount at R4D is local and sustainable solutions and systems of development. An outstanding team of young women and men has built a network of artisans and artists, food producers, and cultural institutions, which really feels more like a family. We quickly realised that forming a dialogue with the earth – not only through desserts but also via surprising experiences, education, and a heightened sense of wellbeing – made people happy. This became our lifestyle, where people and nature are the centre of what we do.
Our World: People, Process, Plants
Mentorship (Community), Sustainability, Academy
Our commitment to the women and men of Bali and Indonesia who make up our team is our first ingredient. We extend this love and care to the land surrounding our little dessert bar and in turn, are able to share what we grow and how we grow it with our guests. Next, our family meal feeds the hungry in the community, reminding us that the root of sustainability, is in fact, to sustain. Last, we share our ingredients, techniques, and inspirations with our growing community of students. In this way our cycle of renewal is complete.
Botanical Modernism
So what is Botanical Modernism?
It is our fun and artistic approach to learning about medicinal plants and their histories across our shared cultures. It’s a way of looking at the world through the vibrant community of people and plants that we work with every day: bringing you more and more delicious new treats with our hard-won methods and contemporary inspirations. While you may not be able to walk with us through the garden each day, we can bring you along for the ride.
Traditional Wisdom
A key to our sweet world
One of the things we hold most dearly is that sometimes, the old ways are the best. Understanding the difference between technique and technology helps us to accurately value traditional cooking methods and see where the search for the new has led us astray. Our awareness of our history, and that of our community, provides the direction for all of our development. The right way takes time, something a modern commodity economy ignores. But the payoff is not only the flavor, but a sustainable way of life and farming for a new generation of Balinese farmers, artisans, and craftspeople who contribute to every thread of R4D life.
Healing Through Food
The way forward
Traditionally there was no distinction between food and medicine, as cooking was the way to release the valuable properties of plants, grains, and animals. Nowadays, as big food has separated us from the growing process, and big medicine, likewise distancing us from healing, we can’t take the connection for granted. Sparked by Ibu Robin Lim’s Apotek Hidup, our research led to our medicinal plant garden, and our renewed passion for food that tastes great and makes you feel good. Every single plant we plant and dish we create is a chance to remember to take care of ourselves, and a way to be generous to our community.
Lior Lev Sercarz is the chef, spice blender, and owner of La Boîte, a biscuit and spice shop in New York City. Lior and La Boîte have been featured in publications including The New York Times, Vogue, Every Day with Rachel Ray, Bon Appetit, Food & Wine Magazine, and the SAVEUR 100.
After completing three years as a sergeant of the Israeli army, Lior traveled to South America where he further developed a passion for cooking and world cuisines. As his interest in cooking evolved, he decided to enroll in culinary school at the acclaimed Institut Paul Bocuse in Lyon, France. During that time, he did an externship with chef Olivier Roellinger in Cancale, France. Roellinger had earned three Michelin stars at Les Maisons de Bricourt, his hotel, and restaurant, where he displayed a rare understanding of spices, blends, oils, and pastes.
In 2002, Lior brought his newfound understanding of spice blending with him to New York, where he had the honor of working with chef Daniel Boulud as a sous chef and catering chef at his flagship restaurant, Daniel. He left Daniel in 2006 to start La Boîte, launching the company by making and selling a line of French biscuits as well as experimenting with the use of spices.
Inspired by his passion for spices and the stories they tell, Lior opened the Hell’s Kitchen brick and mortar, La Boîte Biscuits & Spices, in 2011. His knowledge of where spices come from and how they are grown allows us to source from farmers and small producers around the world, with a focus on quality first.
Drawing on Lior’s culinary experience, we use these high-quality spices to create unique blends and seasonal biscuits. Since 2015, we have also sold our single spices at retail under the Voyager Collection, a partnership with Eric Ripert.
Since the beginning of his career, Lior has worked closely with chefs from around the world, developing custom blends for them and for other customers with all levels of cooking experience. In 2012, he produced a cookbook entitled The Art of Blending, which features 41 blends along with recipes and cooking tips provided by renowned chefs and culinary minds including Gail Simmons, Daniel Boulud, Eric Ripert, and Apollonia Poilâne.
His second book, The Spice Companion, is a distillation of his 30 years of experience. This illustrated guide to 102 spices, complete with blends and recipe ideas was published by Clarkson Potter in November 2016.
In his most recent book, Mastering Spice, Lior shares 250 recipes and invaluable techniques to transform everyday cooking with spices. Mastering Spice was named one of the best cookbooks of the year by The New York Times Book Review.
Chris Kollar
Mar 08, 2023
Check him out : @kollarchocolates
Chocolatier, chef, innovator, “artist” and avid cyclist, Chris Kollar is the owner of Kollar Chocolates, an award-winning artisan chocolate shop located in the heart of Yountville in the Napa Valley.
Chef Kollar earned the Food Network’s Chopped title in 2020, is named Dessert Professional Magazine’s Top Ten Chocolatiers of North America, and appointed as a Specialized Bicycles Brand Ambassador.
Trained as a savory chef, Kollar worked in kitchens across the country for 25+ years, starting with his hometown of Lilburn, Georgia. In 2001 he settled in the Napa Valley and worked at notable restaurants, including Domaine Chandon, Tra Vigne, Pinot Blanc, Go Fish, and, ultimately, Peter Michael Winery in Sonoma County as Executive Chef, where his passion for chocolate flourished.
Kollar traveled Europe extensively, notably Switzerland, France, and Italy, to further study and learn about traditional chocolates as well as trained with admired Chocolatiers. Using this knowledge and taking it back to his craft, Kollar blends European classic chocolate techniques with his savory culinary background.
Jamie Oliver is a global phenomenon in food and activism. During a 20-year television and publishing career he has inspired millions of people to enjoy cooking from scratch and eating fresh, delicious food. Through his many campaigns and Emmy-award winning Jamie’s Food Revolution television series, Jamie is leading the charge on a global food revolution, aiming to reduce childhood obesity and improve everyone’s health and happiness through food.
Jamie started cooking at his parents’ pub, The Cricketers, in Clavering, Essex, at the age of eight. After leaving school he began a career as a chef that took him to the River Café, where he was famously spotted by a television production company and the Naked Chef was born.
Find Jamie recipes and videos on jamieoliver.com, his Jamie Oliver YouTube channels, as well as Instagram where he has 9.2 million followers. He has now published 25 bestselling cookbooks, all with accompanying television shows. Jamie lives in London and Essex with his wife Jools and their five children, Poppy, Daisy, Petal, Buddy and River.
Dr. Meg Fisher is an 11x World Champion and represented Team USA at the Rio 2016 and London 2012 Paralympic Games where she earned one gold, two silvers and bronze. She has her doctorate in physical therapy and is passionate about helping people explore and redefine their abilities. In 2001, a horrible car accident killed her partner and left Meg in a coma with significant brain and physical injuries. After brain surgery and the amputation of her left foot, she has gone on to conquer some of the most challenging events in the world. In addition to competing, she pioneering the inclusion of para-cycling categories in off-road events, especially gravel and mountain biking.
Chef Nyesha Arrington is a California native born into a multicultural family, she is best known for her accomplishments as a chef and TV personality. Arrington has competed on Season 9 of “Top Chef” and most recently featured as a recurring judge on Chopped Next Generation. Arrington was introduced to diverse culinary experiences at an early age, which has continually shaped her palate development and perspective of culture-informed cooking.
A graduate of the Culinary School at the Art Institute of California in Los Angeles, Arrington forged her culinary career at Michelin-starred restaurants under direction from revered chefs including Joël Robuchon and Josiah Citrin. Following her stints in kitchens such as L'Atelier, The Mansion, Spice Mill, Melisse and The Wilshire, Arrington went on to open two proprietary concepts with Venice's beachside haven Leona in 2015 and Santa Monica's Native in 2017, both placed on the late Jonathan Gold’s iconic "101 Best Restaurants in Los Angeles" list. Arrington has also been recognized as a Rising Star by James Beard Award-winning critic Brad Johnson from Angeleno, Chef of the Year by Eater LA and a Zagat "30 Under 30" recipient in Los Angeles.
Arrington has appeared as a contestant on reality cooking shows such as “Chef Hunter'' on Food Network. Not only was she a contestant on Bravo’s “Top Chef” and Esquire Network's “Knife Fight;” but Arrington later returned as a guest chef judge on both shows. Current projects include: YouTube series “Plateworthy” on Eater, for which Arrington hosts, a recurring judge on “Chopped Next Gen” with Discovery+, and a featured judge alongside Chef Gordon Ramsay on the new show “Next Level Chef” on FOX.
Arrington's greatest enthusiasm will always be to champion her community and create “Food that Hugs the Soul." She continues to innovate and draw inspiration from her vibrant cultural background and French-technique while upholding her mission to spread the message of love through food, using every plate as a new journey of Discovery.
Outside the kitchen, Arrington delights in spending time outdoors and with her Cross Fit family at the gym. The chef enjoys skateboarding along the Santa Monica bike path with her partner in crime, French bulldog Bleu Ginger, and is a passionate proponent of the arts.
Chef Shirley Chung, Dumpling Mafia
Sep 12, 2022
Chef Shirley Chung A native of Beijing, she moved to the U.S. to obtain a degree in Business Management, then trained in the culinary arts at the California Culinary Academy.
She owned and acted as Chef de Cuisine of Fusion Catering before working for Thomas Keller at Bouchon in Yountville, CA, where she not only honed her culinary talent, but acquired skills in management, inventory and cost control.
She opened Bouchon’s Las Vegas location as Sous Chef, then moved to the position of Chef de Partie at Restaurant Guy Savoy in Caesars Palace.
Continuing to another superstar chef’s kitchen, she then opened Mario Batali’s B&B Ristorante, progressing to Chef de Cuisine at Carnevino, where she was integral in raising the restaurant up to its current nationally recognized status.
In October 2010, she was named Executive Chef of Jose Andres’ China Poblano in The Cosmopolitan, where under her leadership, it was nominated for a James Beard Best New Restaurant award.
In 2013, Shirley was a chef contestant on Bravo’s Top Chef Series Season 11 New Orleans where she finished in the Top 3.
Her experience working at China Poblano helped perfect her skill for Chinese cuisine, which she presents with a modern twist at her Orange County restaurantTwenty Eight, which she opened as Chef Partner in 2014.
In 2016, Shirley was invited back to Top Chef Season 14 where she was the runner up.
In 2018, Chef Shirley and her husband opened Ms Chi Cafe in Culver City which is a casual progressive Chinese-American restaurant serving lunch, dinner and weekend brunch and ships nationwide on Goldbelly.com.
In 2019, Chef Shirley was the inaugural chef of Abernethy’s, a new restaurant concept and chef- driven project at the Music Center in downtown Los Angeles.
In2021, Chef Shirley co-founded Dumpling Mafia NFT which is the first chef driven NFT on the market
In 2022, Chef Shirley competed among 32 of the best chefs in Guy Fieri’s Tournament of Champions on the Food Network
Chef Shawn Naputi
Apr 05, 2022
Chef Shawn Naputi was born and raised on Guam. After graduating high school, he followed his passion by attending the California Culinary Academy of San Francisco. During and after culinary school, he worked for some of SF’s best restaurants including Incanto and Foreign Cinema. In 2014, he was given an opportunity to follow his dream of opening up his very own Chamorro restaurant, Prubechu on 24th and Mission, with business partner Shawn Camacho. After a brief stint of having to close in 2019, they found their permanent location on 18th and Mission and have been sharing their culture through the love of their food.
Chef Jeremy Fox
Mar 29, 2022
A great conversation with a brilliant chef & great friend.
Jeremy Fox is the award-winning chef/owner behind the nostalgic, Eastern European-inspired Birdie G’s and Michelin-starred Rustic Canyon in Santa Monica, California. He’s also the author of On Vegetables, the James Beard finalist cookbook, which features 150 recipes that elevate vegetarian cooking and showcase his “seed-to-stalk” philosophy. Jeremy is constantly inspired by local farmers, fishers and ranchers, and his menus truly embrace hyper-seasonality, simplicity and a zero-waste approach. Before joining the Rustic Canyon Family in 2013, Jeremy reimagined vegetarian cuisine at Napa’s Ubuntu, earning them a Michelin star, and honed his craft and culinary outlook as chef de cuisine at David Kinch’s lauded Manresa in Los Gatos. He’s garnered seven James Beard “Best Chef” (West & California) finalist nominations, was named a 2008 Food & Wine “Best New Chef,” andRustic Canyon and Birdie G’s have regularly topped Los Angeles Times’ “101 Best Restaurants List.”
Chef Antonia Lofaso, Warrior Princess
Mar 22, 2022
Lofaso apprenticed under culinary legends and absorbed their sophisticated techniques, but she was not afraid to take extraordinary risks to honor her instincts. She rose quickly through the ranks at Wolfgang Puck’s Spago, and went on to transform several high-profile kitchens of Los Angeles.
In 2011, Lofaso partnered with Sal Aurora and Mario Guddemi to debut Black Market Liquor Bar in Studio City. In Black Market and the business partnerships she formed, Lofaso found a home. This collaboration would foster the creative freedom Lofaso longed for. Black Market is not constrained by one definitive direction and that is the intention. A course might begin with dill potato chips and shishito peppers, followed by a lobster roll, Korean wings, and a succession of meatballs. What anchors this bold array of flavors, is Antonia.
Inspired by her Italian-American heritage, Lofaso opened Scopa – Italian Roots in 2013 to rave reviews. Lofaso’s interpretation of “old-school Italian” is hailed as one of the most compelling restaurants for Italian cooking in Los Angeles. Patrons describe Scopa as an essential neighborhood staple where Lofaso consistently serves food that is inviting, authentic, and undeniably satiating.
Lofaso opened DAMA in July 2018 – a Latin inspired restaurant and cocktail bar with her interpretation of dishes she’s explored during her travels throughout many Latin-American cities. Through her diverse menu, she has allowed guests to escape on vacation for a few hours through her whipped beans topped with crispy pork, corn drenched with cilantro aioli and crema, whole snapper with vibrant escabeche vegetables and her Pacific Banana Co. Sundae, an homage to the building’s history.
