Ted Allen is the food and wine specialist on the Emmy Award-winning NBC/Bravo hit “Queer Eye,” where he helps guests and viewers sharpen their cooking and entertaining skills. He is also the host/narrator of a new wine show on PBS, “Uncorked: Wine Made Simple” and is author of “The Food You Want to Eat: 100 Smart, Simple Recipes” (Clarkson-Potter), a cookbook for beginners that features easy, all-natural recipes for everything from steak to cocktails. Ted also appears regularly as a judge on Food Network’s “Iron Chef America” and Bravo’s “Top Chef.”
Ted serves as Food and Wine Ambassador for the for Robert Mondavi Private Selection wines, offering his expertise on pairing wine with food. He also acts as an online guide for visitors to the Discover Wine with Robert Mondavi website (www.discover-wine.com) that’s packed with fun, accessible information on entertaining with wine. He shares his experience and advice about food, wine and entertaining in a role in which he has dubbed himself “The Website Concierge.”
Ted is originally from Columbus, Ohio. He holds an M.A. in Journalism from New York University, a certificate from the university’s Science and Environmental Reporting Program and a B.A. in psychology from Purdue University, which bestowed upon him a Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2004. Ted currently resides in New York City.
Joey Altman makes cooking look fun. Whether it’s his natural cooking flair, his easy-going, entertaining teaching style, or his good looks, watching Altman cook is almost as enjoyable as eating his food. This celebrated chef trained across the country and “across the pond” to develop his own unique, multicultural cooking style that has been described as “bold,” “colorful,” and “sophisticated yet whimsical.”
Altman returned to America to work at Harvest restaurant where he gained an appreciation of the exciting developments in American cooking that emphasized the freshest seasonal and regional ingredients in creative and exciting combinations.
He opened Miss Pearl’s Jam House in 1989, and his Caribbean- and African-inspired dishes catapulted Altman to the forefront. Its bright flavors and exciting and spicy combinations of exotic and colorful foods were wildly popular with diners and writers alike.
From 1999 to 2003 Joey Altman was executive chef owner of the innovative restaurant Wild Hare in Menlo Park, where he offered diners an evocative and inventive menu of a wide variety of meats, poultry, and seafood paired with seasonal and locally grown ingredients.
Altman developed an even larger following with his three-time James Beard Foundation award-winning food magazine television show, Bay Café, and his shows on Television Food Network.
From dishwashing in the canteens of his native Waterloo, Canada, to crafting elaborate desserts at Michael Mina’s eponymous restaurant in San Francisco, Bill Corbett is familiar with virtually every facet of his profession.
Acclaimed pastry chef, Lincoln Carson, turned Corbett on to pastry and gave him the technical foundation that allowed him to explore new terrain. Together, the two worked in the executive kitchens of B.R. Guest restaurants, managing the pastry production of seven properties.
Corbett learned specialized techniques and worked with uncommon ingredients. All would serve to prepare Corbett for the demands of his first executive pastry chef post at Donatella Arpaia and Michael Psilakis’ Dona restaurant and again as executive pastry chef at Arpaia and Psilakis’ Greek restaurant, Anthos.
When Michael Mina offered Corbett the executive pastry chef position at Michael Mina in San Francisco, Corbett readily accepted the opportunity to work once more with Lincoln Carson, now Corporate Pastry Chef for the Mina Group, and the man who initially introduced him to the art of pastry. Corbett has the challenge of continuing Mina’s unique concept of trios into the dessert course.
In his first six months on the West Coast Corbett has already collected accolades from the San Francisco Chronicle’s food critic, Michael Bauer.
Beverly Gannon is acclaimed for being one of the 12 original founders of the Hawaii Regional Cuisine movement.
As chef/owner of Celebration’s Catering and Joe’s restaurant in Wailea and Hali’imaile General Store in Upcountry, which celebrates its 20th anniversary in October, Bev creates stylish, down-home menus bursting with island-fresh ingredients and flavors that define her particular style.
Since 1999, Bev has also been fortunate enough to share her talent and cuisine with Hawaiian Airlines as their corporate chef. Since October 2003, Condé Nast Traveler magazine has named Hawaiian Airlines top domestic carrier in the United States for both food and cabin service three times.
She has numerous awards for her culinary accomplishments, including a nomination for Best Chef Award: Hawaii/Northwest Region by the James Beard Foundation. Among her many television appearances, Bev has appeared on NBC’s Today Show, CBS’s Early Show, the PBS series Hawaii Cooks with Roy Yamaguchi, and was honored as one of the Great Chefs of Hawaii, a series on the Discovery Channel.
This couple really cooks! Cheryl and Bill Jamison are among the nation’s most lauded writers, with four James Beard awards and numerous other honors to their credit. They’ve penned enough books on food and travel to endow a small library, all the while living out nearly everyone’s fantasies about travel and food. Their new book, Around the World in 80 Dinners: The Ultimate Culinary Adventure, is the latest example. The couple cashed in 440,000 frequent-flyer miles to spend three months traveling the globe in search of great food and adventure. They found it—from Singapore to Salvador, Brazil, from the South Pacific to the south of France—and are now ready to share the tale and some recipes from along the way.
Bill grew up in the Texas Hill Country, where barbecue is in the blood. It’s not surprising then, that the Jamisons were among the first authors to take the fun of barbecue and grilling seriously, and that they have been called “America’s Outdoor Cooking Experts” as well as “The First Couple of Outdoor Cooking.”
Cheryl and Bill teach cooking classes regularly. They live in a renovated adobe barn near Santa Fe, New Mexico, and their favorite pastime is cooking with their grandchildren. Find out more about Cheryl and Bill at their website, www.cookingwiththejamisons.com. The Sunset Grill book is available at sunsetbooks.com.
