Celebrity Chefs

Barbara Alexander, Napa Valley College
Bio Coming

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Michael Chiarello, Bottega, Yountville
Michael Chiarello is an award-winning chef, Emmy-winning Food Network host, tastemaker behind the NapaStyle retail company, highly rated vintner, and noted cookbook author. Throughout his career, Michael has combined his Southern Italian roots with Napa Valley living to pioneer culinary and lifestyle trends. Michael’s ongoing endeavors inspire friends and family to gather around the table and create meaningful traditions in their own lives.
 
Michael incorporates his personal passion for seasonal, sustainable living, into all that he does.  From the growers that he supports as chef and owner of Bottega Napa Valley and his product designs for NapaStyle, to his earth-friendly farming practices for his vineyards and their storylines for his Emmy-wining Food Network show, Michael shares his unique perspective on what comprises good food and healthy living in an old-world lifestyle.
 
Based in the Napa Valley, Michael lives amongst his vineyards with his wife, children and golden retriever.

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After a 14-year run, Ken sold La Toque to the Chateau Marmont Hotel next door and went to work with Issac Tigrett at the House of Blues.  He opened the New Orleans House of Blues before returning to Los Angeles to open the House of Blues Sunset Strip.  Ken was tasked with developing the Foundation Room, a private members only restaurant on the top floor.

In 1995, Ken was hired by the Lancaster Group to take over the kitchen in the Argyle Hotel and opened "fenix at the Argyle."  It is at fenix that Ken introduced the concept of wine pairing with his tasting menu, the "Menu Fantaisie."  The restaurant immediately received great reviews including Gourmet Magazine and the Mobil 4 Star Award.  It was named by John Mariani in Esquire Magazine as one of America's Best New Restaurants for 1995.  In 1998, The Argyle Hotel was sold and Ken decided to pursue his dream of moving to Napa Valley to open a new La Toque.

In September 1998 the second incarnation of La Toque opened in Rutherford at The Rancho Caymus Inn and immediately became a destination in Napa Valley.  This new La Toque was the subject of articles in a wide range of national publications; Gourmet Magazine, Travel and Leisure, W, Esquire, New York Times, LA Times, USA Today, Wine Enthusiast and more.  In March 2000, La Toque was named one of the 20 Best Restaurants in America by the Wine Spectator.  In 2007, The Michelin Guide published its first San Francisco Bay Area guide and La Toque was awarded a prestigious Michelin Star.  That same year, Ken was approached by the Westin to move La Toque to the new Westin Verasa in Napa.

After exactly ten years in Rutherford, in September 2008, La Toque moved to the town of Napa and the new Westin Verasa Hotel.  The newest La Toque with a spectacular show kitchen immediately received more great reviews in the press.  USA Today named the lamb dish as one of the years "ten best".  In October 2009, La Toque Napa earned its own Michelin Star.

He is married and lives in Napa with his wife Sherylle, three cats, an African Grey Parrot and a dozen egg laying hens.  Between them they have two grown children.

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Perry Hoffman, etoile at Domaine Chandon, Yountville
Born and raised in the Napa Valley, Perry literally grew up in fine dining kitchens.  His grandparents, Sally and Don Schmitt, were the original owners of the French Laundry, the Yountville restaurant made famous by its present owner Thomas Keller.  In the 1980s during his mother's waitress shifts, four-year-old Perry would help his grandmother make croutons, roast bell peppers and chop parsley.  This relationship was fortuitous in two respects; Sally got another pair of hands in the kitchen, but she also sparked Perry's passion for cooking which ultimately shaped his chosen career.

Perry started working as a Pantry Chef at a local neighborhood restaurant at age 15.  Three years later, he moved to Anderson Valley to work as a Sous Chef at the Boonville Hotel.  Perry says that this is where he really learned to cook.  Here Perry was taught to cook seasonally, sourcing most of the produce from the restaurant's half-acre vegetable garden.  Searching for a bigger challenge, Perry then became Sous Chef at the Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn.  During his tenure there, he was fortunate to spend time at the sister property at Mauna Lani, Hawaii, deftly stepping into any one of the five restaurants on the Fairmont Orchid property.  One night he'd be rolling sushi poolside and the next, expediting orders in the upscale restaurant.  Perry then settled back into his role in Sonoma until Chef Robert Curry of Auberge Du Soleil courted him in late 2005.  Four days later, he was Chef Curry's Sous Chef.  Perry spent two years under Curry's wing, helping the restaurant achieve its first Michelin star rating.  Like in his previous role, Perry traveled to a sister property, Palmetto Bluff in South Carolina.  This experience provided an unexpected challenge for Perry; the lack of fresh produce compared to the bounty of Northern California forced Perry to expand his creativity in cooking.