Lofaso insists that the drive behind all her accomplishments comes from the heart of the kitchen, and it is through this vein that she continues to have a firm finger on the pulse. She is revolutionizing her industry’s aesthetic by creating concepts that she sees opportunity to improve and positively change including Antonia Lofaso Catering and Chefletics where she is redesigning classic chef wear into active wear for chefs that include style, fit and function, including her patent pending technology, ChefDry™.
Chef Tiffani Faison
Mar 15, 2022
Tiffani Faison Chef and Restaurateur of Big Heart Hospitality
Sweet Cheeks Q, Fool’s Errand, Orfano, Dive Bar, Tenderoni’s and Bubble Bath
Chef and Restaurateur Tiffani Faison of Sweet Cheeks Q, Fool’s Errand, Orfano, Dive Bar, Tenderoni’s and Bubble Bath, has made a name for herself nationwide for her dynamic personality, culinary prowess and fierce work ethic. Under Big Heart Hospitality, her Boston based restaurant group, she creates restaurants that are warm, inspired and instantly loveable.
Tiffani began her career working under world renowned chefs as Daniel Boulud, Alain Ducasse and Todd English. Early in her career she was cast on the inaugural season of Bravo’s Top Chef, and placed as runner-up. From there she worked in prestigious kitchens in Nantucket, New Orleans, Los Angeles, and San Francisco before returning to Boston in 2010 to become Executive Chef of Southern Italian restaurant, Rocca Kitchen & Bar. After transforming Rocca into a critically acclaimed dining destination with a three star review from The Boston Globe, Tiffani set her sights on creating her own restaurant.
She opened Sweet Cheeks Q in 2011 during the very early stages of Fenway’s revitalization. Drawing inspiration from her love of Southern barbecue and extensive travels in Texas, Sweet Cheeks became an instant hit for its laidback Southern charm and addictive offerings: Heritage Pulled Pork, Brisket, Buttermilk Fried Chicken and Biscuits with Honey Butter. Shortly after opening, Sweet Cheeks garnered a three-star review from The Boston Globe, and it has been awarded “Boston’s Best Barbecue” numerous times by Boston magazine. Nationally, Forbes deemed Sweet Cheeks’ biscuits the “Best Biscuits in the World.” Most importantly, Tiffani created a restaurant that is both a neighborhood gem and a dining destination attracting guests from near and far who are simply seeking the city’s best ‘cue.
In December 2015, Tiffani expanded on her culinary skills, creativity and business savvy with a new restaurant: Tiger Mama, found on the same block as Sweet Cheeks in the Fenway. The seeds of Tiger Mama formed during Tiffani’s travels to Southeast Asia and the restaurant set a new benchmark, both for her career and Boston’s dining culture. In its April 19, 2016 review, The Boston Globe agreed, calling Tiger Mama “a spectacular restaurant” with dishes that you’ll “take to the grave” and hospitality that “feels generous and natural.” In October 2021, Faison closed Tiger Mama to make way for an exciting new restaurant concept she’s excited to debut in the same space sometime in 2022.
In August 2018, Tiffani opened her third restaurant – an adult snack bar called Fool’s Errand. With an irreverent menu and intimate atmosphere, Fool’s Errand neighbors Sweet Cheeks Q and on Boylston Street in Boston’s Fenway. The snack forward menu works with top quality, luxurious ingredients to deliver irreverent bites. Classic American cocktails, done beautifully and with care, join a rotating list of internationally sourced wines and aperitifs.
In August 2019, Tiffani opened her fourth restaurant, Orfano, an Italian American restaurant, also located in the Fenway. Guided by the whimsy of “sorry Nonna,” Orfano is Tiffani’s most upscale restaurant to date featuring next level Italian – delicious, elegant, humorous, and distinctly different than anything else in Boston. Food & Wine included Orfano as one of its “19 Biggest Restaurant Openings of 2019” while Boston Globe Magazine named Orfano as one of the “best new restaurants in Boston”. In its Feb 2020 review of the restaurant, Boston Magazine proclaimed Orfano “a triumphant modern take on Italian”.
In March 2022, Tiffani will open three distinct concepts within High Street Place, the much anticipated food hall in downtown Boston: Dive Bar, a raw bar featuring a menu of both northern and southern Atlantic classics, Tenderoni’s, an old school pizza and grinder shop, and Bubble Bath, a Champagne and wine bar that cheekily pairs its pours with gourmet hot dogs and popcorn.
Marking her many culinary achievements, the James Beard Foundation nominated Tiffani as “Best Chef: Northeast” three years in a row (2018, 2019 & 2020) and Boston magazine awarded her “Best Chef: General Excellence” in its 2016 “Best of Boston” issue. In November 2016 and 2019, the Boston Business Journal named Tiffani to its “Power 50” list, celebrating individuals from Boston’s multiple industries and professions who are making a difference in their business communities. In December 2019, The Boston Globe named Big Heart Hospitality as “Restaurateurs of the Year” andEater named Tiffani “Empire Builder of the Year.”
Outside of the kitchen, Tiffani is currently a judge on Food Network’s Chopped. After placing as runner-up on Top ChefSeason One, Faison later competed on Top Chef All-Stars and Top Chef Duels. She’s also previously been a judge on Food Network’s Chopped Grill Masters and Cooking Channel’s Fire Masters.Tiffani has made frequent appearances on NBC’s TODAY, CBS This Morning, PBS’s Simply Ming andwas the host of “Tiffani’s Taste” and “Food Truck Fridays” on New England Cable News. She has been a contributing chef to numerous cookbooks and has been widely featured in such national outlets as People, SELF, Entertainment Weekly, Sports Illustrated and Food & Wine. She also currently serves on the Board of Directors for Women Chefs & Restaurateurs and also BAGLY (Boston Alliance of Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer Youth). In September 2019, Tiffani was appointed to The Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ Restaurant Promotion Commission for her commitment to the states restaurant business as a whole.
Tiffani lives in Boston and is a tireless advocate of LGBTQ human rights.
Chef Alex Talbot, Ideas in Food & Curiosity Doughtnuts
Mar 08, 2022
Aki Kamozawa & H. Alexander Talbot are Ideas in Food, a blog, a book, and a culinary consulting business based in Plumstead, PA. They also co-own Curiosity Doughnuts, a small, artisan doughnut shop, open weekends only, in the Stockton Market across the river in Stockton, NJ. The two met in the kitchen at Clio in Boston in 1997 and have been cooking together ever since. Aki and Alex specialize in sharing techniques for creativity with chefs, cooks, restaurants, food service companies, and home cooks based on the premise that a solid understanding of science and technique coupled with high quality ingredients, modern equipment, and innovative approaches to cooking makes anything possible. They specialize in helping other chefs express their own cuisine more clearly and effectively. In addition to their work with individual chefs and restaurants, they have consulted with companies including the Art Institutes, the Institute of Culinary Education, Marks & Spencer, and Unilever.
Their first book, Ideas in Food, Great Recipes and Why They Work, was published in December of 2010 by Clarkson Potter. It is a handbook for cooks and chefs, teaching them how to unleash their creativity, intensify flavors, improve efficiency, and have fun in the kitchen. Ideas in Food is a blend of stories, science and recipes based on their experience and experiments in the kitchen. Their second book, Maximum Flavor, Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook, was published by Clarkson Potter in October of 2013. It’s a workbook with practical and delicious recipes to cook every day at home. It includes a plethora of tips and techniques for the getting the most flavor out of your food and making every dish your own. Their third book,Gluten Free Flour Power, Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back To The Table, was published by Norton in March 2015. It is an exploration of family favorites made possible by creating gluten free all purpose flour blends at home.
Aki and Alex began the blog Ideas in Food in December 2004. It began as a digital notebook to record their work in their restaurant kitchen. It has morphed into a clearinghouse for ideas gleaned from various mediums: restaurants, blogs, books, people and everyday life; all of it relating back to their kitchen. Over the past six years the website’s popularity has grown from a cult following of professional chefs into a benchmark for culinary blogs. It is a favorite for its combination of solid information, creative ideas, and illustrative photography. The focus is on sharing ways to make delicious and beautiful food. That is what draws readers back time and again. Ideas in Food was voted Best Culinary Science Blog in the 2013 Saveur Best Food Blog Awards.
Aki and Alex won an IACP Award for Instructional Culinary Writing with Recipes for participating in a series of articles written for Gilt Taste in 2011. They co-wrote a series of articles for Serious Eats in 2014. Aki and Alex contributed an essay to The Kitchen as Laboratory, published by Columbia University Press in January 2012. They are interviewed in the book, Cooking for Geeks, by Jeff Potter, published by O’Reilly in August 2010. They contributed an essay to the anthology Food and Philosophy, which was published by Wiley-Blackwell in November 2007. Alex and Aki wrote a column titled Kitchen Alchemy for Popular Science online based on scientific explorations in the kitchen. They wrote an article about garlic for Santé Magazine in March of 2009. In addition to this they have been featured in articles for many publications including the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, Food and Wine, Bon Appetit, Saveur, Santé Magazine, and Gourmet, and their work can occasionally be found on other blogs and websites around the Web.
Aki and Alex have been honored to speak and teach at professional conferences around the world: The World Pastry Forum, Star Chefs International Chefs Congress, International Association of Culinary Professionals, Women Chefs and Restaurateurs, the Experimental Cuisine Collective, The Flemish Primitives and the International Association of Culinary Professionals. The pair were invited to speak at Harvard in November 2010 and participated in a culinary round table at Cornell University in 2008. They have appeared as guest chefs for four Holland America cruises, leading demonstrations and teaching classes for groups from 12-150 people. Aki and Alex travel the United States and beyond cooking guest chef dinners and teaching culinary workshops.
Aki and Alex appear in two episodes of Foodography on the Cooking Channel in 2010. Their consulting business was featured on an episode of Friday Night Arts on their local PBS station, WHYY, in June 2010. In 2008 they appeared in an episode of The Food Detectives on the Food Network demonstrating the uses of liquid nitrogen. In May 2009, Aki and Alex discussed food science with Michael Colameco for his radio program Food Talk on WOR in New York City.
Chef Henrik Orre, AKA VeloChef
Mar 01, 2022
From Michelin Stars to Yellow Jerseys, Tour de France & Giro d’ Italia Chef Henrik Orre has done it all.
Maneet Chauhan is an award-winning chef, author, television personality and founding partner and president of Morph Hospitality Group in Nashville, Tennessee. She is a recipient of the 2012 James Beard Foundation Broadcast Media Award for her role as a permanent judge on Food Network’s “Chopped.” In addition to judging roles on Food Network, Maneet also competes at the highest level and most recently won Guy Fieri's Tournament of Champions II, where she was able to donate winnings of $40,000 to help different restaurants survive the pandemic.
Born in Punjab, India, chef Chauhan worked in some of the country’s finest hotels before moving to the U.S. to study at the Culinary Institute of America. She went on to work as executive chef in some of New York City and Chicago’s top restaurants, which received national acclaim under her leadership. After relocating to Nashville, Tennessee, Chauhan and her husband, Vivek Deora, co-founded Morph Hospitality Group, opening their first restaurant, Chauhan Ale & Masala House in 2014. With the goal of filling gaps in Nashville’s culinary landscape, the group opened Tansuo, a Chinese concept, and The Mockingbird, a global diner, in 2017, and Chaatable, a nostalgic Indian street food concept in 2018. Chef Chauhan is also a co-founder of Hop Springs, home to the state’s largest craft brewery and a fun-filled 84 acre beer park located in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
Chauhan is the author of two cookbooks, Flavors of My World and her most recent, Chaat: The Best Recipes from the Kitchens, Markets, and Railways of India, which was released in October 2020. Published by Clarkson Potter, the book was inspired by Maneet's epic cross-country railroad expedition that brought her to local markets, street vendors and the homes of family & friends. Chaat has been recognized as one of Fall 2020’s most anticipated cookbooks and has appeared in the New York Times, Food & Wine, Travel + Leisure, Martha Stewart Living, Saveur, Food Network Magazine, and more.
A leader in the Nashville community, Chauhan has been honored as one of the Nashville Business Journal’s “40 under 40”, which highlights young, successful business leaders and was recognized in Nashville Lifestyles’ Women in Business, which showcases local women who are at the top of their respective industries. In March 2020, Chauhan founded Hospitality Strong, a nonprofit benefitting hospitality workers in need and currently serves as an advisory board member for Nashville's COVID-19 Response Fund, founded to assist individuals, families and nonprofits experiencing financial hardship due to the virus.
When she’s not in the kitchen or traveling, chef Chauhan can be found at home in Franklin, Tennessee, with her husband, Vivek Deora, their daughter, Shagun, and their son, Karma.
Jamie Bissonnette, Wicked Good Bean Town Kid
Feb 16, 2022
Jamie Bissonnette is the James Beard Award-winning chef and partner of Boston favorites Toro, a Barcelona-style tapas bar, and sister restaurant Coppa, an Italian enoteca, in the South End. as well as Little Doinkey in Cambridge MA and Bangkok. Bissonnette was awarded the inaugural People’s Choice: Best New Chef award by Food & Wine magazine. In May 2014, he was honored with the James Beard Foundation award for Best Chef: Northeast.