Alicia Jenish’s culinary career started at an early age when she was recruited to cook for her church’s dinner theater productions. In high school, she interned with Janos Wilder at his popular Southwestern restaurant Janos. After graduating at the top of her class from the Culinary Institute of America, she began her career in San Francisco at Bizou with Loretta Keller. As a butcher at Berkeley’s Café Rouge she was able to pursue her passion for Charcuterie. She was the Chef de Cuisine at Le Petit Robert for many years. There she created seasonal French menus that highlighted her understanding of local products. She joined the Out the Door (sister restaurant, The Slanted Door) team in May 2007.
Joseph Keller found his passion for cooking at age 10, began working in kitchens of restaurants at age 14, and at age 16, trained under Gustanzo Pucillo, owner of the highly acclaimed Petite Marmite Restaurant in Palm Beach, Florida.
Keller completed his “estagiere” internships under Roger Verge at Les Moulin de Mougins and Bernard Loiseau at La Côte d’Or in Saulieu, France. After holding consulting and private chef positions around the world, Keller became the executive chef and partner of the acclaimed Woodbox Inn in Nantucket, Massachusetts, in 1988. Keller also opened other notable restaurants including the Summerhouse Restaurant in Saisconset, Massachusetts, and Grovery in Del Ray Beach, Florida.
It was his opening of Bouchon in 1998, an authentic French Bistro in Yountville, California, with his brother Thomas that truly thrust Keller into the limelight. Currently, Keller owns and operates Bistro Zinc, a unique eatery located within Monte Lago Village at Lake Las Vegas, that offers an eclectic menu with a contemporary interpretation of classic dishes, artfully prepared to highlight flavor and texture of fresh ingredients.
Chef Keller is a devout supporter of many local and national charities and sits on the Program Advisory Board of Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Amy Machnak is the Recipe Editor at Sunset, where she develops original
recipes, writes food stories, and tests recipes sent in by freelancers and
readers. Before joining the magazine last year, she cooked professionally at restaurants in Detroit, Chicago, LA, and eventually became executive pastry chef at Boulevard restaurant in San Francisco.
Jamie Purviance graduated from Stanford University and the Culinary Institute of America (with high honors) before launching his career as a food writer for magazines and newspapers such as Bon Appétit, Better Homes & Gardens, Coastal Living, Fine Cooking, Town & Country Travel, and the Los Angeles Times. He is the author of several best-selling cookbooks, including Weber’s Real Grilling and Weber’s Charcoal Grilling. By popular demand Purviance teaches at more than a dozen cooking schools across America, and he serves as a judge for major barbecue competitions, for example, the Jack Daniel’s World Championship Invitational and the Memphis in May Barbecue Cooking Contest. He also appears regularly on national television shows, including Today, The Early Show, Good Morning America, Fox & Friends, and The Oprah Winfrey Show—as well as PBS, CNN, the History Channel, and the Food Network.
Cal Stamenov has created an innovative culinary concept for Bernardus Lodge featuring California country cuisine in the main dining room, Marinus at Bernardus Lodge. Wickets, the bar and bistro, features bistro-style cuisine in a light and casual setting.
Upon graduating from the California Culinary Academy, Stamenov began his career in 1982 at New York’s famed Four Seasons restaurant. He is steeped in the European tradition of culinary artistry and has spent years in the most demanding kitchens of the world’s most renowned chefs.
Cal’s philosophy and style of cooking is built on three central pillars: the relationship between food and terroir; the superiority of handcrafted, artisanal products over mass-produced; and the common sense of glorifying food when its flavor is at its peak. The Central Coast provides him with access to an inspiring range of ingredients whose essence and flavor is appreciable in every bite. These ingredients come to him by way of the relationships he has forged with growers, fishermen, and foragers. He also has his own organic herb and vegetable gardens as well as vineyards at Bernardus Lodge. With a treasure trove of impeccable products, Stamenov is able to cook with the seasons and rarely has to look further than his own backyard for inspiration.
Margo True, the Food Editor at Sunset magazine, joined the company in January of 2006. As Food Editor, she works with her team of writer-cooks to develop accessible, reliably delicious recipes and stories that celebrate western ingredients, cooking styles, and the people and places that produce them.
Before coming to Sunset, she was the executive editor at Saveur magazine in New York and worked there for eight years, writing and editing stories about food and culture. From 1995 to 1999, she was an editor and writer for Gourmet. She has won several honors for her writing, including three James Beard food writing awards, and her pieces have been anthologized in the Best Food Writing series. She lives in Menlo Park, California.
Parke Ulrich attributes his life-long interest in cooking and food to his German heritage, large family, and mealtimes that were always social gatherings, inspirations that have brought him to the position of executive chef at one of San Francisco’s most desirable dining destinations. The Philadelphia native’s passion for excellence and dedicated advocacy of sustainably sourced seafood and fresh, local, organically grown produce are the guiding forces of Waterbar’s daily-changing menu.
Ulrich was introduced to the Bay Area’s focus on seasonal cooking and the bounty of fresh, local ingredients available in Northern California when he accepted a position at the Lark Creek Inn in Larkspur, California. Ulrich quickly rose through the ranks at Lark Creek Inn to the position of executive sous chef.
As the guiding force at Waterbar, Ulrich’s goal is to serve simple, delicious food that is unified and clear in its taste and presentation, and to create an atmosphere in which food is celebrated as a daily ritual. Ulrich sees his role as chef as encompassing the ongoing education of both staff and customers in the vital importance of sustainability, presenting a daily-changing menu of fresh, healthful, and environmentally friendly selections.
