Category: Chef 2018

Marc’s curiosity in cooking began as a young child. He was fortunate enough to begin his culinary journey at a family owned restaurant where he was mentored and fell in love with food. He made the decision to pursue Culinary as a career, as he attended the Culinary Institute of American in San Francisco.
Marc Brings over 30 years of experience in the hospitality industry not just as an Executive Chef, but to inspire and motivate others who share his passion and love for food. You can find him in the kitchen exploring new flavors with his team on new items, or face down in a culinary magazine.
Marc is always striving forward to providing an optimum experience and to exceed the guests expectation for every meal.  You might just see him walking between restaurants. If you do; stop and introduce yourself, He’s always willing to share ideas and his love for food.

Growing up in California’s central valley, Chef Sanborn had always been involved in agriculture. Having worked on dairies and farms throughout his teen years, his knowledge of farm fresh produce led to his initial background into the food world. However, it was cooking traditional Mexican cuisine with his mother and grandmother that led him to his passion in the culinary arts. After graduating El Diamante High School in Visalia, CA, Chef Sanborn attended Sonoma State University. After realizing that his desire was to pursue a career in the culinary arts, he soon transferred to Santa Rosa Junior College, where he achieved his degree in Culinary Sciences.
Chef Sanborn has been in the culinary industry for over 14 years. He has worked throughout California, including restaurants in Fresno, Visalia, and Clovis. He was the leas banquet chef for his hometown minor league baseball team in Visalia, The Visalia Rawhide. His experience in Sonoma County has ranged from restaurants in Napa and Sonoma counties, as well as different wineries in Sonoma County. He is currently the Chef de Cuisine at Heirloom Café, where he continues to incorporate his culinary experience and flare into all the dishes he creates.

Two Dog Night Creamery specializes in Small batch farm to cone ice cream, frozen using liquid nitrogen for that fresh ultra-smooth and creamy texture. We make all our ice cream in house daily. We support local by using certified organic local dairy, as well as all types of fruits from local organic farmers. We are located at the Barlow Center in Sebastopol and at the Oliver’s shopping center in Windsor.
www.twodognightcreamery.com

Ramekins Executive Chef, Kyle Kuklewski, has over a decade of culinary experience with the majority of his career having worked in fine dining restaurants within top luxury brand hotels. Working under Michelin rated chefs, Chef Kyle honed his culinary skills while developing a strong attention to detail, an appreciation for using only the finest quality ingredients and a drive for creativity.
As Executive Chef at Ramekins, he oversees all on and off-site catering operations, Culinary School programming and the culinary development of joint properties such as Wing and Barrel Ranch, Cornerstone Sonoma and Ramekins own 5th Street Farm.
Outside of the kitchen, he enjoys spending time with his partner, Matthew and dog Stella, hiking, travel, and is involved with community events such as the local mentoring alliance, The Hannah Boys Center, and the Boys and Girls Club of Sonoma. With Ramekins, he has collaborated in partnerships with The Sonoma Valley Visitor’s Bureau and local hospitality groups to further promote tourism for Sonoma Valley.

Mike Mullins, Executive Chef of Perch + Plow Restaurant in Santa Rosa and Bay Area chef for the last 12 years, describes his passion for the culinary arts as “my way of expressing creativity through refining subtle variations in the foods I cook.” “We are so fortunate to live in an area with an abundance of fresh food, year round.  I use the freshest, local ingredients and adjust the menu to feature the bounty of the seasons.”
Mullins grew up in the wine country town of Kenwood, the youngest child and only boy in a household of three sisters.  He was influenced by his paternal grandmother’s love of Texas style cooking.  “I remember thinking my grandma’s pork ribs and fried chicken and okra was just heaven.”
The Sonoma County culture of excellence in food and wine influenced him to travel abroad after graduating from Cardinal Newman High School.  He attended the University of London and enjoyed weekend trips to sample cuisines in many European cities.
After graduating from the CIA in Hyde Park New York and working at Park Avenue Café under Chef Neil Murphy.  Mullins enrolled at the University of San Francisco and earned a Bachelor of Science in Hospitality Management.  “I met One Market, Executive Chef Mark Dommen as a USF student.  Mark is very philanthropic and invited me to cook with him at many charity events.  “ I worked for him at One Market and was influenced by his strong work ethic and humility. “ I have been fortunate to have several mentors in my years as a chef.  Ben Davies, Executive Chef at Russian River Vineyards was instrumental in helping me develop flavors that tantalize the palate and Josh Silvers owner and Executive Chef at Jackson Bar and Oven is a premier teacher and helped me hone skills so vital to life in the kitchen…training cooks.
Chef Mullins has worked along side Traci Des Jardins, owner and Executive Chef of well known San Francisco eateries Jardiniere, Public House and Arguello among others.  Bon Appetit Management Corporation at Google was a fascinating venture for Mike as he rode the infamous Google bus to work each day from is San Francisco apartment.  At Cavallo Pt. in Sausalito, Mike an outdoor hiking and biking enthusiast, often rode his bike over the Golden Gate from San Francisco to the bucolic Sausalito restaurant.