Jay Rawe grew up in Bradenton, Florida. He moved to Twin Falls, Idaho in 2012, where I learned to BASE jump. It was there, in 2013, that he broke his back during a BASE jump with a buddy. He spent the next 3 years trying to figure out the new direction my life was going to take. He was introduced to sit-skiing at Snowbird, Utah by the Wasatch Adaptive Sports Center. He realize pretty quickly that this was something that he could really get into, and made plans to move to Tahoe shortly after. The idea was to spend the winter learning how to sit-ski, but after winter was over he found it hard to leave. He is starting on his 5 th year out here. The first year he learned to sitski, he gravitated toward the park. As a kid he was involved in gymnastics, skateboarding, and wakeboarding, and as a BASE jumper he loved doing aerials. When he was riding the sitski, he began to wonder what all you could do on this thing. he started experimenting with jumps and boxes and rails, landing several tricks late season including a backflip, leaving me itching for the next season to come around. In the following years he kept pushing myself to see how far I can go. I was able to build up my spins to land 360s, 540s and 720s. He is now working on getting those tricks dialed in so that he can take them out of the park to natural features in more of a free-ride setting. He didn’t realize when he started riding the impact that it would have on the adaptive community. He thinks that it has helped to give him a sense of purpose in a way. People reach out who are excited about what he is doing with all sorts of questions or just general positive feedback. It’s made me want to push that much harder, to keep finding the next boundary and blow past it. He remembers when he was first recovering from my accident, the feeling that he would be back to 100% in a few months. It was depressing, seeing the timelines he had set to being “back to normal” and not reaching the goals when the time came. Slowly I started to realize that he may never be back to 100%. He started looking at all the things he was not able to do any more, the dreams he had kind of fading away and he was left wondering if he would ever be able to do anything the way he used to. Sit-skiing gave me that freedom and more. On the snow, he dosen’t feel less than or incapable. It has given him confidence that has spread to other areas of his life. He just wants to share that with everyone who is going through what he went through, that life is still fun. You can still have real joy and share meaningful experiences with your friends and family, even find a new path and explore in a way that might have felt lost for a time.
Chef Jet Tila, 6 Time Guinness World Record Holder
Feb 01, 2022
From battling the legendary Masaharu Morimoto on Iron Chef America, opening Encore Hotel in Las Vegas and guiding Anthony Bourdain through many markets and restaurants, Chef Jet Tila is internationally celebrated for his culinary expertise. This Emmy, James Beard nominee and best-selling author grew up in the first family of Thai food and then later attending both French and Japanese culinary schools, Jet is a born educator and storyteller. Jet was appointed as the inaugural Culinary Ambassador of Thai Cuisine by the Royal Thai Consulate, the first-ever chef to represent his country’s culture and cuisine.
Chef Jet’s culinary operations includes VP Culinary of Pei Wei Group 148 restaurants & Managing Partner Dragon Tiger Noodle Co in Las Vegas. He has partnerships with Compass Group, Schwan’s & NBC Universal/DreamWorks. His food reaches millions of people a year.
He appears as co-host of Iron Chef America and recurring judge on Food Network’s Cutthroat Kitchen, Chopped, Beat Bobby Flay and Guy’s Grocery Games. As well as an array of shows ranging from the Today, MasterChef, Rachel Ray and holds six culinary Guinness World Records.
Chef Philip Speer, Chef, Runner & Advocate
Jan 25, 2022
Philip Speer is a brilliant chef and good friend who inspired me to find a better path. Thanks to him he inspired me to address my Mental Health issues and look in the mirror more then I wanted too. Thank You Philip for helping show me the way.
At the age of 17, Philip Speer entered into the culinary world to begin his career as a chef.
Initially working in scratch bakeries, Speer solely focused on his craft of baking at first. With that said, it wasn’t long before he swiftly moved into Pastry Chef positions at Austin’s most innovative restaurants.
Fast forward two and half decades, Philip Speer has built an impressive career. The chef has been nominated for four James Beard Foundation Awards in the esteemed Outstanding Pastry Chef category. In addition, he has received abundant recognition from major publications such as the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, GQ Magazine, Texas Monthly, Bon Appetit, and many more.
Part of Speer’s story has included addiction, to which he has made a profound recovery and since gained unexpected purpose. By finding renewed motivation to change his life through sobriety, exercise, and mindful eating, he now helps other restaurant professionals do the same. You can find Philip in copies of every culinary publication throughout the years; however, he is now most excited to influence community change and invent new opportunities for the industry he loves.
Speer is a change advocate in the culinary sphere, creating resources and support for peers and employees to engage in healthier habits.Philip heads the Austin chapter of Ben’s Friends, a weekly meeting intended to form a coalition of sober Food and Beverage professionals. In these meetings, all are welcome to share experiences and their tools for recovery.
In 2019, Philip founded the Comedor Run Club with a mission to “shift the post-shift culture.” Tailored to restaurant professionals, the urban running community meets tri-weekly to provide recreation and opportunities for building meaningful relationships.
Through these active engagements, the importance of a healthy lifestyle is becoming a long-awaited part of the conversation in restaurant culture.
Chef Speer owns and operates Comedor, a Mexican restaurant in downtown Austin. Comedor has received many accolades, including recognition as one of the top new restaurants in America by both Esquire and Robb Report magazines. Additionally, Texas Monthly crowned Comedor the top of the year in 2020. When the COVID-19 pandemic brought unforeseeable changes to the restaurant industry, Speer and his business partners founded Assembly; a virtual events and culinary company which brings hospitality experiences to participant’s homes and workplace.
Chef Speer continues to follow the expansion of his varied endeavors. Including Comedor Run Club’s move into a 501(c)(3) organization, his creation of the Mental Mis En Place Journal, and other brand new projects, Speer is showing his passion for the service industry community through his exciting actions.
Katerina Nash, 5 Time Olympian
Jan 18, 2022
5x Olympian ( 3 summer, 2 winter)
8x World Cup Winner ( both MTB and Cyclocross)
2x bronze medalist at Cyclocross World Champs
Multiple Czech National Champ - MTB, CX, XCski
Multiple NCAA XC Ski Champ
President of UCI Athletes’ Commission
Vice-President of UCI
20 years with Clif Pro Team
Building my own program for 2022
Languages: Czech and English
Fan of Sonoma County Zinfandel
Lawson Craddock, U.S Time Trial Champion
Jan 11, 2022
Lawson Craddock. is a 29 year old professional cyclist from Texas. I’ve been racing professionally for over 8 years and currently split my time between Texas and Girona, Spain. I am married with two kids, and enjoy spending time with my family.
Lawson calls his cycling specialty the ability to suffer. He sustained a high-profile scapula fracture on the opening stage of the 2018 Tour de France, and captivated audiences worldwide as he raced all the way to the Tour’s conclusion in Paris as the race’s Lanterne Rouge. En route to Paris, he raised $350,000+ for Houston’s Hurricane Harvey battered Alkek Velodrome, where he first learned to race. These days, Lawson has a new source of inspiration, his two-year-old daughter CJ and new born son Noah.
Anthony Mangieri, Pizza Guru
Jan 04, 2022
Anthony has followed his passion of making Neapolitan-style pizza from moment 1. He has never wavered from this direction and in doing so he has created a cult following. This man can also tear your legs off on a bike so beware.
Anthony Mangieri is a pioneer of Neapolitan-style pizza in the United States.
A native of New Jersey, Anthony grew up in a close-knit Italian-American family and developed a pizza obsession from a young age, persuading his mother to drive him to every well-known pizzeria in the tri-state area. This early fixation developed into a lifelong dedication to creating the perfect pizza—something that he remains steadfastly dedicated to every day.
At 22, Anthony opened a bread bakery called Sant Arsenio in Red Bank, NJ. Three years later, in 1996, he established Una Pizza Napoletana in Point Pleasant Beach, NJ. Anthony relocated Una Pizza Napoletana to Manhattan’s East Village in 2004, where his pizzas drew lines of customers and rave reviews (New York Times, The New Yorker to name a few). Looking for better weather and closer proximity to the great outdoors, Anthony relocated the pizzeria to San Francisco in 2010, where the third iteration of Una Pizza Napoletana continued to enthrall critics and pizza lovers alike (SFGATE, San Francisco Chronicle to name a few).
Anthony returned to New York’s Lower East Side in 2018 and then opened a location in New Jersey’s Atlantic Highlands in 2020. Una Pizza Napoletana will reopen its only location on the Lower East Side this February; the space has been transformed according to Anthony's vision.
Having single-handedly made more than 700,000 pizzas (and counting) Anthony crafts uncomplicated pies with complex flavors, a result of the naturally leavened dough and the hand-selected ingredients. Known for his monk-like dedication to pizza perfection, customers travel from all over the world to eat his pizza.
Anthony has been featured in nearly every type of print, online and broadcast media including TV spots on Good Morning America and Food Network Top 5 as well as a recurring role on the Showtime series “Billions”. His obsession with pizza making is only rivaled by his deep dedication to mountain biking, skateboarding and punk rock.
Lachlan Morton, Alt Tour & Ultra Cyclist
Dec 28, 2021
The level of excitement, fun and adventure that Lachlan has brought to the world of cycling is incredibaly inspiring. He has opened the door for adventure and fun all while setting his own rules racing things and setting new boundaries in the sport of cycling. Thank you Lachlan for inspiring us to go farther, have fun and showing people there is more to see on a bike.
Lachlan embraced the EF Education-NIPPO’s alternative calendar wholeheartedly, racing all four races on our 2019 alternative calendar — Dirty Kanza, Leadville 100, GBDuro and Three Peaks Cyclocross. He also rode the iconic Colorado Trail (850 kilometers) in just under four hours (3 days, 22 minutes) to raise funds for Australia’s Starlight Foundation. In 2020, Lachlan continued to chase alternative calendar events and completed the imphamous 700 Kilometer Badlands race in 44 hours. Oh and he did that after taking a combined 15 minutes off the bike throughout the event. For Lachlan, racing for EF Education-NIPPO has offered him a perfectly crafted bridge, linking his World Tour goals with his thirst for exploration and new challenges.
Lachlan’s approach to professional cycling has been, well, alternative. He raced with us from 2011-2014, first on the development team and then for Garmin-Sharp, before opting out of the WorldTour in pursuit of off-the-beaten path adventures.
Those adventures included several long expeditions with his brother Gus and filming the “Thereabouts” documentaries, in partnership with Rapha. The rides and the filmmaking allowed Lachlan and Gus to connect with the bike, each other and other people in a different ways. And for Lachlan, these connections are at the crux of why he rides. That’s not to say Lachlan doesn’t like to win. He does. He’s as competitive as as any of his teammates, and he as the results to prove it. Last season, Lachlan won the fifth stage of the 2019 Tour of Utah one week after completing (and podiuming) at his first Leadville 100.
Go slowly. Don't go too many places. Spend more time really getting to know a single place.
Favorite city?
Sydney. It was the first big city I visited. I still feel like I don't totally know it.
Favorite cycling moment?
That’s a difficult one. I think riding to the middle of Australia with my brother is my nicest bike experience. In terms of racing, winning the Tour of Utah was definitely special. My family was there. My brother was on the team. My wife was there. Pretty cool.
Wylie Dufresne, Need I Say More
Dec 23, 2021
I don’t even know where to start with Wylie, he has given the culinary world so much it’s unreal. I have always been in awe of his dedication to the craft and his veracious appetite for knowledge to improve on what he and everyone else is doing. I am excited to have this opportunity to talk with him about everything he has done and what he is doing.
Wylie Dufresne, who rose to international fame at his ground-breaking New York City restaurant, wd-50, is one of the world’s most innovative and respected chefs. His distinctly modern, science-driven approach to cooking at wd-50, and at his second restaurant, Alder, earned him countless accolades—including Michelin stars, a top spot on New York Magazine’s Best Restaurants list, a James Beard Award for Best Chef New York, and many more.
Dufresne’s whimsical style and cutting-edge kitchen techniques have made him a fan favorite among food lovers. He has appeared frequently on Bravo’s Top Chef, the United Kingdom’s Master Chef and several Food Network series. He also starred as himself on HBO’s Treme and Showtime’s Billions; he was parodied on Saturday Night Live; and in the role of a lifetime, he appeared in cartoon form alongside Marge in a food-themed episode of The Simpsons.
In 2017, Wylie opened Du's Donuts and Coffee, adjacent to The William Vale Hotel in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and he released his first cookbook, wd-50: The Cookbook(Ecco). He lives in New York City with his wife and two daughters.
Ty Dayberry Pro Telemark Skier & Fire Fighter
Dec 14, 2021
Ty has an amazing ability to do things on Free heel skis that most people can’t even do on regular skis. The best part is when he isn’t skiing he is working hard to keep the Tahoe area safe and taken care of from a environmental standpoint. Weather fighting the forest fires or maintaining trails or recusing lost folks in the woods he is just an all around rad guy.
Telemark skiing is the oldest form of sliding on the snow, but Ty has taken this historic form of skiing to the future. Freeheel skiing for the past 20 years, he has pushed the sport in a direction that appeals to everyone.
Ty has brought his freestyle background to the backcountry in recent years, filming and capturing progressive images that are pushing the boundaries of what is possible on telemark skis. Ty enjoys the amazing beauty of his hometown to the fullest, all seasons of the year.
He graduated from Sierra Nevada College with a degree in Sustainable Studies, and currently works for the Forest Service building and maintaining trail systems, along with environmental restoration projects that help to preserve the clarity of Lake Tahoe. When he is not Telemark skiing he is being a new dad or fighting fires in the sierras. Be sure to follow him @dizzleberry or check him out at tydayberry.com.
Chef Michael Schwartz Miami Chef Extraordinaire
Dec 07, 2021
I have to say Michael has been a great friend and inspiration for many years, his cooking and leadership is exciting and refreshing. I do not feel like I have been in Miami if I have not had dinner at Michaels Genuine and go on a fun eating tour with Michael to the fun spots I could never find on my own.
The Philadelphia-born owner of The Genuine Hospitality Group, James Beard Award Winning Chef, and cookbook author, Michael Schwartz is the face of the South Florida restaurant industry and a nationally recognized celebrity chef. Since his flagship, Michael’s Genuine:registered: Food & Drink, first opened in Miami’s Design District in 2007, locals and tourists alike have come to embrace and crave its refreshing combination of laid-back, bistro atmosphere and straightforward food emphasizing fresh, local ingredients.
Honored with the prestigious James Beard Foundation Award for Best Chef: South in 2010, Schwartz is recognized by his peers and the diners that flock to his restaurants for his commitment to community and responsible, seasonal food sourcing.
Branching out from this straightforward approach celebrating fresh, simple, and pure ingredients in season, Michael has since successfully developed complementary concepts focusing on great service and delicious food, with a genuine culture embraced by employees and guests alike.
