Cedar Gables Inn Official Website

A graduate of the prestigious Culinary Institute of America, in Hyde Park, New York, it was the pursuit of a bounty of seasonal ingredients, world-class wines and the joy that the two together bring when entertaining friends and family, that led John to the Napa Valley. John has honed his skills in some of Napa Valley’s finest restaurants, including St. Helena’s venerable Tra Vigne, as well as The Culinary Institue of America at Greystone.  He has also had the privilege of working with many of Napa Valley’s premiere wineries including Caymus Vineyards, Rombauer Vineyards, Colgin Cellars, and Dominus Estate, as well as boutique wineries such as Shypoke, Lava Vine and Amici Cellars.  Over the past eight years, he has focused solely on working with private and winery clients in order to provide ultra-exclusive culinary services. As a private chef, he is able to offer services that are highly personalized, with culinary results that speak to Napa Valley’s excellence.  John’s menus are seasonally driven by the belief that the fruit of the vine, and the wine that comes from that fruit, is best paired with cuisine inspired by local ingredients.  www.napavalleychef.com

 

After graduating from college, Altman left for France working under some of France’s finest chefs, including Lyon's Bernard Constantin and Jean Brouilly.   Altman returned to work in Boston, with Bob Kinkead.  Altman then traveled to New Orleans where he learned Creole and Cajun cooking under Emeril Lagasse at Commander’s Palace. In the Bay Area, Altman worked at Stars and for legendary rock concert impresario Bill Graham cooking backstage for people like Sting, Eric Clapton and the Grateful Dead.  But it was the Caribbean and African inspired dishes that he created at Miss Pearl’s Jam House, in 1989 that catapulted Altman to the forefront of the highly competitive Bay Area restaurant scene.

In 1998 Altman launched Bay Café, a food-magazine television show. Three time winner of The James Beard Award for Best Local Cooking Series in 2000, 2001 and 2006.

Since 2005 Chef Joey Altman has been the chef Spokesperson for Diageo Chateau & Estate Wines. 
  
In addition to local television, Altman also hosted two series for the Television Food Network, “Appetite for Adventure,” a show where gourmet cooking meets the great outdoors and “Tasting Napa” a culinary travelogue through Northern California’s wine country. His new cookbook “No Reservations” how to make bold, creative, flavorful food at home is a hit.  In his spare time he is a guitarist in an all-chef band called the “Back Burner Blues Band.”

 

---

Annie Baker, is a prime example of a professional woman who decided to pursue her passion and completely change her career direction.  After receiving an accounting degree from Saint Mary's College in South Bend, Indiana, Annie worked in large corporate Finance Departments for the next ten years in Chicago before heading out to the West Coast for the Pastry Arts Program at CIA Greystone.  It was there that Annie gained the knowledge, skills and confidence she needed to advance from amateur home baker to professional pastry chef.  Then, barely a year after dining as just another tourist at Mustards Grill in the Napa Valley, Annie joined the Mustards kitchen team and collaborated with owner/chef Cindy Pawlcyn to create all of the wonderful, well-known desserts enjoyed by so many happy customers year round.  Annie Baker is very friendly, open and honest and – having transitioned from Banking to Baking - always eager to share her personal experiences and insights into the nuances of finding your destiny later on in life. Annie hosts weekly Television culinary segments for KPIX Channel 5 News. On top of that, she started up Annie the Baker and her unique brand of dough-like cookies.

 

---

 

 Jonathan Bodnar

Born and raised in New England, Jonathan realized his passion for cooking while feeding his college roommates. This passion led to a transfer to the U/MASS Amherst Hotel, Restaurant, Travel Administration program and his first job in a restaurant. After several years in management it was off to culinary school to satiate the desire to be working in a professional kitchen. Ten years in some of Boston’s best restaurants led to a chef position at a bed and breakfast on Martha’s Vineyard.
With a winter off and a desire to still learn more, Jonathan enrolled in three classes at the CIA Greystone in St Helena. By the end of the last class, he knew he was not going back to Massachusetts. Six years later, his private catering business has brought him to some of Napa Valley’s most noted wineries; Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars, Staglin, Far Niente, Chappellet, Ehlers Estate, Duckhorn/Paraduxx, Fisher Vineyards. Taking advantage of Northern California’s bounty, Jonathan shops at local Farmer’s Markets and sources out the best product for each dinner and incorporates Napa’s finest wines to create the ultimate dining experience.

