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2009 Meet the Chefs
Chef of the Year
Thomas Keller
The French Laundry, Per Se, Bouchon
and Ad Hoc
Yountville, California
One of the most recognized—and most honored—American chefs, Thomas Keller is renowned for his culinary skills and his ability to establish restaurants that are relaxed yet exciting. He is the chef/owner of eight acclaimed restaurants from the Napa Valley to New York City, all coupling great food with memorable social and sensual experiences. Keller is a promoter of fresh, local and sustainable ingredients. Winner of consecutive Beard Awards as Chef of the Year, he is the only American-born chef since 1900 to hold multiple three-star Michelin ratings. Thomas Keller is also the author of award-winning cookbooks and consultant to the Academy Award-winning animated film, Ratatouille. www.frenchlaundry.com
Educator of the Year
Alton Brown
Food Simple
Atlanta, Georgia
Alton Brown is a chef, Beard Award-winning cookbook author and television personality. He is the creator of the Peabody Award-winning Good Eats, a smart and entertaining show on Food Network that blends wit with wisdom, history with pop culture, and science with common cooking sense. Brown not only writes and produces the shows but also stars in each offbeat episode. He is the creator of Feasting on Asphalt; and a regular contributor to Men’s Journal and Bon Appétit. www.altonbrown.com
Celebrity Chefs
John Ash
Fetzer Vineyards,
Hopland,
California
A perennial favorite at Cooking for Solutions and a prime advocate for sustainable food and wine, John Ash is an internationally recognized chef, educator and author. He is credited as the creator of Wine Country Cuisine. Ash is also an award-winning author of three cookbooks, including From the Earth to the Table: John Ash's Wine Country Cuisine and John Ash Cooking One-on-One: Private Lessons in Simple Contemporary Food from a Master Teacher.
www.chefjohnash.com
Nate Appleman
A16 San Francisco, California
His soulful cooking style with an emphasis on Italian regional cuisine has garnered Nate Appleman local and national praise: as a Beard Award nominee, a San Francisco Chronicle Rising Star Chef, and in publications such as Food & Wine, Bon Appétit and Gourmet. He focuses on seasonal ingredients from local purveyors, and simple, time-honored preparations. Appleman is certified as a pizzaiolo by the Verace Pizza Napoletana Association, and is the author of A16 Food + Wine. www.a16sf.com
Floyd Cardoz
Tabla Restaurant
New York, New York
Floyd Cardoz is the executive chef of a groundbreaking restaurant serving New Indian cuisine cooked with the sensual flavors and spices of the subcontinent. A Bombay native, he has extensive training in leading kitchens in Europe and the United States and is a master of the many cuisines and flavors of India who’s been named as a culinary leader and innovator by a host of national publications. He is a three-time Beard Award nominee and the author of One Spice, Two Spice. www.tablany.com
Regina Charboneau
Inn at Twin Oaks Natchez, Mississippi
A Natchez native, Regina Charboneau’s renowned restaurant and inn feature seasonal menus with regional ingredients. She is the creator of the famed Regina’s at the Regis in San Francisco, which featured award-winning Southern cuisine, and the Biscuits & Blues nightclub, honored as the best blues club in America. Charboneau is the author of Regina’s Table at Twin Oaks. www.twinoaksnatchez.com
Sam Choy
Sam Choy’s Diamond Head Restaurant, Sam Choy’s Big Aloha Brewery, Sam Choy’s Breakfast, Lunch & Crab, all Honolulu, Hawaii; and Sam Choy’s, Guam, USA
An award-winning restaurateur, best-selling cookbook author and TV host, Sam Choy has been dubbed Hawaii’s culinary ambassador. Through his restaurants and other vehicles, he educates people the world over about the wonderful, diverse cultures and flavors reflected in Hawaiian cuisine. www.samchoy.com
Xavier Deshayes
Ronald Reagan Building, The Supreme Court Washington, DC
A French native, Xavier Deshayes apprenticed at notable restaurants in France and the United States, including the award-wining Stonehouse at San Ysidro Ranch and Toronto’s Truffles, which under his tenure was Canada’s only AAA/CAA five-diamond restaurant. He is the founder of Senses in Georgetown, honored as Washington’s best new restaurant by Gourmet magazine. De Shayes oversees catering for functions atthe Ronald Reagan Building and the U.S. Supreme Court. He serves as a trustee of the National Marine Sanctuary foundation. www.itcdc.com/meetings
Jim Dodge
Bon Appétit Management Co.