The Genuine Hospitality Group of restaurants include four fine dining restaurants, Amara at Paraiso, the quintessential Miami waterfront restaurant serving bold Latin American flavors on Biscayne Bay, Tigertail & Mary, a lush neighborhood retreat in the heart of Coconut Grove, and an additional Michael’s Genuine Food and Drink in Shaker Heights, OH. They also have two locations of Harry’s Pizzeria:registered: and a third in development, named one of Food & Wine magazine’s 25 Best Pizzerias in the U.S. Finally, the company has a partnership with COMO Hotels and Resorts and through this they opened in 2019, Traymore by Michael Schwartz at the Como Metropolitan Miami Beach.
Outside of the restaurant, Schwartz focuses his time and influence supporting the arts and causes such as Share our Strength, Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation, Slow Food (from which he received its Miami convivium’s first “Snail of Approval”) and Wellness in the Schools.
The chef has published two cookbooks, GENUINE PIZZA: Better Pizza at Home (Abrams Books, 2019) Featuring 85 recipes, readers learn step by step how to make better pizza at it’s easier than you think. MICHAEL’S GENUINE FOOD: Down-to-Earth Cooking for People Who Love to Eat (Clarkson Potter Publishers, 2011) features beloved recipes from his flagship, a homage to approachable, sensible, and affordable food that everyone loves to make and at eat. His recipes and restaurants have been covered by the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Food & Wine, Travel + Leisure, TODAY Show, and more.
Schwartz began his career in Philadelphia and earned his culinary chops in kitchens from Los Angeles to New York City, until settling in Miami in the early 1990s.
Dillon Osleger, The Soil Whisperer
Nov 30, 2021
When Dillion isn’t riding or sliding down the mountains he is constantly pushing people to look at the big picture of what they do in the world. The impact each person has on the environment that we all love to play in which in turn affects the long term of water, soil health and food production. All these things go hand in hand and Dillion is making sure we can all make better choices for the betterment of our world.
Dillon Osleger (@dillon.osleger) is a professional mountain biker, trail builder, ski guide, and geologist splitting his time between Truckee and Santa Barbara, California. Dillon acts as the lead for the Protect Our Winters Cycling Team, advocates for climate and cycling solutions at state and federal levels, and restores hundreds of miles of trails in California through his nonprofit and personal time. Holding a masters degree in earth science and undergraduate degrees in both geology and snow science, Dillon works at the intersection of recreation and our rapidly changing natural environments. Over the years he has produced written pieces and films with Chris Burkard, Specialized, Fat Tire Ale, Patagonia, Rapha, and a host of other brands and individuals committed to doing their part to better the world.
Keep up with conservation initiatives, trail work, and advocacy at sagetrail.org Keeping an eye on the environmental impact of recreational land use with POW.
Roy Shvartzapel, This is from Roy The Panettone Guy
Nov 24, 2021
For 15 years, Roy Shvartzapel has traveled the globe, working for and learning from the most important gastronomic figures of our time, including Pierre Hermé, Ferran Adria, Thomas Keller and Iginio Massari. After years on a quest to to become masterful with his discipline, Roy decided it was time to launch his own brand - From Roy, a luxury bakery on a quest to deliver the finest products in the world.
From Roy’s first offering is the iconic panettone. Mentored by the world’s panettone master, Iginio Massari, Roy has spent the better part of a decade obsessing and perfecting what he calls, “the Mt. Everest of the baking world." What begins with simple mother yeast or “lievito madre” (flour, water and the yeast which is present in the air) is cared for and nurtured with the utmost precision and dedication and then, using the highest quality standards, is transformed into one of the most special products in all the pastry and baking worlds.
Chef James Syhabout
Nov 16, 2021
I have known James for years, his culinary skills are well above my pay grade, opening the restaurant of his dreams Commis in his home city of Oakland. All while driving this passion to make delicious food in a town he loves inspires me everyday. Ok I will just say it James you rock!!
Born in Ubonratchathani, Thailand and raised in Oakland, California,James Syhabout is the Chef/Proprietor of Commis, the only Michelin-starred restaurant in Oakland since 2010; Hawker Fare, with both Oakland and San Francisco outposts; and casual, beer-centric restaurant, The Dock, in West Oakland. Named “Best New Chef” in2010by the eponymousFood &Winemagazine, Syhabouthas been recognized not only for his skill and dedication to the culinary arts, but for reviving the dining scene in his hometown of Oakland.Before opening Commis and Hawker Fare, Syhabout formally studied at California Culinary Academy inSan Francisco and developed his craft at numerous Michelin starred restaurants around the globe, beginning asChef de Partie at Manresa (Los Gatos, California). Within a few months, Syhabout advanced toSous Chef, where his close work with Chef David Kinch inspired his interest in different European cuisines and international culinary practices. After two years at Manresa, Syhabout ventured out to continue his culinary education in Europe, where he worked with Chef Heston Blumenthal atThe Fat Duck(Bray, United Kingdom), followed by Mugaritz in the Basque country, near San Sebastian (Gizpuzkoa, Spain), while experiencing numerous Michelin-starred meals along the way. Syhabout stayed in Spain as Chef de Partie at Alkimia (Barcelona, Spain) cooking new Catalan cuisine, before spending a season at Ferran Adria’s ground breaking restaurantEl Bulli (Roses, Spain).
Following his continued culinary travels through France and Italy, Syhabout returned to Manresa as a consultant training, working, sharing and developing new ideas from his experiences abroad. In 2006, Syhabout worked with Chef Daniel Patterson to open Coi(San Francisco, California), providing him with the invaluable experience of opening a restaurant, from building codes and menu development, to inventory and the hiring and training of staff. Following Coi, Syhabout was scouted by the Plumpjack Group in 2006 to fill the Executive Chef position at their flagship restaurant, Plumpjack Café(San Francisco, California). Within the first year, he earned a rave three and half star review from Michael Bauer in the San Francisco Chronicle and was recognized as a “Rising Star Chef”by San Francisco Magazine, San Francisco Chronicle and StarChefs.Com. With Syhabout at the helm, Plumpjack Café became one of the top draws for dining out in the San Francisco Bay Area as voted by Food & Wine magazine and was propelled back onto the Top 100 restaurant list compiled by San Francisco Chronicle.After accumulating numerous accolades at Plumpjack Cafe, Syhabout was recruited back to Manresa in the highly coveted role of Chef de Cuisine. His return to Manresa was largely motivated by the restaurant’s involvement with Love Apple Farms and grower Cynthia Sandberg.The biodynamic farm provides bountiful heirloom varieties of vegetables, fruits, herbs, edible flowers and seeds grown solely for the restaurant. Syhabout’s involvement with the farm was a collaborative effort with Cynthia, focused on finding seeds of rare varietals and selecting what to grow for the restaurant through the changing seasons. His experience working with Cynthia shaped his vision when developing menus with a true farm-to-plate approach. In 2010, Syhabout’s travels, studies and varied culinary experiences culminated in the launch of his first restaurant, Commis, the first fine-dining restaurant in Oakland, which was promptly awarded with one Michelin star a mere months after opening. In stark contrast to Commis, Syhabout opened Hawker Fare in 2011, in the very Oakland location of his mother’s former restaurant, serving the Laotian Thai food he grew up with in a casual setting.
Next came Box & Bells Eating House and The Dock(later to becomeOld Kan), both in Oakland, followed by the 2015 opening of a Hawker Fare San Francisco, and new Hawker Fare offshoot, Hawking Bird, in Oakland’s Temescal area in December 2017. Syhabout currently operates Commis, Hawker Fare San Francisco, Old Kan and Hawking Bird. His first cookbook, Hawker Fare: Stories & Recipes from a Refugee Chef’s Thai Isan & Lao Roots, is released in January 2018 under Anthony Bourdain’s Ecco imprint.Additionally, Syhabout has appeared on The Food Network’s “Iron Chef America”twice, as Sous Chef for both Mourad Lahlou and David Kinch, aiding them in achieving triumphant victories.
Chef Ed Lee
Nov 09, 2021
What can I say other then Ed Lee is a brilliant chef great friend, we have cooked together and had so much fun in so many places. This was a really great conversation and I am so happy we can share it.
Edward Lee is the Chef/Owner of 610 Magnolia and Whiskey Dry in Louisville, Khora in Cincinnati, and the Culinary Director for Succotash Prime in DC and Succotash in NationalHarbor. He is also the Co-Founder and Creative Director for The LEE Initiative, a non-profit dedicated to diversity and equality in the restaurant industry. Chef Lee was the recipient of the 2019 James Beard Foundation Award for his book, Buttermilk Graffiti: A Chef’s Journey to Discover America’s New Melting Pot Cuisine. His first book, Smoke & Pickles (Artisan Books, May 2013) was a national bestseller.. Lee has been a six-time finalist for the James Beard Foundation Award for Best Chef: Southeast. In 2018, Food & Wine Magazine named 610 Magnolia one of the country’s most important restaurants of the past 40 years. The Michelin Guide DC awarded Succotash a Bib Gourmand in 2019.
Chef Lee appears frequently in print and television and his writing has been featured in The New York Times, Esquire, Food & Wine and many other national publications. He was nominated for a daytime Emmy for his role as host of the Emmy-winning series, Mind of Chef on PBS. He has hosted and written a feature documentary called Fermented. His philanthropic work includes the Lee Diversity Scholarship to support the Southern Foodways Alliance Oral History Workshop. In 2017, Chef Lee launched The LEE Initiative, which operates several programs under its umbrella including the Women Culinary and Spirits Program, Restaurant Workers Relief Program, Restaurant Reboot Relief Program, and McAtee Community and Training Kitchen. During the pandemic, The LEE Initiative distributed over 2 million meals, invested $1.5 million in small farms, and gave over $1 million in grants to Black-owned food businesses across the country. Chef Lee was awarded the Muhammad Ali Humanitarian Award in 2021. His luxury small batch bourbon created with Trey Zoeller is called Chef’s Collaboration Blend with Jefferson's Reserve and is sold wherever fine whiskey is sold.
Chef Ron McKinlay
Nov 01, 2021
Chef Ron has always loved food – whether he was digging in to his mom’s homemade Sunday roast or mixing up waffle batter on Saturday morning. After completing a Culinary Arts diploma in his hometown of Vancouver, he took off to New Zealand to play competitive rugby and travel abroad, until an unfortunate injury ended his career in his early 20s. That’s when he decided to move back to Canada and give cooking a shot.
In 2006, while researching the U.K.’s Michelin-star restaurants, Chef Ron booked a ticket to Edinburgh, Scotland on a whim. Through sheer persistence, he was able to snag a role training under Michelin-star Chef Tom Kitchin, who would become a great influence and mentor. He spent nearly four years at The Kitchin cooking classic French food with Scottish ingredients, while grinding out 17-hour days. He worked hard to perfect his old school cooking techniques, established a strong sense of discipline, and learned how to take criticism in the kitchen.
Chef Ron made the leap to Melbourne, Australia in 2010, where he helped to open Maze by Chef Gordon Ramsay, and then moved on to work under Chef Scott Pickett at Estelle Bar & Kitchen. After rising up to Senior Sous Chef, he was appointed by Chef Pickett to open and lead Saint Crispin as Chef de Cuisine, which would earn two hats in 2014. The following year, Chef Ron made another big move – this time to take a Chef de Cuisine position at the Six Senses resort in Zighy Bay, Oman. While he embraced his autonomy and took the opportunity to create and test out new dishes, after 18 months he was ready to come home to Canada.
Now, as the recently appointed Executive Chef of Canoe, Chef Ron is thrilled to apply his refined techniques and modern cooking style. Inspired by District Executive Chef John Horne’s encyclopedic knowledge of Canada’s terroir, Chef Ron is excited to innovate new dishes and flavours influenced by Canadian ingredients – from B.C. seaweed and Ontario birch syrup to foraged Labrador tea and Fogo Island crab.
Tu David Phu: A Chef on Mission
Oct 26, 2021
I have known Chef Tu for many years and he is always surprising me with his delicious food and infectious positivity. He is so much more than a Chef, he is a teacher, spokesperson, film maker, advocate, leader, and a fucking incredible person who I am proud to call a true friend. Please be sure to watch Blood line his new documentary about being a child of an immigrant Vietnamese family growing up around food and where he is today. Tu is the real deal.
As a first-generation, Vietnamese-American, food justice comes naturally to Chef Tu, who finds opportunities to use the medium of food as a vessel for meaningful work from cooking with incarcerated men in San Quentin; to his role as co-executive producer for Bloodline, a film about his family and food prejudice; to being a community ambassador in Oakland and working with the Oakland Asian Cultural Center. Tu’s involvement with food recovery and the Zero-Waste Movement is something else he got from his mother: During the Vietnam War, when supplies were rationed, she learned, out of necessity, that corn silk could be dried and used as a tea or toasted, deep-fried, or sautéed to serve with rice. Chef Tu not only applies these Zero Waste principles in his own kitchen but he is also a James Beard Smart Catch Leader, recognized for promoting the use of sustainable seafood options; and an avid teacher, sharing the riches and lessons of his birthright through food.
Sarah Sturm (@sarah_sturmy) is a professional off-road cyclist, graphic designer and coach living in Durango, CO. She had her breakthrough season in 2019 winning BWR, 2nd at Leadville 100 and keeping her Single Speed CX National title but wasn’t new to the cycling scene. She started racing and learning to ride mountain bikes in college and fell in love with the culture, keeping her in Durango. Since then she’s used the bicycle to connect with communities, coach, mentor, explore and race!
Serena lives in Bend with her husband, Ben, and medium-sized pup, Piper, and loves her morning coffee almost as much as she loves riding her bike. Serena is a professional cyclist with Liv Racing Collective, an avid nordic skier (occasional racer), cycling coach and writer. She also works as the Sustainability Manager for Visit Bend, striving to develop and implement sustainable solutions for our recreation tourism industry; taking care of the places that take care of us is her top priority. Serena believes in the power of optimism, the awesome wonders of spending time outdoors, and the progressive process of continual improvement.
I must say being able to call Lauren Hall a friend is amazing in so many ways. She can tear your legs off with a smile and has the ability to bring the best out of everyone. Watching her race was incredible but what she is doing now will have a long lasting effect on the next generation of cyclists. Her ability to guide the next generation is and will lead cycling in a better and new direction.
