Celebration Weekend 2014 Featured Presenters

With his gregarious personality Viviani is a recurring guest on television shows, such as Good Morning America, The Talk, Ellen Degeneres, Good Day LA, and the Hallmark Channel’s series Home & Family. But you can find him 24/7 on his own hit show, Chow Ciao! on Yahoo.com.

Offscreen, Viviani is whirlwind of activity. He’s a regular headliner at global food events and festivals. He sells a line of ceramics cookware at Bed, Bath & Beyond, and he proudly sponsors Bialetti Cookwear, Bertolli Olive Oil, and Yahoo.com. Viviani is the author of three successful cookbooks, including the New York Times bestseller Fabio’s Italian Kitchen; his latest effort, due out in late 2014, will showcase his passion for food made simple. Subscribe to the newsletter, Fabio’s Kitchen Academy, for more recipes, and follow his meteoric progress at fabioviviani.com and on facebook.

In 2005, he joined Myth restaurant group and launched its successor, Myth Café, two months later. A hot spot for foodies, Myth Café was named one of the top dining destinations for California cuisine by San Francisco magazine within three months of opening. Mission Beach Café was next, and then Scott started several successful solo ventures, including Ryan Scott 2 Go; a food truck named 3-Sum Eats, and Market & Rye restaurants.

In late 2007, Scott was cast on Bravo’s Top Chef. Since then, he has become a popular guest on daytime television programs such as The Rachel Ray Show, Fox & Friends, and the Today Show. In addition, he stars in his own show, Food Rush, which airs on Live Well Network; he hosts his own weekly radio show, “Cooking with Ryan Scott,” on KGO Radio, and he is the brand ambassador for Bon Appétit cookware on HSN. Ryan’s generosity extends to his charity, Harvest from the Heart, formed in 2009, which prepares meals for the less fortunate on Thanksgiving Day.

His recent books include Weber’s Way to Grill (a James Beard Award finalist), Weber’s Smoke, and Weber’s New Real Grilling™—all New York Times best sellers.

Saran has penned three cookbooks, the most recent of which, Masala Farm: Stories and Recipes from an Uncommon Life in the Country (Chronicle Books, 2011) with Charlie Burd and Raquel Pelzel, was a James Beard Award finalist in 2011. Saran’s recipes have been featured in Bon Appétit, Cooking Light, Food & Wine, Fine Cooking, Travel + Leisure, Condé Nast Traveler, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal, among others. He is also a contributor to Food Arts magazine. Saran has been a featured judge on Next Iron Chef and Iron Chef on the Food Network, and in spring 2011, Suvir was a breakout star on Bravo’s Top Chef Masters, cooking to raise money for the Agricultural Stewardship Association.

New York City foodies will recognize Saran as the Executive Chef/Owner at Dévi, the first Indian restaurant in the U.S. to earn a Michelin star. Under Saran’s leadership, Dévi’s authentic flavors of Indian home cooking consistently received popular and critical acclaim. The chef is now making the move to the West Coast to open a new restaurant concept around farm-to table dining in San Francisco. The Mid-Market location is set to open in Fall 2014.

When he is not on the road, Saran joins partner Charlie Burd in caring for American Masala Farm, a nineteenth-century farm set on sixty-eight acres in upstate New York. They are proud to share the results of their labors with local restaurants.

She currently owns and operates Fonuts, a new spin on the traditional coffee and doughnut shop. Her doughnuts are baked, not fried and she also offers a selection of gluten free and vegan products. This project stays true to her diverse and prestigious culinary pedigree, offering sweet and savory, from traditional to avant-garde. She has always had the entrepreneurial spirit, and knew early on she wanted to be her own boss. She opened her first restaurant early on, while living in Costa Rica. She ran it successfully for years until she decided to sell it to move back to the States and further her culinary career.

Upon her return to California she worked as Pastry Chef of SLS Hotel Beverly Hills, and the Patisserie at the Bazaar by Jose Andres. Here Lucas experimented with many different cooking techniques, from traditional to the very modern. While working at the Bazaar she received her first four star review. Later Lucas further refined her trademark style as the Executive Pastry Chef of Patina, Joachim Splichal’s fabled Michelin star restaurant that also received a Los Angeles Times four star review while Lucas was Pastry Chef.