Palo Alto, California
A much-honored chef in the United States and Asia, Jim Dodge is a key player in the creation and success of Cooking for Solutions and is considered to be one of the leading influences on contemporary American cuisine. He is the author of the Beard Award-winning cookbook, The American Baker and a contributing editor to Joy of Cooking. www.bamco.com
Joyce Goldstein
San Francisco, California
An award-winning chef and food industry consultant, Joyce Goldstein has been chef at the Café at Chez Panisse and in her own Square One restaurant in San Francisco. She is the founder and director of the California Street Cooking School, San Francisco’s first international cooking school. She has also been a cooking instructor at the Culinary Institute of America in the Napa Valley. Goldstein is the author of many cookbooks, including the Beard Award-winning Festive Occasions, and is a frequent contributor to leading food publications. She is devoted to many charitable causes. www.joycegoldstein.com
Alexandra Guarnaschelli
Butter Restaurant New York, New York
A French-trained culinary leader who spent her childhood surrounded by great food as the daughter of an esteemed cookbook editor, Alexandra Guarnaschelli apprenticed in France at the Michelin three-star Guy Savoy. She is now executive chef at Butter, a restaurant noted for the eclectic American and green market-inspired menu she has created. Guarnaschelli is host of the Food Network’s The Cooking Loft and author of Green Table on Yahoo.com. www.butterrestaurant.com
Tracy Griffith
Rika Restaurant Los Angeles, California
One of the world’s first female sushi chefs, Tracy Griffith was the innovator behind “creative sushi” that embraces a wide range of non-traditional ingredients—from watermelon and ricotta cheese to sun-dried tomatoes. Her love of sushi was sparked when she was introduced to the cuisine by her half-sister, actress Melanie Griffith. She is author of Sushi American Style and host of the television cooking shows DIY (Do It Yourself) and Celebrity Hobbies. Griffith is an accomplished actress, singer/songwriter and scuba diving instructor. www.tracygriffith.com
Michel Nischan
The Dressing Room Fairfield, Connecticut
A renowned chef and Beard Award-winning cookbook author, Michel Nischan is an avid proponent of sustainable farming, local and regional food systems and heritage recipes. He is credited with creating a “cuisine of well being.” He partnered with Paul Newman and created The Dressing Room to reflect fundamental values about food, family and community. Nischan is president of Wholesome Wave Foundation, which supports a local, sustainable, culturally-significant food movement. www.michelnischan.com
Paul Rogalski
Rouge Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Paul Rogalski is co-creator of the acclaimed, romantic contemporary French restaurant, Rouge, in an historic house that has become a highlight of the Calgary culinary scene. Rouge is noted for its reliance on fresh ingredients from local purveyors throughout Alberta, and from the restaurant’s own summer garden and indoor herb garden. Rogalski is an award-winner in the annual Canadian culinary championships. www.rougecalgary.com
Frank Stitt
Highlands Bar & Grill/Bottega/
Café Bottega,
Birmingham, Alabama
Frank Stitt crafts menus built on his rich culinary background and his fondness for humble southern ingredients and cooking traditions drawn from his roots in rural Alabama. Twice a Beard Award-winner and proprietor of much-honored restaurants, Stitt is a regional leader with Chefs Collaborative and Share Our Strength. He is the author of Frank Stitt’s Bottega Favorita and Frank Stitt’s Southern Table. www.highlandsbarandgrill.com
PRESENTED BY
Presenting Chefs and Restaurants
Tony Baker
Montrio Bistro
Wendy Brodie
>Art of Food
Benjamin Brown
The Lodge at Pebble Beach
Chez Panisse
Dory Ford
Bon Appétit Management Company at the Monterey Bay Aquarium
Watch a video of past gala and cooking demos to see why this is an event not to be missed.
Seafood Choices
All Cooking for Solutions events support the Aquarium’s Seafood Watch program, which works to change the seafood market in ways that preserve healthy ecosystems that sustain ocean wildlife.