Lauren Hall graduated from Mississippi State University in 2001 with a bachelor’s degree in Biological Sciences. She was a Division I soccer player for MSU, leading to a season in professional soccer following her undergraduate. Lauren also attended culinary school and worked professionally in child nutrition education while simultaneously completing a master’s degree in management. Lauren took up cycling at the age of 28. What started as a hobby soon became a full-time, life-consuming passion. Within two years she turned pro, and has competed at the highest levels, in dozens of countries. She was a member of the USA Cycling National team for five years, raced in four world championships, and a 3-time National Champion on the track. She was a member of the USA Cycling winning Giro Rosa team, the most prestigious women’s race in the world, and also won the Gent Wevelgem. She was a team captain for the last five seasons before retiring in 2018. In addition to her new role as Regional Gift Officer for USA Cycling based out of Cortez, CO. Lauren volunteers her time with the Homestretch Foundation, High Desert Devo, Little Bellas, and El Gruppo Cycling. She is a board member on MTB Afghanistan and a mentor for Amy D. Foundation.
Lemony Snicket AKA Daniel Handler
Sep 28, 2021
I have been fortunate to know Daniel Handler for many years at first I didn’t even know he was an author. Even better I think he was glad I didn’t make a big deal about it I thought he was just an incredibly funny guy and our kids went to school together. Well little did I know what a following his books had, and the fun we would have as well as the trouble we would create. So it is my pleasure to introduce the one and only Daniel Handler.
Lemony Snicket is the author of far too many books, including the four-volume All the Wrong Questions and the thirteen-volume A Series of Unfortunate Events. His new book, Poison for Breakfast, publishes fall 2021.
When inconvenience or treachery prohibits him from making an appearance, Mr. Snicket is represented by Daniel Handler, author of seven unnerving novels himself.
I am proud to call George a friend but most of all we are both from Rhode Island. Georges love for skateboarding sees no end and his amazing craftsmanship of using the old skateboard as a means of art and resources to make new skateboards is sustainable and inspiring. Iris Skateboards creates unique handmade one of a kind skateboards using recycled skateboards. We are based in San Francisco California where we skate to live and live to skate.
Jack Thompson The Ultra Cyclist
Sep 14, 2021
Jack rides more in a month than most people ride in a year.
Jack Thompson’s mission is to push the limits of Ultra Cycling. To date, Jack has completed the following extreme challenges:
2021 - The Amazing Chase - Tour de France in 10 Days: 21 stages, 3,500km and 52,000m of climbing
2021 - Portugal South to North Record (715km, 10,200m elevation, 24hr 11min)
2020 - Guinness World Record - Most Kilometers Ridden in 7 Days - 3,505km
2019 - 3 Everestings, 3 Countries, 3 Days (880km & 26,768m elevation across 71hrs including all transfers)
2019 - GP1200 (1,200km & 12,000m elevation in 56 hours - Girona, Spain to Caramulo, Portugal)
2018 - Taiwan KOM (4x Non Stop - 720km & 13,600m elevation in 56 hours)
2017 - 50,000km cycled in a 12 month period
Jack has toured his films and spoken at events around the world to share his story, in particular how he was able to overcome depression and mental health disorders, using the bike as his medicine.
Now based in Girona, Spain, Jack’s focus is in completing extreme challenges that push the envelope of what is humanly possible on a bike, both from a mental and physical point of view and documenting these challenges to share with the world.
#ItsOKnottobeOK
Brett Horton & The Horton Collection
Sep 08, 2021
I have known Brett and his wife Shelly for nearly 30 years. Take a journey on Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride as I chat with Brett about the phenomenal experiences he has had, the champions of the sport who have become family friends, and the joy that collecting has brought to both he and his family. Brett Horton, The Horton Cycling Collection, San Francisco The Troubled Mind of a Passionate Collector Ever wonder what makes a collector tick? Brett, along with his wife and son Trevor, has built one of the most iconic collections of bicycle racing memorabilia in the world. Spanning from the 1880s to today, the collection includes more than 500,000 original photographs, crates of race-worn jerseys, trophies, original art, vintage posters, bicycles, and other memorabilia. Ok, but why? Was this guy not hugged as a kid? Does he really collect the sweaty, used clothing of other adult men? What went so wrong?
As an amateur rider about 80 pounds ago, Brett enjoyed a decent level of success, particularly on the track (velodrome). Although he won multiple California champion bear jerseys, he knew pretty early on that there was zero chance he would ever be joining the likes of Greg LeMond, Eddy Merckx, and other champions at the pinnacle of the sport. College came next, and life went on. Nevertheless, the passion remains, and he loves bicycle racing to this day. In addition to building a pretty nice collection, Brett and his wife Shelly have also authored three books: Cycling’s Golden Age, Goggles & Dust, and Shoulder to Shoulder. For more than 20 years, items from their collection have been shown around the globe, most notable being the anchor for the epic 100 th Anniversary Tour de France Exhibition at the historic Hôtel de Ville in Paris. Fans of the sport will find Horton Collection photographs and other memorabilia featured in nearly every issue of Peloton Magazine, and images from the collection have graced more than 30 magazine covers.
The Horton Collection Facebook page and website embrace a loyal global following with new pictures and stories presented each day. Keep an eye out for the feature story about the Horton Collection in the upcoming issue of the world’s largest cycling periodical, Bicycling Magazine.
Chef Gregory Gourdet
Sep 07, 2021
Chef Gregory Gourdet is the culinary mastermind from Portland, OR, who is currently opening his first restaurant, Kann. The project is inspired by his Haitian heritage and will bring the cuisine into the American spotlight at this wood fired concept, opening in early 2022. The restaurant aims to be a safe, diverse and equitable workplace for all.
Gourdet spent 10 years as Executive Chef and Culinary Director for Departure Restaurant + Lounge, where he paired local ingredients with the bold flavors of Japan, China, Thailand, Vietnam, and Korea to create modern Asian fare. A native New Yorker, Gourdet honed his culinary skills within celebrity chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s restaurant empire.
In 2013, he was named Chef of the Year by the Oregon Department of Agriculture and was Eater Portland’s Chef of the Year in 2014. In 2015, he earned runner up in Bravo’s Top Chef Season 12. He was thrice named a semifinalist by the James Beard Foundation for Best Chef: Northwest and was a finalist for the award in 2020. He was a finalist on Top Chef: All Stars Season 17 and was a judge on 2021’s Top Chef: Portland.
His first cookbook, Everyone’s Table: Global Recipes for Modern Health, was released in May 2021 and is the ultimate guide to cooking globally inspired dishes free of gluten, dairy, soy, legumes, and grains. The book is a national bestseller.
Chris Burkard
Aug 31, 2021
Chris Burkard is an accomplished explorer, photographer, creative director, speaker, and author. Traveling throughout the year to pursue the farthest expanses of Earth, Burkard works to capture stories that inspire humans to consider their relationship with nature, while promoting the preservation of wild places everywhere.
Layered by outdoor, travel, adventure, surf, and lifestyle subjects, Burkard is known for images that are punctuated by untamed, powerful landscapes. Through social media, Chris strives to share his vision of wild places with millions of people, and to inspire them to explore for themselves.
His visionary perspective has earned him opportunities to work on global, prominent campaigns with Fortune 500 clients, speak on the TED stage, design product lines, educate, and publish a growing collection of books. Along with his team, Burkard is based out of his production studio and art gallery in the Central Coast of California.
At the age of 34, Burkard has established himself as a global presence and influence. He is happiest with his wife Breanne raising their two sons Jeremiah and Forrest in his hometown of Pismo Beach, California
If you can’t watch the video listen here in the car or on a bike ride.
Sam Mason
May 29, 2020
Sam is one of the most amazing chefs & we share so many amazing memories of cooking for people and with people. I am honored to call him a friend and someone who has inspired me as a chef for so many years. Sam has so much to offer our industry. Please enjoy this interview with him and his son that we did in Portland at Jackrabbit in the fall.
Sam Mason, Chef and Co-owner of OddFellows Ice Cream Co.
Chef Sam Mason is the ice cream chef and mastermind behind the authentic, quirky ice cream creations at New York City's beloved scoop shop, OddFellows Ice Cream Co. A James Beard Award nominee, Mason trained at Johnson & Wales in Providence, RI before completing a stage at Ladurée in Paris. He then moved to New York City to work alongside famed chefs such as Alain Ducasse, Paul Leibrandt, and Wylie Dufresne, with whom he held the position of pastry chef at Dufresne’s acclaimed wd-50.
In June 2013, Mason partnered with husband and wife team Mohan and Holiday Kumar, who shared the same passion for quality scoops, to open the flagship location of OddFellows Ice Cream Co. in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. With the mission of concocting the highest quality ice cream both in texture and flavor, Mason integrates science into his craft to produce truly original, handmade ice cream. All of the ice cream is pasteurized on site in the Williamsburg kitchen using locally-sourced, additive-free dairy as well as fresh, seasonal produce sourced from the Union Square Farmer’s Market.
Since opening the flagship location and a second shop in the East Village, Mason has created an abundance of both “oddball” flavors like Chorizo Caramel Swirl, Cornbread, Pretzel, Miso Cherry, and Buttermilk Honey Blueberry, as well as upgraded twists on the classics like Iced Milk & Cookies, Toasted Coconut Milk Chocolate, Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel, and Pecan Pie. He also launched the crowd-pleasing Cotton Candy Cone and Foie Gras Drumstick and upgraded sundaes like the Cornbread Sundae, Beer Sundae, and Popcorn Sundae.
Mason is the recipient of Star Chef’s “NY Rising Star” award, was nominated for a James Beard Award for “Outstanding Pastry Chef," and his work has been seen in and praised by The New York Times, Food & Wine Magazine, Bon Appétit,Vogue, Time Out New York, New York Magazine's Grub Street, Zagat, Eater, and more.
I am beyond honored to call these 2 gentleman friends. I have been fortunate to have many a lunch with them both. Having spent time staging in St John many years ago, to hosting them both at Incanto many years ago for a special dinner. The conversations are always powerful and fun so I hope you enjoy this one. This podcast was recorded in a place with an echo we did our best to make this an easy listen please enjoy.
AN INTRODUCTION
Fergus Henderson and Trevor Gulliver opened London’s St. JOHN Smithfield in 1994. The restaurant was to become one of the most influential restaurants internationally in terms of cuisine, design and philosophy, making Fergus both a food hero and one of the most significant chefs in the world.
The accolades are many, with a long-held Michelin Star, a collection of lifetime achievement awards, a place on many global restaurant rankings and more. Fergus’ books have remained in permanent publication since his first, Nose to Tail Eating, was published in 1999, going on to be named in the LA Times as the world’s most influential cookbook. St. JOHN is more than a restaurant – it is an icon.
“The contribution to the London food scene that has been made by maverick restaurateurs Fergus Henderson and Trevor Gulliver cannot be underestimated. From opening subsequent joint ventures and shaking up longheld assumptions about what diners want to eat – and are willing to try – to nurturing and training a whole generation of likeminded chefs and restaurateurs who have taken on board the ethos of St. John and followed it through to their own unique conclusion, Fergus and Trevor’s influence has been monumental. The knock-on effect of their staunch focus on British ingredients and reintroducing parts of the animal to the menu that had lost favour with diners has been felt in restaurants not only in the capital but also around the world.”
- Cara Frost-Sharratt
FERGUS HENDERSON and TREVOR GULLIVER
Photo credit: Photo from Observer Food Monthly cover 2014
Fergus Henderson is widely recognised as one of the most influential figures in the modern restaurant scene, both in the UK and internationally, responsible for transforming how and what people cook and eat. He coined the now-ubiquitous phrase Nose-to-Tail in his eponymous and multi award winning cookbook of the same name, Nose to Tail Eating, which was published in 1999 and went on to be named in the LA Times as the most influential cookbook of all time. This and his three subsequent books have remained in print ever since; widely read, used and admired and hailed as essential modern classics.
In 2005 Fergus received an MBE for services to gastronomy, followed by Lifetime Achievement Awards from the influential 50 Best list, Tatler, Observer, the BBC and more. He is one of the most iconic and adored figures in restaurants today.
Trevor Gulliver founded St. JOHN with the experience of creating several award-winning London restaurants behind him, including wine bars, diners, microbreweries and the seminal Fire Station in Waterloo where he is credited as pioneering the open kitchen format. He has steered St. JOHN over 25 years to achieve and maintain international prominence and veneration, while guiding thoughtful expansion and development across the many diverse elements of the group. In 2019 Trevor co-authored The Book of St. JOHN with Fergus Henderson, to critical acclaim.
Where Fergus is responsible for putting food on the plate, Trevor is responsible for putting wine in the glass. His close relationships with vignerons have formed the strong reputation enjoyed by St. JOHN’s all-French wine list, and the production of the critically-acclaimed wines at the St. JOHN winery in France is informed and built by his expertise.
THE St. JOHN GROUP
St. JOHN has six operations: two restaurants, a bakery, a wine import company, a winery in France and a branded retail product arm. Each of the enterprises are unique but they all adhere to the distinct style and philosophy which gathers all branches of the business under the St. JOHN umbrella and make them so instantly recognisable. Each is at the beating heart of the vibrant community in which it was established.
St. JOHN SMITHFIELD
The first St. JOHN Restaurant in London's Smithfield was opened in 1994. Housed in an old bacon smokehouse, Trevor and Fergus did little to the space other than whitewash the walls. In the twenty years and more that followed, St. JOHN has become an institution, much lauded (and copied) for its pared back aesthetic and a simplicity which was shocking at the time, with Fergus Henderson hailed as the godfather of modern British cookery.
St. JOHN BREAD and WINE
The opening of St. JOHN Bread and Wine followed in 2003, when the baking of bread for which St. JOHN had become lauded outgrew the Smithfield location. Initially intended as a counter for breads and takeaway wines, offering small plates for those who stopped by as they collected their supplies. Its position as a restaurant in its own right soon overtook the original intention and it is widely credited as pioneering the style of seasonal small-plate modern British dining which is now ubiquitous in East London and beyond.