In 2013 Waylynn took part in a reality television series on Bravo called Eat. Drink. Love. It showcased the lives of five successful business woman in Los Angeles all working and paving their way in the predominantly male run food industry.

She currently is working on expanding and growing her business, by adding new locations and stretching into other realms of the restaurant and food industry.

Johnson also enjoys cooking adventures in the kitchen and garden, and edits the magazine’s Peak Season and Sunset Kitchen columns. She has contributed to The Sunset Cookbook and The One-Block Feast. In between time at the magazine, she has worked as a freelance writer, editor, and recipe developer for magazines and cookbooks such as Safeway’s Every Season, Weber’s Charcoal Grilling, and Weber’s Way to Grill.

At home in Palo Alto she enjoys growing her own food and cooking with her husband and twin teenage boys.

Finnegan has worked for the San Mateo County Parks Department for seven years now and has been lucky enough to work in all of its parks. As Field Supervisor (Ranger III) in District IV, she has overseen San Pedro Valley, Fitzgerald Marine Reserve, Sanchez Adobe, Mirada East and West, Pillar Point Bluff and Marsh and Devil’s Slide, although she’s particularly fond of Fitzgerald Marine Reserve.

The first Tlingit native to be elected Mayor of Ketchikan Borough, Williams is also a critically acclaimed tour guide. His historical walking tour company, Where the Eagle Walks, has served Ketchikan tourists for 23 seasons. Married for 40 years, Williams has six children and three grandchildren. He is proud to share local Ketchikan and Saxman lore, and his love of Tlingit culture.

The writer gardens on an “inhospitable half-acre” in the foothills of Southern California, where temperatures range from below freezing to more than 100 degrees. Baldwin, who calls succulents “plants that drink responsibly,” observes that while gardens comprised primarily of succulents and drought-tolerant companion plants are beautiful to look at, they are also the top choice of forward-thinking designers and homeowners. “Besides,” she adds, “they’re a great option for lazy gardeners like me. If you live in coastal California from the Bay Area on south, succulents hands-down are the best-looking plants for the least amount of effort.”

Co has grown and hybridized Sarracenia for the past 10 years and in the process has amassed his own unique collection.

A lover of gardening since childhood, Co attributes his passion for plants to his green-thumb grandparents. The Pitcher Plant Project is his way of honoring their legacy. He currently resides in Pacifica with his wife Dahlia and their two boys, Josiah and Lucas.

Prinzing’s features on architecture and design appear regularly in the Home section of the Los Angeles Times. She also contributes to Sunset, Better Homes & Gardens, Garden Design, Organic Gardening, Horticulture, Fine Gardening, Cottages & Bungalows, Metropolitan Home, Landscape Architecture, Alaska Airlines Magazine, Old House Interiors, flower, Romantic Homes, and others. In 2014, Debra launched slowflowers.com, a free online database of florists, designers, studios, and farms that source American-grown flowers.

Gardeners interested in water conservation and green gardening should heed Stockwell’s passion for succulents. These plants are ideal for landscapes in many ways: they boast beautiful foliage, which comes in almost every color of the rainbow; they bloom almost constantly; and they are hardy and require very little in the way of water, nutrition, and care. Even so, people are timid in using them and Stockwell wants to encourage gardeners to just get out there and plant them.

For ideas and tips, readers are welcome to visit the three-acre growing grounds of his Castroville nursery, Succulent Gardens. “The candy shop,” as it is known to landscape architects and designers, is open to the public Monday through Saturday. Its demonstration gardens and emphasis on education will empower anyone to get started using these wonders of the plant world.

Sweet is the author of Refresh Your Garden Design with Color, Texture and Form (an Amazon Top 10 Garden Book 2013 selection) and coauthor of the national bestseller Garden Up! Smart Vertical Gardening for Small and Large Spaces. Landscaping fans will find more design gems in her “Harmony in the Garden” column in Horticulture magazine.