As is often expected of Napa natives, Perry's family makes their own wine.  Formative years were spent stomping grapes in the back of a pick-up truck after school.  His favorite varietal remains Pinot Noir for its food-friendly versatility.  The affinity for this grape is fitting; Domaine Chandon's largest red wine production is of this traditional Champagne variety and Perry expertly crafts dishes to complement both sparkling and still wines made from Pinot Noir.  Perry joined the culinary team at etoile at Domaine Chandon in July 2007.  He leads the multi-dimensional team that involves Winemakers, Sommeliers and Chefs working together to bring the food and wine experience to a world-class level.  Perry enjoys creating wine-inspired food, both with the convenient resource of etoile's extensive chef gardens located just steps from the kitchen door and his daily interaction with the winemakers.  This unique position helps him create fresh, seasonal dishes with the wines in mind.  And he's located less than a mile from where he first started "working" in another Yountville kitchen over 20 years ago.

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Laura Lee, Napa Valley College
Bio Coming

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Cindy Pawlcyn, Mustards Grill, Cindy's Backstreet Kitchen, Go Fish
Cindy Pawlcyn, a pioneer in the development of wine country cuisine, is the owner of three of Napa Valley’s beloved restaurants: the legendary Mustards Grill, the eclectic Cindy’s Backstreet Kitchen and her most recent creation, the West Coast seafood house Go Fish. Since Mustards opened in 1983, Pawlcyn has been involved in the creation of over a dozen new restaurants in the Bay Area including, Fog City Diner, Bix, Roti, Betelnut, Buckeye Roadhouse and Tra Vigne. Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Pawlcyn grew up in an accomplished culinary family where fresh, seasonal ingredients were an integral part of every meal and supper-time was always family-time. 
 
A pioneer in her field, Pawlcyn has a devoted local and national following and has been acknowledged by many top culinary organizations and magazines. An inductee of Who’s Who of Cooking in America, she has also been twice nominated for the James Beard Foundation award for Best Chef in California. She is the recipient of the Robert Mondavi Award for Culinary Excellence, in addition to the Fine Beverage and Food Federation’s Career Achievement Award.  Pawlcyn has appeared as both a judge and contestant on Bravo TV’s Top Chef and Top Chef Masters series.  She has authored four cookbooks: The James Beard Award-winning Mustards Grill Napa Valley Cookbook; Fog City Diner Cookbook; Big Small Plates, and her most recent, Cindy Pawlcyn’s Appetizers.

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Sally Schmitt, Philo Apple Farm, Anderson Valley
Salley Schmitt learned to cook at an early age.  Raised on a small farm near Sacramento, she spent summers canning and jamming with her mother to feed the family during the winter.  A good technical background came next, a BS from UC Davis in Home Economics.  Then years of practice.  In 1967 the family moved to Napa Valley to manage a large shopping complex.  There began her restaurant career, as chef and owner/manager of three different restaurants.  The third was the wonderful, small French Laundry in Yountville, which garnered for the Schmitts sixteen years of steady top rating.  In 1994 they sold the restaurant to Thomas Keller and "retired" to Anderson Valley and The Apple Farm to join daughter Karen and her family in their family enterprise.  

The move to The Apple Farm in Philo provided the perfect opportunity to build and develop another commercial kitchen.  The challenge was to create a beautiful and inspirational space that would be practical as a processing kitchen for farm produce, but would also serve as a teaching space and a large gathering space for family and friends.  The result was a farm kitchen in which Sally masterminded her weekend cooking classes and her midweek demonstration classes for 13 years.  She focused on teaching practical and delicious home cooking skills and inspiring them to get into the kitchen.  The addition of the cottages to the grounds in the year 2000 allowed guests to relax and enjoy full weekends of cooking and conversation.  As the years went by, Sally's daughter Karen became increasingly involved in the classes and was ready to take Sally's place when she retired in 2008.

Don and Sally now live full time in a small cottage in the community of Elk, just one half hour over the hill from the farm.  Their days revolve around reading, cooking, and gardening.  Phone calls from five children and 10 grandchildren inspire conversation about all sorts of matters, but answering their questions about her recipes and giving helpful cooking tips gives Sally her greatest satisfaction.

Sally Schmitt has previously taught classes for Napa Valley College Culinary Arts Program, Tante Marie's Cooking School in San Francisco, the Napa Valley Cooking Classes, Yountville's "A Class Act," and the San Francisco Ferry Plaza Farmer's Market.

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Wines served this evening from:
Cakebread Cellars
Corison
Gallica
Gargiulo Vineyards
Heitz Cellar
Lail Vineyards, J. Daniel cuvee
Napa Valley College Estate Wines
Narsai David Estates
Rombauer Vineyards
Shafer Vineyards
Spottswoode Estate Vineyard & Winery
Staglin Family Vineyard
TOR Wines
Trefethen Family Vineyards

Additionally, the Heitz family has graciously donated bottles of the 1980 "Bella Oaks" Cabernet, as well as the more current 2005 vintage for guests to enjoy this evening.