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.”
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.Maria Capdevielle
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/
Mike C
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
Greg Cole
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
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 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
Maria deCorpo
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
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
Ken Frank
Chef Ken Frank has spent more than two- thirds of his life in the kitchen. He was a celebrity chef in Los Angeles at the tender age of 21, when he made a name for himself as a grand master of French-California cuisine at La Guillotine. By the age of 24, he owned his own restaurant, the original La Toque on Sunset Boulevard, which he ran for 15 years. What have become standards in today’s finest restaurants—combining classic technique with the freshest local ingredients, constantly changing menus, and designing menus around a single ingredient such as truffles, garlic, or foie gras—Frank has been doing since the 1970s. Frank has always felt the importance of the food far outweighs the need for theatrics. Ken says "The trick is for food to always taste as good as it looks.” Today he owns LaToque Restaurant in Napa.
Gunther Heiland
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 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.
Bob Hurley
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.
Gary Penir
Born and raised in Napa Valley, Gary started at Wine
Spectator Restaurant at Greystone in St. Helena, CA under a wide array of
chefs, including Chef Robert Curry (Executive Chef of Auberge de Soleil), Chef
James Corwell (ACF Certified Master Chef), followed by Chef Polly Lapetitto
(Executive Chef of the Wine Spectator Restaurant). In 2006, Gary became Sous
Chef of Wine Spectator Restaurant where he coordinated all aspects of the
kitchen. In 2008, Gary moved to Sonoma County to work at Cyrus Restaurant (2
Michelin stars) in Healdsburg, California under Executive Chef Douglas Keene. Gary
has now moved back to the Napa Valley to launch his own business, Cuisine GP.
Gary works with Caldwell Vineyards, Jessup Cellars,
Castillo de Amarosa, Saviez Vineyards, Round Pond Winery, G Wine Cellars and
various other businesses throughout the North Bay. In 2009 Gary participated in
the Decanting Napa Valley cookbook where you can read his perspective on
"Future of Cuisine" and thumb through multiple recipes and pictures.
Jill Prescott
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
Joe Salerno
When Joe was a boy, you would find tomato sauce simmering for hours each Sunday morning, filling the house with it's heart-warming aroma. The afternoon would find the family visiting Grandmother Emmo, and Joe would be enjoying meatballs for the second time that day!
When he was old enough, Joe made Italian sausage with his father and uncles. To him, being allowed to join in this generations' old tradition marked his passage from boyhood to becoming a man. Now he was old enough to listen to the men and their stories, to celebrate life with them with a glass of his Uncle Angelo's wine or his father's hard cider.
Celebrations always found Joes family around the kitchen table - eating, talking and enjoying the moment for what it was - living well! Joe and his wife previously owned Piccolino's Italian Café. It was a celebration of his family recipes, traditions and memories. They baked his Grandmother's bread fresh each day, slow cook his Father's ragu and made the best lasagna ever.
Joe is active in Napa’s famous Mustard festival. He is also one of the featured chefs during the Napa Town Center Chefs Market and has appeared with the Simon/Food Network Celebrity Chef Tour.
Kris Schalwitz
Food is not just something you eat. It is an experience unlike anything else. A simple sound, aroma, texture or taste can spark many memories; memories that last a lifetime. A euphoric roller coaster of flavor and feelings. With almost 20 Years of experience in some of the finest restaurants in California, including Poggio, Stars Bar and Dining, Chez Nous, La Table, and Le Theatre, Kris has prepared everything from casual Mediteranean small plates to French fine dining. A natural curiosity and passion for only the best ingredients has served as a catalyst for creativity. “The ingredients should speak for themselves” Kris notes. By combining rustic and fine techniques, the dishes are bold, yet fresh and clean. “Let me give you a memorable experience, in the Art of Food, and its wonderful flavors.”
Angela Tamura
Charles Weber
Charles Weber has been at the stove for over 30 years. From flipping burgers in high school to the executive chef in some of the top restaurants in America, Weber has epitomized the “chef as life” concept working in great restaurant such as The Pump Room, Blackhawk Lodge, Park Avenue Café and Riva in Chicago, Left Bank in San Francisco and the illustrious Zuzu in Napa.
While Weber’s culinary background is decidedly French, one would say his style is very diverse. He emphasizes cooking with the seasons and introducing seasonal products into a constantly evolving menu. A love for seafood often dominates his menus, which meshes well with his seasonal approach to the cuisine.
His Napa Valley experience expanded his culinary horizons with Spanish and Latin American cuisines. Weber’s experience culminates at Elements Restaurant & Enoteca with an international menu and unique wines to provide new and exotic food and wine pairings.
Joanne Weir
Joanne’s passion for home cooking was stoked by a
legacy of life in the kitchen. Joanne’s great-grandmother operated a
restaurant in Boston at the turn of the century called Pilgrim’s Pantry.
That enthusiasm for food was passed down to her mother, a professional
chef and caterer, who worked for years with the legendary cookbook
author, Charlotte Turgeon. Joanne continues that same tradition, though
it wasn’t until after getting a degree in Art Education from the
University of Massachusetts and teaching Fine Arts in Boston that she
found her way back to the table.
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.
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.
Graham Zanow
After graduating from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park in New York, and completing his externship in Maui, Hawaii at Roy Yamaguchi’s fabulous restaurant, Graham went to work at the French Laundry under the supervision of Thomas Keller. It was there that he gained a lot of insight into how the freshest ingredients make the best food. He will often shop at 4 or 5 places to find the perfect ingredients. He is quoted as saying “I am only happy if I completely WOW. The most important thing for me is to create an amazing memory”. Chef Zanow is currently the private chef for Stephen Jackson of the Golden State Warriors, runs his own personal catering business, is Black Stallion Wineries private chef, and loves to cook at Cedar Gables Inn.
www.grahamspersonalchefservice.com
www.grahamspersonalchefservice.com