St. JOHN BAKERY
Proper bread is central to the St. JOHN philosophy; Fergus says: “Bread is as essential as your knife and fork in the eating process”. The Bakery is housed within a Victorian railway arch, from where it produces the sourdough and doughnuts for which the bakery has become famous, along with a wide range of other renowned products destined for the tables of other iconic restaurants such as The Ivy, Siren at The Goring, The Hoxton Group and many more. A St. JOHN Bakery retail site is located in the famous and unique Neal’s Yard, in London’s Covent Garden, selling loaves, doughnuts, morning pastries and wine to the local community and the steady stream of tourists charmed by the area and the shop. Another retail site is to follow in London’s foodie hub Borough.
St. JOHN WINES
The strong principles of genius loci that St. JOHN proudly applies to the restaurant ingredients also extended to the wine list, with Trevor’s resolve that “we would buy from our neighbours” creating an all-French list, bought direct from vignerons. Trevor works year on year with the various winemakers to decide on the blends for the own-label St. JOHN wines, creating wine that is true to its region, good value and perfectly suited to the table. In 2008 Fergus & Trevor purchased their own winery in the Minervois, France, from where they make their own acclaimed Boulevard Napoleon wine. Both the St. JOHN label and the Boulevard Napoleon wines are sold to restaurants, retailers and private customers across the UK, US and Canada.
Rick Gencarelli The Sandwich King of PDX
Apr 04, 2020
There are so many great things I could say about Rick the list is endless, he is such a talented chef and restauranteur, parent, husband (sheia’s to be specific), philanthropist. One of the best things about Rick is is amazing ability of levity and fun. We always have a good time together whether its working a event or goofing around on bikes he is always the man with a plan. Proud to call rick one of my great friends. Please make sure you are supporting his restaurants in Portland as he is feeding so many in need during this insane time of COVID19 we are in. Be safe my friend.
Rick was a passionate culinary student in his own right when he decided to enroll in the Culinary Institute of America in New York. Following an externship at Aqua in San Francisco, Rick graduated and returned to Todd English’s Olives. After four years as sous chef at Olives, Rick worked at both Rubicon and One Market restaurants in San Francisco. He returned to the east coast to open Miramar Restaurant in Westport, Connecticut and two years later, Olives Restaurant in the W Hotel in New York City.
After three years in New York City, Rick, his wife Sheila and his two sons, Luke and Miles, moved to Vermont. Rick became the Chef at the Inn at Shelburne Farms, located on the 1400 acre non-profit environmental education center and working farm on Lake Champlain in Shelburne, Vermont.
In 2009, drawn by the unique food culture, Rick and his family moved to Portland. Rick opened Lardo as a food cart in September 2010 after deciding it was the best way to get to know Portland and for Portland to get to know him. You can find him at one of his amazing restaurant around Portland, Lardo or Grassa be sure to stop by and say hello.
Michael Recchiuti The Willy Wonka of SF
Feb 27, 2020
When we first met in 1996 we became instant friends he is a fountain of brilliance and fun. I would alway’s bounce things off of him food wise ingredient wise. we are always able to pick up where we left off without missing a beat. Be sure to visit there store in the ferry building or the website to get some amazing chocolates.
Michael Recchiuti
Founder and Owner
Michael Recchiuti, a self-made chocolatier, has been experimenting in the kitchen all his life. A Philadelphia native, Michael got his start baking alongside his Italian grandmother as a boy, then creating plated desserts as a young man at the renowned restaurant, Le Bec Fin, and even training with Alain Tricou (Maxi’s, Déjà Vu) for three years in sugar and chocolate.
Drawn to San Francisco in 1987 by an exciting culinary, music, and arts scene, Michael found new inspiration in the year-round availability of fresh, local ingredients and international influences. Especially fascinated by the way traditionally savory flavors took on new dimensions and dept when combined with chocolate, his now famous chocolate flavors Tarragon Grapefruit, Lemon Verbena, and Star Anise & Pink Peppercorn were among his first “experiments.” An ongoing fascination along with a nostalgic nod to the tastes of his youth continue to inspire his more recent creations, like Peppermint Thins, Peanut Butter Pucks, and Vanilla Bean Marshmallows.
In 1997, after years in the test kitchen, Michael founded Recchiuti Confections with his wife Jacky, based upon the philosophy that “once someone is introduced to truly exquisite chocolate, they will be won over instantly and forever.” Known for using traditional European techniques and equipment; and for hand-selecting every ingredient, Michael sources local California farmers’ markets for bundles of fresh herbs and fruits to create signature infusions and blends single origin chocolates together to create complex and unique tasting experiences.
Taste and technique only tell part of Michael’s story. A life filled with art, music, and lots of friends has influenced the look of his chocolates, which act as a show-and-tell of his favorite things. Over the years collections have showcased artwork from Creativity Explored, a San Francisco non-profit close to the Recchiuti’s heart, while others have been adorned with Japanese block prints, tiny love letters to his Hawaiian wife, Jacky.
In 2005 Michael’s book Chocolate Obsession (Stewart, Tabori & Chang), co-authored with renowned pastry expert Fran Gage, was released to wide acclaim. The book was a finalist at the 2006 James Beard Awards and won high honors for photography and design at the 2006 International Association of Culinary Professionals annual conference.
Currently, Michael keeps busy with Recchiuti’s two locations, the Ferry Building Marketplace and Recchiuti at theLab, always finding new ways to make the chocolate consuming public happy, and obsessed.
Nick Muncy Gives Everyone a Toothache
Feb 25, 2020
Nick Muncy has a set of Brass ones, not only is he working full time as a pastry chef for Michael Mina he decided to start, produce and publish his own culinary magazine. What a crazy thought lets do something I have never done before, interview folks, take photos do layouts and distribute yeah that’s not hard.
Nick Muncy is a pastry chef, food photographer and creator of Toothache Magazine.
He grew up in Seal Beach, California and attended the Art Institute, graduating with a degree in Culinary Arts. Muncy went on to work in the kitchen at Newport Beach's Fairmont Hotel for two years before an opportunity to work at Healdsburg's Cyrus brought him to Northern California. It was at Cyrus where he began to learn the traditional foundations of baking and pastry under Roy Shvartzapel. After a brief sojourn to Los Angeles to work at Jose Andres' The Bazaar, Muncy returned to the Bay Area to continue his pastry career at San Francisco's Saison where Matt Tinder was pastry chef. When Tinder accepted a position as pastry chef at Coi in 2011, he invited Muncy to join him. In December 2013, Muncy took over as Executive Pastry Chef. After over 5 years working at Coi, he left and started his own independent food magazine, called Toothache.
He now works full-time on the magazine where he does everything from the photography, editing, design, sales, and customer service. He also does pastry consulting for restaurants and is a food photographer for hire.
Bryce Kanights "skate photographer extraordinaire"
Feb 11, 2020
As a kid growing up in Rhode Island looking at photos of skateboarding in San Francisco was our guide to the world of street skating. Bryce was a huge part of both taking the photos and being in those photos ripping around the streets of S.F. A few years ago we meet threw mutual friends and have been sharing meals and stories ever since. I even had the opportunity to do a photo shoot with him when I launched my kitchen shoes with vans a few years ago.
Bryce Kanights shot his first photographs as a teenage skateboarder on the urban streets of San Francisco. Sparked since those days of his youth, BK's passion, deep-seated involvement, creative mindset and trained eye has captured several generations of youth culture and helped to shape the revolution of board sports in the process. Bryce continues to produce images and bodies of work that are well crafted and acutely reflective of the world around him.
His client list includes: Apple, Quiksilver, Hurley, adidas, GoPro, Volcom, Vans, Levi's, ESPN, Konami, Oakley, Fox Racing, EA Sports, Bell Sports, Da Kine, Sutro Eyewear, Pro-Tec, Activison, Nike, Red Bull, Skully Candy, HUF, Alli Sports, Dew Tour, FTC. Stance, Street League, Monster Energy, Mountain Dew, VICE Media, Skateboarder, Kingpin, Juice, and Thrasher magazines.
Ben Jacobsen is the first person to harvest salt off the Oregon Coast since Lewis and Clark.
Ben Jacobsen started making salt in 2011, and it didn’t take long for the former Vancouver resident to land on some important radars.The New York Times wrote a story about him in 2012. Noted chefs started to use his salt from Oregon waters. And a Williams-Sonoma Inc. partnership sent his business on a fast, ascending trajectory that hasn’t slowed. Jacobsen, 43, no longer participates in making the white, flaky crystals. And long gone are the days when he’d drive a seawater-loaded truck from the Oregon Coast to Portland for processing into salt. These days, the Hudson’s Bay High School graduate’s focus is marketing, sales, and product development. For the future, he plans for more of the same, convinced he’s got the world’s best job.Jacobsen didn’t show signs of becoming a salt maker when he arrived in Vancouver at age 13 from Burlington, Vt., with his family. His father, neurologist Dr. Paul Jacobsen, had accepted work in town. His mother, Jane Jacobsen, would one day be executive director of the Vancouver-based Confluence Project. Not inspired by software, marketing and sales, Jacobsen followed his hunch. Using $1,500 of his own money, he set out in his 2008 Subaru Forester and traveled the Washington and Oregon coasts, searching for perfect saltwater.
He traveled as far north as Neah Bay at the northwest tip of the Lower 48 and he traveled south, sampling the waters of Willapa Bay in Southwest Washington. In all, he tested 20 spots in Washington and Oregon, ruling out most for obvious reasons: too much turbulence or too many sources of freshwater into the seawater or too much runoff from dairy and logging operations. But at a spot off Whiskey Creek Road, a few miles north of Cape Lookout State Park and a dozen miles inland of Tillamook, Ore., Jacobsen found the spot.
It’s at Netarts Bay, chosen because it’s protected from the crashing ocean surf and, best of all, features high-salinity water that’s filtered through millions of oysters. Jacobsen Salt Co. was started.
The Great White North! Jeremy lives in a place that is a very long way from anything I Know. Growing up in New England I had heard of NewFoundland, but never traveled that far north. What he is able to do representing his local foods, history and culture of his home is amazing. I am truly amazed to hear about all the amazing things he is able to do with only what is available to him in Newfoundland, hunting, preserving, amazing local fish and so much more. he just released a amazing book Wildness be sure to go buy it if you haven’t.
Jeremy Charles and Raymonds Restaurant are continually ranked as the #1 Restaurant in Canada on every list that exists. Raymonds is the only establishment to have ever come in first place on Canada’s Top 50 Restaurants List for consecutive years, and Charles is the only chef to have twice won the EnRoute Best New Restaurant in Canada award. This groundbreaking work has led to major feature articles in The New York Times, Travel + Leisure, The Guardian, and The Globe and Mail, among many others.
Charles’s influence goes beyond food, as he is also an important ambassador of Newfoundland culture. He wasawarded the 2016 City of St. John’s Legend Award for increasing the city’s profile internationally and for advancing its unique cultural, historical and natural heritage. Maclean’sMagazine’s Power List considers him one of the 13 “Most Powerful People in Canadian Arts and Media.”
Charles regularly appears at prestigious cooking events around the world, having been a guest chef at Massimo Bottura’s Refettorio Ambrosiano in Milan and of Ben Shewry’s Attica at the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival. He has been invited to several Cook it Raw events, and is a regular participant in Northern Chefs Alliance activities across North America. His annual “Dinner for Levi” event has raised over half a million dollars for the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at the Janeway Hospital.
Jeremy’s aim as a chef is to showcase and celebrate Newfoundland and Labrador products, indigenous ingredients, and wild game. He has been able to translate his deep passion for nature into the food at Raymonds – and now the Merchant Tavern, a new bistro opened with his partner Jeremy Bonia. It is the third restaurant of theirs to have made it onto the Best New Restaurants in Canada List. Charles currently lives in St. John’s, Newfoundlandwith his wife and two children.
Michael Solomonov
Jan 01, 2020
When I think of Israeli food, Michael Solomonov is the first person that comes to mind. He creates delicious dishes; whether fried chicken & donuts, a tahini soft serve, or an amazing lamb shoulder braised in schmaltz. He has worked to promote the cuisine of Israel, its vibrant food culture & history, in Philadelphia and beyond. On this episode we talk about food, life, struggles, and what its like everyday to be in the restaurant business. And for the record, I am going to hold him to that trip to Israel we talked about.
Michael Solomonov is the executive chef and co-owner of Philadelphia’s pioneering Israeli restaurant, Zahav, and the co-author of three cookbooks. He is the 2011 James Beard Award winner for “Best Chef, Mid-Atlantic”, a 2016 James Beard Award winner for “Best International Cookbook” and “Book of the Year” for his and business partner/co-author Steven Cook’s first cookbook, Zahav: A World of Israeli Cooking, and the 2017 James Beard Award's “Outstanding Chef.” In 2018, Zahav was recognized by Food & Wine Magazine as one of "The 40 Most Important Restaurants of the Past 40 Years". In May of 2019, Zahav was awarded "Outstanding Restaurant" by the James Beard Award Foundation.
In addition to his duties at Zahav, Chef Solomonov co-owns Philadelphia's Federal Donuts, Dizengoff, Abe Fisher, and Goldie. In 2019, Solomonov brought another slice of Israeli food culture to Philadelphia with K’Far, an Israeli bakery & café, this past July and Merkaz, an Israeli pita sandwich shop, this past November. In 2020, the pair will also open Laser Wolf, an Israeli shipudiya restaurant in Philadelphia. Since 2017, Solomonov and the Israel Ministry of Tourism (IMOT) are partners in championing Israel’s extraordinarily diverse and vibrant culinary landscape.
Peter and I would ride by each other while he was training in Napa I had no idea that I was riding the same routes as him until one day I asked if he was Peter Stetina. He replied yes I am very nice to meet you, We started to cross paths at the different races in there area. It’s alway a pleasure to chat with him. Most of the time I never get to ride with him since he is so damn fast. So excited to see him transition into the Gravel world from the world tour, looking forward to seeing his success on the new discipline.
Peter Stetina has raced the last decade in the World Tour completing 8 Grand Tours (2 Tour de France, 4 Giro d'Italia, and 2 Vuelta Espana). In 2015 he suffered a limb and career-threatening crash. However, 3 months later he lined up, and finished "America's Toughest Stage Race", the Tour of Utah, while still walking with a cane. In 2019, while riding for Trek-Segafredo, he dabbled in the emerging Gravel Racing scene; winning the Belgian Waffle Ride and taking 2nd at Dirty Kanza, the crown jewel of gravel racing. He made headlines last month with the announcement he is abandoning the glamour of the World Tour for the gravel dream, becoming the 1st Pro to do so.