---

 

Maria Teresa Capdevielle is the author of "My Sweet Abruzzo", a professional pastry chef and a baking & pastry instructor from Abruzzo (Italy). She learned the art of slow cooking and bread baking with her family. Her local experience includes The Rose Pistola, The Waterfront, The Market Hall, The Townhouse Grill & Restaurant and a stint at the famed Chez Panisse in Berkeley, where she learned about hand-selecting and gently preparing perfect produce from Alice Waters. She is writing her second cookbook about Italian small plates. She also teaches baking and pastries privately and at different culinary centers. http://www.mariateresaskitchen.com/

                        

 

 

 

 

 

---

From growing up in the wine country of Western New York to living large in Berkeley, Chef Mike C. slices and dices his way into your kitchen. By the ripe old age of four, he was already in the kitchen practicing his brand of food alchemy. Through the mentorship of his parents, he learned the finer aspects of organic gardening, simplified cuisine, and home entertaining for all occasions. By the end of high school, Mike C. had found his mission in life; to teach the world how to come back to the table with friends, family, food and fun. Since arriving in California, he has owned two catering businesses, started “Party Lifestyle®” with its website, TV show, magazine and live shows.  He’s directed two cooking schools and in 2005 opened “Kitchen on Fire® ,” a home chef cooking school, with a philosophy of fantastic food, people, and the demystification of home cooking and entertaining.  www.kitchenonfire.com

 

 

 

---

 

Amelia Ceja, president of Napa Valley’s Ceja Vineyards since 1999 and the first Mexican-American woman to be president of a wine production company in the history of New World wines.  Named Entrepreneur of the Year by Inc Magazine in 2004 and honored as Woman of the Year by the California State Legislature in 2005, Ceja is also a party hostess powerhouse whose culinary prowess is legendary in wine country and beyond. She is currently developing a TV show that focuses on cooking, culture and the arts. Whether throwing an intimate party for wine club members or celebrating the holidays in grand style with her three-generation brood, Amelia is all about planning, but also having fun and being in the moment.
“When I wanted tortillas as a kid, I first had to go out, pick corn, and then grind it myself. For me now, cooking is easy and entertaining is so simple: Just open the door to your house and your heart,” Amelia concludes, “and allow people to come in.”

 

---

 

Greg Cole is the executive chef and owner of Celadon and Cole's Chop House, both located in historic downtown Napa. His love of food and wine has created two of the most highly respected restaurants in the Napa Valley. A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America at Hyde Park, he came to the Napa Valley in 1985 to work with Chef Philippe Jeanty in the kitchen of Domaine Chandon. He went on to chef positions at Pasta Prego and Ristorante Piatti. In 1990 Greg’s passion for wine led him to join the winemaking team of Robert Sinskey Vineyards. At Sinskey, Greg worked with respected winemakers Joe Cafaro and Jeff Virnig. In addition to cellar work, he promoted wine sales throughout the country. He cooked and hosted dinners pairing food and wine in top restaurants and cooking schools nationwide.  

 

 

---

Rosetta Costantino was born and raised in Verbicaro, a small town in Calabria, two-and-a-half hours south of Naples. Her father was a master cheesemaker and winemaker and tended the familys olive groves, vineyards, livestock and farm. Virtually all the familys food came from its own land or the nearby Mediterranean Sea. Rosetta and her parents moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1974 when Rosetta was 14 and continued to maintain Calabrias slow-food traditions, growing and preserving their own produce, making their own ricotta, and curing their own salsiccia calabrese. Her mom, Maria Dito still enjoys cooking with her daughter.
In 2001, when Rosetta became a stay-at-home mom, she began to hone the cooking skills she had learned from her mother and grandmothers. In 2004, a San Francisco Chronicle food-page cover story on her family, "Calabria from Scratch," announced her inaugural cooking classes. The article produced such an overwhelming response that she has been teaching sold-out classes steadily since.  www.cookingwithrosetta.com

 

---

In the years since her graduation from The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York she has worked in many different segments of the food and wine industry; from cooking and service to journalism, education and management. She’s worked in restaurants (front and back), for caterers, at a dotcom, at a winery and now as an educator.  In the spring of 2001, She launched Fat Cat Culinary, an enterprise with many facets that allows her the opportunity to work in a variety of milieu and blends her love and knowledge of wine and food. Providing individuals and businesses with food and wine education has given her the opportunity to work with a diverse group of people at a variety of skill levels and on a myriad of topics. Not only has this been very rewarding, it has allowed her to develop and compile a database of more than 1000 original recipes, most of them designed around a specific cuisine or theme and all of them wine-friendly.  Maria will tell you “I am truly happiest when I'm working with others to discover their passion for food and wine.” www.fatcatculinary.com

 

 

---

Janet Fletcher is a staff food writer and weekly cheese columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle, where her writing has won two James Beard Awards and the IACP Bert Greene Award. She also writes a bimonthly cheese column for Specialty Food, a trade magazine, and frequently conducts guided wine and cheese tastings. Janet has written on wine and food topics for numerous national publications and has authored or co-authored 18 cookbooks, including The Cheese Course, Fresh from the Farmers Market and the just-published The Niman Ranch Cookbook. www.foodwriter.com 