Teaching gardeners how to design like professionals is another of Sweet’s passions. She travels the country speaking at various garden clubs, botanical gardens, and master gardener events. Her talks and workshops focus on a variety of innovative, practical, and fun horticultural subjects.

A self-described home décor and garden enthusiast, Wicker is happiest when surrounded by beautiful fabrics and furnishings, abundant plants and flowers, and friends and family.

Today, Allen lives in the most beautiful place she has ever lived for the cheapest rent she has ever paid—sustainable living at long last! Living on 40 wonderful acres in the North Bay gives this avid vegetable gardener plenty of room to grow. She dedicates the rest of her time to a busy Astrology practice and to writing.

Griswold is lucky enough to live in sunny Sonoma County with his wife of 32 years, Janelle, and a Golden Labrador called Max. “Living tiny” has allowed Griswold and family to thrive within their means, to become debt free, and to travel internationally. It has also afforded him more time to pursue photography, most recently iPhoneography.

Harrington has published four books on color. She has appeared on Today, Good Morning America, City TV, HGTV, and Fox News. She has also been featured in The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Cosmopolitan, The New Yorker, O magazine, and many others. She’s a member of the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) and the Interior Designers of Canada (IDC). She also served on the executive board of directors of the Color Marketing Group (CMG), Fashion Group International (FGI), and Cosmetic Executive Women (CEW). Harrington’s undergraduate degree is in Interior Design. She holds an MBA from the Stern School of Business, New York University, and a PhD in Color Strategy.

After college, Ella Jenkins built her own house on wheels and she named it Little Yellow. As a musician, artist and occasional workshop leader, she prefers this kind of living. Now 25, she is a homeowner with a marvelous view, living less than a mile from her favorite beach. As luck would have it, she met her wonderful boyfriend three days after moving to the Bay Area, and they live together in 120 square feet with their rescue dog Lobster.

While Vina Lustado holds a professional degree from USC and has worked with notable architecture firms in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Chicago, she has always been drawn to social and environmental causes, such as Habitat for Humanity and her local Ojai Valley Green Coalition. During time spent on an international fellowship in Germany, Lustado began to see how sustainability is a mindset that pervades culture and lifestyle.

Upon returning home, she launched Sol Haus Design and dedicated herself to smaller-scale, ecologically sound projects that could make a positive difference. Lustado’s design approach is rooted in simplicity, affordability, and efficiency, and is manifest in her own recently completed Tiny House. At barely 140 square feet—complete with loft skylight and cozy fireplace—it is luxuriously small.

Born and educated in London, Linda O’Keeffe has had the kind of eclectic, art-centric, cosmopolitan career that many in fashion and design can only dream of. An early interest in journalistic photography brought her to New York City in 1973, and it and Berlin were her homes during whirlwind years spent acting, designing jewelry, cooking professionally, and writing and styling fashion magazine stories. After stints as a Sunday columnist for the New York Daily News magazine and a job profiling celebrities for London’s The Sunday Times Magazine, O’Keeffe streamlined her interests to concentrate on interior design and architecture. Work on Elle Décor and 16 years as the creative director at Metropolitan Home have made her an invaluable contributor to design competitions and discussion panels such as this year’s Architectural Digest show, as well as an informed speaker on many home-related subjects.

O’Keeffe’s oeuvre includes Expressive Modern; Brilliant; White In Design and Stripes: Between The Lines. She has two books due out this fall, one focused on designer Benjamin Noriega Ortiz (Monacelli Press) and one, based on 30 stylistically intimate interiors, called Heart And Home; Rooms That Tell Stories (Rizzoli International).

His latest venture is FATHOM, an advanced, technology-driven company with expertise in 3-D printing and additive manufacturing. FATHOM was recognized in 2013 as #369 on Inc. magazine’s 500|5000 list of fastest-growing companies in America, and as #39 on the San Francisco Business Times’ list of the “100 Fastest-Growing Private Companies in the Bay Area”.