As a kid growing up in New England I looked to the Bones Brigade & Tommy Guerrero for direction in skating. When the video Bones Brigade came out we were all hooked on this group of skaters doing what they did best having fun riding their skateboards. When I moved to SF in 1996 I would see him around but it wasn’t until about 6 years ago that we connected at a concert he was playing for the SF/Marin Food bank. Its funny to me that I became friends with a guy I idolized as a kid but the more we hang out the more I realized the reason I looked up to him was because he was just a guy riding a skateboard having fun. Tommy is as Real as it gets, his music is amazing and he is huge in Japan, I am not kidding his music is so beloved in Japan.
Tommy Guerrero may be better known in the world of skateboarding than music. Born in San Francisco, Guerrero joined the skate company Powell Peralta in 1984 and became one of the original members of the legendary "Bones Brigade" team. TG has been playing music since the late 70's with his brother Tony -both raised on a steady diet of DIY punk music/ethos and skateboarding-which informed and shaped the person he is today. Since then, Guerrero has become an accomplished bassist and guitarist with influences as diverse as John Coltrane, Bad brains, Joy division Gabor Szabo and on and on... You can follow his musical career and see where he is playing next or buy his albums at www.tommyguerrero.com also check out his podcast B.S with Tommy Guerrero
I have been fortunate to be friends with Hiro for many years. when I first started cooking he was a hero who I looked up to then as I grew in my career we became friends. He was always there for advice, guidance and direction when needed and when it wasn’t asked for as well. His honesty in food and love of the craft is infectious. His experience is unprecedented, I am honored to call him a friend , a mentor! He is just one hell of a human being who has helped shape the culinary scene of the bay area and beyond.
CHEF HIRO SONE
Hiro Sone has come a long way from his beginnings on a premium rice farm in Miyagi, Japan. The cuisine of 2003 winner of the James Beard Foundation’s “Best Chef of California” and 2008 winner of the James Beard Foundation’s “Out Standing Service” subtly pays homage to his Japanese heritage. But years of disciplined training, cooking experience, and global travel have had equal influence over refined and eclectic cooking style.
Hiro developed a respect for ingredients from his family who has been growing premium rice for 18 generations. He recalls, “My mother, who’s a great cook of Japanese and Western style cuisine, took care of the vegetable gardens between rice farming. My grandmother took care of the chickens and cows. I still remember digging potatoes by hands, the rich smell of fresh milk, and helping with the rice harvest each fall. At the end of the day, after everybody had left the rice field, my grandmother would pick up each lost rice grain from the ground in the dark. I learned from her that even a piece of rice should be treated with respect.”
Moving from the rice fields into the revered Osaka culinary school École Technique Hôtelière Tsuji in 1977 the 18 year-old applied that same regard and attention to detail to his studies. Under the tutelage of French masters such as Paul Bocuse and Joel Robuchon, he developed a passion and talent for French cooking that propelled him from graduation to French and Italian restaurant kitchens in Tokyo where he worked his way up from dishwasher to sous chef, and five years later into the kitchens of Wolfgang Puck.
In 1983, Hiro was hired to open Spago Tokyo and went to Los Angeles to train for two months at Spago Hollywood. The experience proved pivotal. Amidst the pots and pans he met his future wife and restaurant partner Lissa Doumani and over the next year and a half he got the opportunity to create and oversee the first California cuisine restaurant in Japan.
Inspired by a newfound appreciation for California cuisine, the young chef returned to Spago Hollywood as kitchen manager in 1984 and was promoted to Chef de Cuisine within six months. By 1988 he and Lissa were dreaming of a restaurant of their own, and found it in Napa Valley. The couple opened Terra in 1988 to overwhelming acclaim and it remained for thirty years as one of the Valley’s top restaurants until the closure in 2018
In 1991 Hiro and Lissa received “America’s Best New Chef Award” from Food and Wine Magazine.
In 2000 Terra Received “Robert Mondavi Culinary Excellence Award”
In 2001 Terra Cookbook “TERRA: Cooking From The Heart Of Napa Valley” was nominated for “Best American Cookbook” by James Beard Foundation.
In 2003 Hiro won “Best Chef of California” by James Beard Foundation.
Same year Hiro Story was featured in Japanese prime TV show Jonetsu Tairiku 情熱大陸
In 2005 opened Ame in St. Regis Hotel San Francisco, brings the signature taste of their wine country restaurant to appreciative San Francisco diners.
In 2006 Ame received “The Best New Restaurant In U.S.A.” by Esquire Magazine.
In 2007 Terra received “Michelin One Star” (Terra continued to receive Michelin Star every year until when Terra closed in 2018.)
In 2008 Ame received “Michelin One Star” (Ame continued to receive Michelin Star every year until when Ame closed in 2016
In 2008 Terra received “Outstanding Service Award” by James Beard Foundation.
Today Hiro’s inspiration comes from visiting local farms and ranches and learning their intricacies. From close relationships with local growers and winemakers and a respect for the seasons and their unique offerings, he creates innovative seasonal menus mixed with unexpected flavors from Italy, France, and the Orient—destinations he and Lissa visited during their vacations.
Over three decades after leaving the Japanese countryside Hiro’s cooking honors the greatest culinary influences of his life—his heritage, classic training, and travels. But it’s his continued respect for details as minute yet important as a grain of rice that makes each dish beautifully designed with layers of flavors and textures that lend a depth that astounds with every bite.
Hiro is co-author of cookbooks “TERRA cooking from heart of Napa Valley” and “A Visual Guide to Sushi-Making”
I was fortunate to meet Gabriel many years ago at a game cooking competition which by the way he won. We have been friends ever since, having cooked together at many different events I have seen such amazing food from Gabriel. His intensity and excitement for great food and incredible flavors has taken the world by storm, ever since he opened Le Pigeon it’s been gang busters. I always love sitting there on the counter watching the cooks make incredible food in such a small environment with so much technique & flavor, all guided by Gabriel. Today we talk about alot of the hard stuff and the great stuff, such a great conversation about life and how we decide to change the course of it. Congratulations on making this amazing change and being able to share it with so many.
Gabriel Rucker Executive Chef and Co-Owner, Le Pigeon and Canard
Two-time James Beard Award winning Chef Gabriel Rucker is Executive Chef and Co-owner of Le Pigeon and Canard in Portland, Oregon. His edgy, highly original, and recipe-free masterpieces, evocative of French bistro signatures and classic American fare, have gained him both regional and national acclaim. When school no longer piqued his interest, Rucker moved to the kitchen where his natural talent took flight. In 2003 he landed a coveted job at Paley’s Place and, after two years in the esteemed kitchen, he moved on to the Gotham Tavern as Sous Chef. In June of 2006, Rucker opened Le Pigeon and became an overnight success. In 2018, Rucker and Fortgang opened Canard next door to Le Pigeon, an all-day cafe serving breakfast, lunch and brunch on the weekends, and in the evenings, serving up a broad wine program and wild French bar food. Canard quickly became one of the most buzzed about openings nationwide, going on to win The Oregonian’s Restaurant of the Year, Portland Monthly’s Restaurant of the Year, a Best New Restaurant James Beard Award nomination, one of the 18 Best New Restaurants of 2018 by Eater, one of Thrillist’s Hottest New Restaurants and Food & Wine names Canard’s Steamburger one of their best bites of 2019.
Rucker and his team released their first cookbook, Le Pigeon: Cooking at the Dirty Bird (Ten Speed Press), in September 2013. Forwarded by Chef Tom Colicchio, the cookbook is a serious yet playful collection of 150 recipes celebrating Rucker's high-low extremes in cooking, combining the wild and the refined in a unique and progressive style, receiving national acclaim from media and chefs alike, including Andrew Zimmern’s Top Cookbooks of 2013, Food Republic’s Top 20 Cookbooks, one of Financial Times’ Books of the Year, Food Network Favorite Fall Books, and praised in UK Independent, Wall Street Journal, Eater, and The Week. It was also a finalist for the 2014 IACP Cookbook award.
Rucker is one of Portland’s most respected and decorated chefs, earning many accolades, including two James Beard Awards for Rising Star Chef in 2011 and Best Chef Northwest in 2013, as well as a nomination for Outstanding Chef 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019. He was named a Food & Wine Best New Chef 2007, one of Portland Monthly’s Chefs of the Year, and was the recipient of StarChefs Mentor Award in 2018. Le Pigeon and Canard have become some of Portland’s most critically acclaimed restaurants, earning many accolades, including The Oregonian’s Restaurant of the Year in 2008 for Le Pigeon and 2 018 for Canard. The restaurants have been featured in Travel + Leisure, The Guardian, Details Magazine, Wall Street Journal, Wine Spectator, San Francisco Chronicle, GQ, USA Today, NBC New York, Bizarre Foods with Andrew
Zimmern and Zimmern’s List. Le Pigeon has been included in Wine Enthusiast’s 100 Best American Wine Restaurants in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, and in 2019 was named to the Wine Enthusiast Restaurant Hall of Fame list. In 2018, his newest restaurant Canard was named one of the 18 Best New Restaurants of 2018 by Eater, one of Thrillist’s Hottest New Restaurants, The Oregonian’s Restaurant of the Year and Portland Monthly’s Restaurant of the Year. In 2019, Canard was named one of America’s 100 Best Wine Restaurants by Wine Enthusiast and was nominated for Best New Restaurant by the James Beard Awards.
In 2019, Rucker, along with fellow Portland chef Gregory Gourdet, founded the Portland chapter of Ben’s Friends, a restaurant industry recovery group. Follow Rucker on Instagram @ruckergabriel and @fitchefpdx.
Andrew Zimmern
Nov 05, 2019
Talking about the hard stuff
There are people who say they are there, and there are people that are there. When Andrew and I meet years ago we realized that we would be friends for life, so many similarities, love of food family but most of all our consistent honesty with each other and support has created an unbelievable friendship and support. There is so many things I can say abut Andrew but most of all I want to say “Thank You” for your consistent friendship & support threw thick and thin we always have each others back to get threw the hard stuff. I love You AZ my brother of another mother!!
A Taste of the Good—and Bad— Life
Thanks to his parents who had him traveling around the world mouth first, Andrew knew from a young age he wanted a career in food. After attending The Dalton School and then Vassar College, Andrew was on the fast track to success, cooking in New York City restaurants helmed by Anne Rosenzweig, Joachim Splichal and Thomas Keller. He helped open and run a dozen restaurants, but was also an addict spiraling out of control. Crashed and burnt, he spent a year living on the streets, stealing to support his addiction. Ultimately, one last intervention by close friends brought him to the renowned Hazelden Foundation in Minnesota. Transforming his life around sobriety, Andrew began washing dishes at the Minneapolis outpost of New York’s Café Un Deux Trois in 1992. When a line cook fortuitously didn’t show up for his shift, Andrew took over his station, and in seven weeks was named executive chef. He turned Un Deux Trois into a successful gastro-bistro during his six-year tenure.
Making Moves in the Media
Andrew’s revamped menu of French dishes shot through a Vietnamese and Chinese prism drew the attention of media. Local news appearances led to regular TV work as the ‘in-house chef’ on HGTV’s early slate of programming produced in Minnesota. Rebecca’s Garden and TIPical Mary Ellen proved to be extraordinary springboards. Eventually he found a regular job as a features reporter doing live local news, became Mpls.St.Paul Magazine’s dining critic and restaurant columnist, and hosted his own drive time radio show. In 2003, Andrew filmed a test pilot for the show that ultimately became Bizarre Foods, targeting Travel Channel as a potential home. Since Bizarre Foods first aired in 2006, he’s created the spin offs Bizarre World, Bizarre Foods America and Bizarre Foods: Delicious Destinations.
Andrew founded the Minneapolis-based, multi-media company Food Works in 1997. A full-service operation that develops and manages content, Food Works oversees production and distribution for all of Andrew’s media endeavors, including his former podcast Go Fork Yourself, a 2012 Stitcher award-winner for Best Food/Cooking podcast, his website AndrewZimmern.com, which was nominated as the best food blog by the James Beard Foundation in 2016, and AZ Cooks, a digital cooking series. In AZ Cooks, Andrew shares cooking techniques and recipes inspired by his travels and experiences in the professional kitchen. He demystifies essential dishes from cultures around the world in pursuit of culinary literacy. AZ Cooks has won Taste Awards for “Best Food Program Online” (2018 and 2019), as well as “Best Instructional Series” (2019) and “Best Chef in a Series” (2019). The series was also recognized as a Webby Honoree in 2019.
Beyond his success as an on-camera host, Andrew’s background as a journalist has led him seamlessly into the world of publishing. Giving a behind-the-scenes look at the cultures he found in his favorite destinations, The Bizarre Truth (Broadway, 2009), inspired readers to travel, explore and eat the unconventional. Andrew Zimmern’s Bizarre World of Food: Brains, Bugs and Blood Sausage (Delacorte, 2011) gave younger fans a backstage look at his culinary adventures. A book for young adults, Andrew Zimmern’s Field Guide to Exceptionally Weird, Wild, Wonderful Foods: An Intrepid Eater’s Digest (Feiwel & Friends, 2012) is a pop culture-influenced look at funny, fantastic and occasionally bizarre ingredients. His latest offering, a grade level series called Alliance of World Explorers, Volume 1: AZ and the Lost City ofOphir was released in February 2019 and recently won a Gold IPPY in Juvenile Fiction. Additionally, Andrew is a contributor at Food & Wine magazine and a contributing editor at DeltaSky Magazine, where he pens the column “Fork and The Road.”
Innovative Culinary Concepts and Partnerships
In 2012, he launched Andrew Zimmern’s Canteen, a quick service concept licensed at U.S. Bank Stadium and Target Field in Minneapolis. Andrew Zimmern’s Canteen is now a property of Passport Hospitality, a restaurant concept and design company Andrew founded in 2015. Through Passport Hospitality, Andrew and his culinary team provide consulting services to various restaurant and retail projects.