 

 

 

 

---

  

 

---

Chef Gunther Heiland is a Certified Master Pastry Chef, one of a select few to hold this title in the United States.  The recipient of numerous culinary awards, Chef Heiland won gold during the 1976, 1980 and 1984 Culinary Olympics in Frankfurt, West Germany.
Chef Heiland serves as a member of the American Culinary Federation's Master Chef Certification Program committee and competition committee. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Chefs and member of several professional associations including the American Culinary Federation.  Former owner of Desserts International in Pennsylvania, he designed gorgeous European-style wedding cakes and supplied extravagant desserts to top restaurants and hotels up and down the East Coast. As if his title of Master Pastry Chef weren't impressive enough, Heiland is also in Chocolate Magazine's Hall of Fame, and was named Chef Magazine's "Pastry Chef of the Year." He now heads up pastry competition teams that compete world wide.

 

 

 

 

---

 

 

Chef Bob Hurley is a world traveler and devotee of the culture, cuisine and lifestyles of many other countries.  His inspiration and innovative style have been largely influenced by his mentors, two renowned San Francisco chefs; the late Masa Kobayashi, a master of blending classic French cuisine with Japanese esthetics and creativity, and Jeremy Tower, one of the early architects of California cuisine.  Chef Hurley became the executive chef of the Napa Valley Grille in Yountville in 1992, where he transformed local ingredients into dishes with a Mediterranean accent.  During this time, Bob honed his interpretation of wine country cuisine, and in 1998 he won the Hot Concept Award from Nations Restaurant News.  In 1999 Bob was chosen by Cooking Light magazine as one of the five Shining Star Chefs in the US. 

In October 2002, Bob opened his own restaurant, Hurley's, in Yountville.

 

 

---

Dana Johnson is a bubbly California native. Over the past few years Dana’s culinary dreams have blossomed into realities. For the past two years Dana has been teaching an adult cooking class. She has won two cooking contests in the past year both taking her to New York City. The first contest prize was a trip to the Rachel Ray Show.  The second contest took her to The New York City Food & Wine Festival with The National Pork Board to compete with Guy Fieri  from the Food Network. Dana also has a regular scheduled cooking segment on FOX40 News.  You can view a few of her segments at www.danasfamilykitchen.com. She also caters numerous charity events, cooking demo shows, private cooking parties, and has recently been a personal chef at the exclusive Edgewood Tahoe’s private beach house. Dana aka “The Recipe Genie” is currently working with Orbit Productions specializing in food product enhancement via creating original recipes, website video demos, infomercials, and commercials.    

 

---

 In 1988, Jill Prescott realized her long-held dream of opening a school of traditional French cuisine for the home cook. For it, she developed a series of one-week, weekend, and one-day courses, such as Classic French Cuisine, Regional French Cooking, French Bistro, Patisserie, Seafood, Wine and Food Pairing, and Boulangerie, which successfully taught professional techniques and recipes to recreational cooks. Before opening the Ecole de Cuisine, Jill trained extensively at top Parisian culinary and wine schools. She holds advanced diplomas and certifications from Ecole Lenotre, Ecole de Cuisine Ritz Escoffier, Ecole de Cuisine La Varenne and L’Academie du Vin. Jill is trained in classic cuisine, pastry and bread baking, and has assiduously updated her knowledge, returning to France over 20 times to work with culinary artisans and wine producers, allowing her to add new dimensions to her programs.  She also works closely with top wineries in Napa to bring out the finest tastes available.
With the success of her school, Jill went on to host two popular nationally syndicated PBS series and author a book named after the series, Jill Prescott’s Ecole de Cuisine. She was featured as one of the United States’ top female chefs in Women of Taste (a book written by Beverly Russell and forwarded by Julia Child.)
She is a strong supporter of artisan producers from Napa and around the world in conjunction with her work.  www.jillprescott.com

---

---

　　　　　

　　

---

 

Peter Witt  

 

Located on Puget Sound, Chef/ Owner Peter Witt is the Dover Point Gourmet Executive Chef.　 He was classically trained in traditional French-Provencal Culinary arts at the South Seattle Culinary Arts Institute at SSCC.　 He brings 10 years of restaurant and cooking experience in fine dining establishments from Alaska to Washington.　 "For me a great culinary experience is where tasteful healthy food is simply prepared with elegance and class" stated Peter at the last Cedar Gables class.　 Peter uses classic techniques of a saucier, showing how each exquisite sauce compliments the superb ingredients.
Peter’s goal is to enable students to prepare seafood that transforms their culinary experience and expands their horizons through smell, taste, and flavor while having fun.