Get to know some of the celebrated chefs who will be taking the stage at Cornerstone Sonoma for Celebration Weekend 2016
Chef Ludo Lefebvre celebrates 20 years of cooking in Los Angeles this year. He’s one of the city’s most influential chefs, known for his inventive, refined cooking at Trois Mec, twice named the No. 1 restaurant in LA by LA Weekly. His "bar a la carte" concept, Petit Trois, was a 2015 James Beard finalist for Best New Restaurant. Trois Familia, his brunch-only restaurant, has topped many best new restaurant lists since opening last year. And his fried-chicken truck-food phenomenon, LudoBird, now has premium locations at the STAPLES Center and within Universal CityWalk, in Hollywood.
In December 2015, Ludo received the prestigious Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres award from his home country of France.
Ludo is the author of two cookbooks, LudoBites, Recipes and Stories from the Pop-Up Restaurants of Ludo Lefebvre and Crave, A Feast of the Five Senses, which sold out and has been re-released as a 10th anniversary limited edition.
Ayesha Curry is a Canadian-born, Charlotte, North Carolina-raised 27-year-old wife and mom currently living in the Bay Area. A mom to two daughters, Riley and Ryan, and wife to NBA MVP and superstar Stephen Curry, Ayesha has been a contributor for the Rachael Ray Show and Called Magazine, and featured in publications including Food and Wine Magazine, Time, InStyle, People, USA Today, POPSUGAR, Hello Beautiful, and Diablo Magazine. Ayesha is a recurring guest judge on Food Network’s Guy’s Grocery Games, and has her own series for Cooking Channel currently in development. Her first cookbook, The Seasoned Life, hits shelves September 20, 2016.
Chef Nyesha grew up in Southern California with a multicultural background that inspires her food today. Her earliest experiences and references date back to her childhood cooking with her grandmother learning traditional Korean cuisine. She would go on to follow her passion formally and graduated from the prestigious Culinary School at the Art Institute of California. Since then, she has traveled the globe cooking, crafting unique dining experiences, and working with renowned chefs and mentors including Josiah Citrin and Joel Robuchon. Some may recognize Arrington her from her television experience on Bravo’s television series Top Chef or Esquire’s Knife Fight, though she’s been critically acclaimed culinary talent by prominent food and lifestyle media over the last decade. She now helms the kitchen at LEONA restaurant in her home of Venice Beach, California, serving seasonally driven, ethically harvested and globally inspired Progressive Californian cuisine inspired by the mosaic of the Golden State.
Well known as the host of Food Network’s hit show “Healthy Appetite,” and now host of the upcoming Public Television cooking series “Ellie’s Real Good Food,” Ellie Krieger is a New York Times bestselling, James Beard Foundation and IACP award winning cookbook author. She is a weekly columnist for The Washington Post and has also been a columnist for Fine Cooking, Food Network magazines and USA Today.
Ellie is a registered dietitian nutritionist who earned her bachelors of science in clinical nutrition from Cornell and her master’s in nutrition education from Teacher’s College Columbia University. Her latest book is You Have it Made: Delicious, Healthy Do-Ahead Meals (Jan 2016).
Tanya Holland is a pioneer of the “new soul/southern” movement. Her resume includes a Grand Diplome from La Varenne Ecole de Cuisine, former host on The Food Network series, “Melting Pot”, author of “The Brown Sugar Kitchen Cookbook” and “New Soul Cooking”, and member of Les Dames d’Escoffier International. She is chef/owner of Brown Sugar Kitchen in Oakland, CA.