An industry veteran and CIA graduate, Executive Chef Scott Romano brings vast experience and an authentic approach to the culinary leadership at Dry Creek Kitchen. His philosophy of honest food served with integrity is critical to the restaurant’s wine country hospitality.
Scott joined the Charlie Palmer Group in 1997 as a line cook at the group’s flagship, award-winning, New York property, Aureole, and was tapped to helm Palmer’s Alva (later Kitchen 22) and Kitchen 82 as Chef de Cuisine. After seven years with CPG in New York, the Jersey-native headed to California and worked with Palmer at Astra West and subsequently with Wolfgang Puck at his renowned Spago. During this time, Scott continued to refine his straightforward approach and in 2007 relocated to Dallas, Texas, again with Charlie Palmer Group. Upon opening Charlie Palmer at The Joule, Romano earned a four-star review from the Dallas Morning News. With continued passion for wild game, Scott explored his interest at The Frisco Gun Club and Nick & Sam’s Steakhouse.

Known for his eclectic, inventive, yet approachable dishes, Shane McAnelly has a culinary approach distinctly focused on ingredients and seasonality. Growing up in the tight-knit community of Oakley, CA, Shane spent time as a child baking with his mother and grandmother, mastering the art of cheesecake at the age of 13. In 2005, he took a Sous Chef position at Garibaldi’s restaurant in Oakland, developing the menu to reflect Bay Area seasonality and building relationships with local farmers and purveyors. Rounding out his experience with a position in San Francisco, he took an Executive Sous Chef post with the opening team at Zero Zero under Bruce Hill in July 2010, managing the team and developing the ingredient-driven pizza and pasta-focused menu.
In April 2011, Shane took on his first Executive Chef position at Va de Vi restaurant in Walnut Creek, named a Bay Area Top 100 restaurant by the San Francisco Chronicle, and which remained on the list for the duration of his time there. After two years, he set his sights north, relocating with his wife and baby to open Chalkboard restaurant in downtown Healdsburg. Joining the town’s vibrant—and growing—culinary community as Executive Chef at the restaurant, Shane has been involved in every aspect of bringing Chalkboard to life: creating a bright, modern space for diners, collaborating with a gardener on a dedicated restaurant garden, and developing a menu that’s reflective of his years invested in cooking the best ingredients that the Bay Area has to offer.

One of Wine Country’s best known restaurants, John Ash and Co. remains an icon for gourmet, wine country dining with Executive Chef Thomas Schmidt continuing the standards of cooking excellence enjoyed by locals and guests alike. Chef Tom Schmidt brings a wealth of knowledge and creativity to Sonoma County’s wine country. Although Tom is an expert in formal culinary methods, his skill is not driven by technique alone. Rather, it involves an intuitive understanding of complementary flavors, textures and colors combined with the knowledge of using seasonal foods at their freshest.
Tom attended Contra Costa College, studying culinary arts under the instruction of Chef Kenneth Wolff and working as a sous chef for three years, honing his skills in all aspects of kitchen operations and prep work. As an executive chef in Woodside, California and later as owner of a catering company, he learned that working with the freshest ingredients and letting their flavors speak for themselves is the most important aspect of cooking.
Tom’s passion for fine cuisine took him to Europe, where he opened the highly-regarded restaurant, Topaz, in Bremen, Germany, famous for its small plates of German, French, and Italian cuisines. Years of experience and endeavors have led him to our team here in Sonoma County.