Andrew recently collaborated with Minneapolis chef Gavin Kaysen to create KZ ProVisioning, a unique catering company for professional athletes. KZ ProVisioning works with sports teams like the National Hockey League’s Minnesota Wild, to provide healthy meals to the team’s players, coaches and locker room staff. Andrew has also partnered with Robert Montwaid to develop an experiential food hall in the historic Dayton’s building in downtown Minneapolis and in Atlanta’s Chattahoochee Food Works.
Creating Compelling and Impactful Content
In 2014, Andrew introduced Intuitive Content, a full-service production company that develops and produces dynamic original television and broadcast specials, while partnering with companies to create brand-driven series and web content. Intuitive Content’s first television series, Andrew Zimmern’s Driven by Food, premiered on Travel Channel in August 2016. In Driven by Food, Andrew takes viewers on a behind-the-scenes adventure, exploring food and culture from a whole new perspective with a local guide. In their second series, The Zimmern List, Andrew reveals his favorite food experiences in cities across the globe. Season two of The Zimmern List premiered in December 2018 and in 2019 won a Taste Award for “Best Food Travel Series” as well as a Silver Telly Award. In their latest series, Andrew traveled the U.S. in search of passionate food truck entrepreneurs on Big Food Truck Tip, which aired on Food Network last fall.
Beyond television, Intuitive Content works with clients on branded entertainment, including a partnership with Renaissance Hotels to create The Navigator’s Table and with Caribou Coffee to film Behind the ‘Bou, which profiles their commitment to high quality beans and sustainable Rainforest Alliance Certification. Intuitive Content’s recent digital work includes Andrew in the Kitchen, a companion cooking series to Bizarre Foods that was nominated for a James Beard Award in 2018, and Bravo TV’s Beats + Bites with the Potash Twins, which explores the intersection of music and food, and the creative process that all artists share. In 2019, Beats + Bites was awarded the “Great Taste Prize: Hollywood Tastemakers” by the Taste Awards and a Bronze Telly Award.
Andrew has been nominated for 12 James Beard Awards and has won awards for “TV Food Personality” (2010), “TV Program on Location” (2012), and “Outstanding Personality/Host” (2013 and 2017). In 2016, Andrew was named one of “America’s 50 Most Powerful People in Food” by The Daily Meal, one of the “30 Most Influential People in Food” by Adweek and as one of Fast Company’s “Most Creative People in Business.” In 2017, Andrew won the award for Best Host at the Cynopsis TV Awards. According to Eater, “Zimmern knows more about the foods of the world and the history of modern gastronomy than anyone else in our solar system. He’s a walking, talking food encyclopedia, and a true omnivore.” Andrew has appeared as a guest judge on Chopped and Top Chef, and was chosen as a mentor for Season 2 of Food Network’s All-Star Academy.
Delicious Life
When he’s not sampling unusual dishes at home and abroad, Andrew teaches entrepreneurship and offers insights on food issues to the students of The Lewis Institute for Social Innovation at Babson College. Through the James Beard Foundation he funds Andrew Zimmern’s Second Chances Scholarship, which offers a student faced with extreme challenges an opportunity to overcome these hardships and follow a culinary path. Andrew sits on the board of directors of Services for the UnderServed, Soigne Hospitality and Taste of the NFL, and is the International Rescue Committee’s Voice for Nutrition. Other charities Andrew works with include Lovin’ Spoonfuls, ONE, Food Policy Action Committee and No Kid Hungry. In his rare downtime, Andrew relaxes in Minneapolis, spending time with family and his pug Pretzel, and reading, cooking and playing guitar.
Derek Dammann The Canadian Ginger
Oct 22, 2019
Derek and I go way back to the days of when he was the chef of fifteen in London, I would say he is my brother of another mother. He isa a champion for all things Canadian, as well as being just a brilliant chef. He is a Bruins hockey fan in Montreal which isn’t easy and has a amazing restaurant called Maison Publique which is by far my favorite restaurant. He is always having fun but most of all he has been a great friend & friend that I love to cook with. Plus the rumor is he can cook a mean beaver.
Derek Dammann was raised in Campbell River, BC, the salmon capital of the world. After studying cooking in Nanaimo, chef Dammann worked in one of Canada's great Italian restaurants, Zambri's, in Victoria, before making his way to the UK to work with Jamie Oliver. Derek came back to Canada and settled in Montreal, where he opened DNA, one of the most exciting nose-to-tail establishments in North America. He partnered with Jamie Oliver again to open Maison Publique, a hugely popular and highly regarded gastropub. He authored the best selling cookbook, True North, Canadian Cooking from Coast to Coast. Last year he partnered with the team from Joe Beef to open McKiernan Luncheonette, Rotisserie and Catering.
Chris Shepherd
Oct 01, 2019
I am honored to call chris a friend, he is a great chef and even better human. He has shown us all how to get things done, each step has been with heart, soul and a lot of love for his city and his team!
Midwest-raised, James Beard Award-winning Chef Chris Shepherd has helped change the landscape of the Houston culinary scene since opening Underbelly in 2012. He built the restaurant to support the Houston food community and its suppliers by buying local and drawing inspiration from the people and cultures that live in the city. Thanks to Chris’ vision and passion, Underbelly was a James Beard Award semifinalist for Best New Restaurant, was named one of the best new restaurants in the country by Bon Appetit and Esquire and was named one of 38 essential restaurants in America by Eater. Chris was named one of the 10 Best New Chefs in America by Food & Wine in 2013 and was then awarded the 2014 James Beard Award for Best Chef: Southwest.
In 2017, Chris opened One Fifth, a five-year restaurant project that changes concepts every year. He closed Underbelly in March 2018 to convert the building into Georgia James, his take on a steakhouse. He also opened UB Preserv as his culinary interpretation of Houston’s evolution. He continues to tell the story of Houston food, but without limitations of locality and whole animal butchery. He formed Underbelly Hospitality in 2018 to preserve the ethos of Underbelly—learning about diverse cultures through food. In 2019, all three restaurants—UB Preserv, One Fifth Mediterranean and Georgia James—nabbed the No. 1 spot on Texas Monthly's list of the Best New Restaurants in Texas, and Georgia James was included on GQ's list of the best new restaurants in America. He was a semifinalist for the James Beard Award for Outstanding Chef in 2019 and was named Robb Report's Chef of the Year the same year. Chris’ first cookbook, Cook Like a Local: Flavors that Will Change the Way You Cook—and See the World, will be published by Clarkson Potter in September 2019.
Chris began his fine dining career at Brennan’s of Houston, where he spent seven years in the kitchen and then ran the wine program for two. He left Brennan’s in 2006 to open Catalan Food & Wine, which was named one of Esquire’s Best New Restaurants in America that same year.
Chris' foundation Southern Smoke has donated more than $1.3 million to those in the food and beverage industry in crisis and to the National MS Society, in honor of his friend who lives with multiple sclerosis.
Jeff is in a league of his own when it comes to tattoo’s, but for me he has been a regular customer & friend for over 15 years. He is know as the bio mechanical tattoo king, but has branched out into so many different styles of pieces that are beautiful in so many ways. He is also a avid hunter and lover of fine foods and even makes his own salumi. Be sure to stop by and see him at Seventh Son Tattoo. A northern California native, Jeff brings over 20 years of tattooing experience to the shop. Possessing a wide-ranging tattoo repertoire, Jeff enjoys tattooing everything from illustrative flora and fauna, to elaborate biomechanical designs. In his free time Jeff relishes being outdoors, whether it’s hunting, fishing or playing with his French Bulldogs Georgia and Leonard.
Chris Ying
Sep 10, 2019
When I first meet Chris it was at McSweenys when I was pitching him my cook book proposal. We discussed a lot of ideas, but even more important we starting a lasting friendship. He is a true force to be reckoned with in the media and food world I am so excited to see all the cool stuff he has been working on and what he has to come. There is so many things I can say about Chris, great writer, speaker, human. Lucky Peach. co author of many books and so much more. Thank you Chris for being such a great friend and a person who makes me think a bit harder before I open my fat mouth and say some dumb shit.
Richie Nakano "The Instigator"
Aug 27, 2019
Let’s be honest, Richie pissed in a lot of peoples cheerios when he started with his blog and using social media to voice his often controversial comments about restaurants, critics & just bad restaurant behavior whether it was guests or chefs he had a no holds bar approach. Now Richie is older and wiser and has a lot to offer the next generation and the restaurant industry as a whole.
Jeremy Fish
Aug 13, 2019
When I moved to San Francisco in 1996 I would see these SPB decals all over town, not knowing what they were I was always attracted to this type of rad street art.. Then I discovered upper playground to find t-shirts with al his art on them, I started attending art shows at Upper Playground and we then became friends when we did a custom piece at incanto. Jeremy has done art for my cook book, and logos for my restaurants , Cockscomb, Jackrabbit and my hospitality company Delicious MFG & CO. He is a true legend in San Francisco and his art is coveted around the world, he has collaborated with so many incredible companies and people.
Traci Des Jardin
Jul 30, 2019
When I arrived in San Francisco in 1996 Rubicon was a dream opportunity that fell into my lap, by chance of a friend from culinary school, I started on hot apps and she scared the daylights out of me. Thank you for being a friend a mentor and a kick ass chef who can cook like no ones business.
A California native of a small central valley agricultural community, Traci Des Jardins has been a part of the San Francisco food community for 25 years and has opened many great San Francisco restaurants. She currently runs a diverse group of eateries, including her iconic Jardinière, the Ferry Building-located Mijita Cocina Mexicana and Public House in Oracle Park.
In 2018, the chef launched School Night SF in collaboration with The Pearl. True to its name, the bar is open Sunday through Wednesday from 5 pm to midnight, featuring hand-crafted pisco, agave and whiskey cocktails by Enrique Sanchez and Mexican-influenced bar snacks.
Before opening Jardinière in San Francisco in 1997, Des Jardins worked in some of the most highly acclaimed kitchens in Los Angeles, France and New York City. Classically trained in French cuisine by some of the best chefs and restaurateurs in the world, Des Jardins' style is also influenced by her Mexican and French-Acadian grandparents, who taught her how to cook and gave her a passion for food. Throughout her more than two decades in San Francisco, Des Jardins has continued to focus and evolve her style of cooking as well as her restaurants. Over the course of her successful career she has trained and groomed many chefs and front-of-the-house leaders, many of whom now help operate her growing group of restaurants while others have gone on to their own successful ventures.
Traci is the culinary advisor to Impossible Foods, which launched the Impossible Burger -- a revolutionary plant-based meat -- in the summer of 2016. The Impossible Burger is currently offered in thousands of restaurants in the United States, with Jardinière being one of them.
What can I say? It’s Yuri. We have known each other for years. He is an incredible human with the ability to suffer and give encouragement all with a huge shit eating grin on his face. When you mention his name in the cycling community it brings a lot of smiles, great stories and the conversation on how he manages to be able to suffer for so long.
Bob Roll AKA "BOBKE"
Jul 18, 2019
Bob Roll is my neighbor, but more then that he was the guy who made cycling approachable to me, I looked up to the amazing cycling feats his dedication to the sport and his incredible mutton chops. which I always wanted but could never grow. He was one of the first on the scene in Europe racing, he has so many great stories I will have to do another podcast or two to just brush the surface of so many great experiences he has to offer from his racing days to present. I am now lucky enough to call Bob my friend.
A Bay Area local and Iconic cyclist and I share an afternoon taking her past and her everyday, on and off the gravel. I have so much respect for her tenacity and ability to talk about her brain trauma. Alison Tetrick Has a amazing ability to have fun and give back to the cycling community all the while doing it with a huge smile even if it is raining and cold.
Some of you may recognize him from his heroic finish at The Tour de France where he wouldn’t give up, but to others he is know as the pit bull. But since the first time we meet in Napa valley he has been noting but an amazing parent, friend & athlete. Notice I put athlete last, not that he isn’t an amazing athlete but as I have learned to know him, I know he prioritizes the others first and the hard work and dedication make him the great athlete he is. Since his retirement from professional cycling he has jumped into the amazing world of Iron Man Triathlons.
Kim Alter & Night Bird
Jul 02, 2019
In this episode I am so excited to talk with my friend Kim Alter. She is a culinary force to watch and more over a great friend and an amazing human. Night bird is a beautiful restaurant that is a true taste of all what is near and dear to Kim’s heart.
KIM ALTER IS THE CHEF/OWNER OF NIGHTBIRD AND ADJOINING LINDEN ROOM, MARKING HER FIRST SOLO PROJECT IN SAN FRANCISCO’S HAYES VALLEY. ALTER FORMERLY WORKED WITH THE DANIEL PATTERSON GROUP FOR THREE YEARS AT THE HELM OF KITCHENS SUCH AS HAVEN AND PLUM IN OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA. PRIOR TO THAT, SHE HAS WORKED IN SOME OF THE BAY AREA’S MOST NOTABLE RESTAURANT KITCHENS INCLUDING MANRESA, UBUNTU, AQUA, AND ACQUERELLO.
ALTER’S MENUS SHOWCASE A COMMITMENT TO TECHNIQUE, WHOLE ANIMAL COOKERY, AND SUPPORT OF LOCAL FARMS. HER FOOD OFTEN TAKES FAMILIAR DISHES TO NEW PLACES WITH CREATIVE SPINS ON CLASSICS. ALTER EARNED A FOOD & WINE MAGAZINE NOMINATION FOR PEOPLE’S BEST CHEF IN 2012 AND AGAIN IN 2013 FOR BRINGING “DOWN-TO-EARTH BOLDNESS TO CEREBRAL DISHES” WITH HER TALENT. SHE WON THE TITLE OF “BEST NEW CHEF” FROM OAKLAND MAGAZINE WHILE AT HAVEN, WHICH WAS ALSO NAMED “BEST NEW RESTAURANT” UNDER HER DIRECTION AND AWARDED THREE STARS FROM SAN FRANCISCO MAGAZINE. SHE GREW UP IN LAGUNA BEACH, CALIFORNIA AND IS A GRADUATE OF THE CALIFORNIA CULINARY ACADEMY.
Welcome to “Losing Your Mind with Chris Cosentino”
Jun 17, 2019