Duskie Estes & John Stewart are the co-chefs + farmers behind Black Pig Meat Co. and Zazu Catering+Farm. They received the Rising Star Chef Awards for Sustainability and both their restaurant (lost in the Russian River floods of 2019) and their food truck (still truckin’!), The Black Piglet, received Slow Food Snail Awards.  ZAZU was named a TOP 10 best new restaurant and was listed for multiple years in the San Francisco Chronicle’s TOP 100 restaurants. It was included in the San Francisco Michelin Guide for over a decade and rated TOP 50 restaurants in the Bay Area by San Francisco Magazine.  On their farm, they raise rabbits, chickens, ducks, sheep, pigs, and goats.
This award-winning meat company specializes in ethically-raised pigs sourced directly from small farms and uses the entire animal ‘snout to tail.’ Their products include bacon, salumi, Rodeo Jacks (bacon caramel popcorn), Swine Sweets (chicharrón peanut butter cups), Piggy Pop (bacon toffee lollypop), Lard Lather soap and Lip Lardo lip balm.  Black Pig coppa and prosciutto won Good Food Awards in 2017 and 2019.  In 2011, Estes and Stewart were crowned King and Queen of Pork at the Grand Cochon at the Aspen Food & Wine. Their products can be found on blackpigmeatco.com  and in ethical grocers.
Duskie began cooking at the age of five in her EZ-Bake oven. She is a graduate of Brown University. Growing up in San Francisco, she fell in love with everything restaurant through her weekly Wednesday night dinners out with her father. Duskie is known for being a fierce competitor on Food Network’s The Next Iron Chef, seasons 3 & 5 and for judging on Guy’s Grocery Games. zazu kitchen + farm was also featured on Food Network’s Diners, Drive-Ins, & Dives. Duskie and John moved to Sonoma County from Seattle where Duskie’s was the chef of Palace Kitchen in Seattle, where she was voted City Search’s Seattle Best Chef in 2000. Under her leadership, Palace Kitchen was rated by Gourmet magazine as one of the top twenty restaurants in the country in 2000. She was coauthor on Tom Douglas’s Seattle Kitchen, which received the James Beard Award in 2001.
John Stewart is from Mt. Kisco, New York and grew up in the kitchen of his family’s four generation catering company, Thomas Fox and Sons, founded in 1919 by his great grandfather. He is a 1990 graduate of the University of Colorado at Boulder. John is an avid salumist studying at the University of Iowa Meat Lab.

Perry Hoffman’s culinary focus at SHED is built around the mission to showcase the links between responsible farming, ingredient-driven cooking, and flavorful food. In crafting his dishes and the SHED Pantry line of powders, salts, pickles and preserved fruits, he’s inspired by what is coming in from the fields and foraged nearby.
Hoffman’s mantra is, “The garden tells me what to cook.” Hoffman collaborates with the farmer at SHED’s own HomeFarm to grow unusual herbs and flowers, in addition to the heirloom fruit trees and vegetables.
A Napa Valley native, Perry Hoffman literally grew up in fine dining wine country kitchens with his grandparents, Sally and Don Schmitt, who were the original owners of The French Laundry in Yountville. He first became interested in cooking by helping his grandmother in the kitchen, assisting her with tasks such as making croutons, roasting bell peppers and chopping parsley. After his early culinary training around Napa Valley and Anderson Valley, he was courted by Chef Robert Curry at Auberge du Soleil in Rutherford in 2005. During his two years at Auberge, Hoffman helped the restaurant achieve its first Michelin star rating. Hoffman had a celebrated eight-year run as the Chef of étoile Restaurant at Domaine Chandon (closed in 2015) in Yountville, CA. During his time there Hoffman developed the culinary garden to bring estate grown heirloom produce and herbs to the plate. In his tenure, étoile had a Michelin one-star rating for three years.
Hoffman lives with his wife in Healdsburg, Calif. Combining his passion for food with his love of the outdoors, when he is away from the kitchen he enjoys fishing, farming, cheese and wine.

John Toulze is a native of Northern California from a third generation French family. Cooking was, and continues to be, a strong passion in his family life. John started his career in hospitality at Viansa Winery in Sonoma in 1994. After several years of cooking and wine sales, John left Viansa winery to help Sondra Bernstein open the girl & the fig restaurant in Glen Ellen. Twenty years later, John is not only the Executive Chef but also the Managing Partner.
The restaurants’ farm to table experience then grew from the herb gardens at the restaurant to working an organically farmed culinary garden also under John’s care. John believes his immersion in “the farm project,” as they call it, has taught him to be a better chef, giving him an intimate understanding of what seasonality really means. John discovered a passion for creating salumi. He mastered the artisanal art of curing meats and continues to teach our other chefs so they can keep up with the production. Under the brand MANO FORMATE, bacon, pancetta, prosciutto, guanciale, lonzo and salami are just a few products that we produce in-house. John received a Rising Star Chef award in June 2009.

Crista Luedtke is the chef and owner of boon eat + drink, El Barrio, BROT modern german, and proprietor of boon hotel + spa in Guerneville, CA. She learned the art of cooking through her incredibly talented mother and her skills in restaurant and hospitality management in her formative years. She is passionate about seasonal ingredients and uses her garden at boon to inspire her menu. After being crowned Triple G Grand Champion on Guy’s Grocery Games, she is sitting as a culinary judge and working on a new TV series.