Taro Arai, Master Chef, Mikuni Japanese Restaurant & Sushi Bar
Kotaro Arai – “Taro” to those who know and love him – is the Master Chef at Mikuni Restaurant & Sushi Bar. With locations flourishing throughout Northern California and a recent expansion into the Denver area, Taro is setting a fast pace in the world of sushi. He has a natural instinct for creating gastronomical delights that range from traditional Japanese-style sushi to variations designed to please the American palate.

Peter Brinckerhoff, Gar Woods Grill & Pier
Peter Brinckerhoff is the executive chef for all three of Tom Turner’s restaurants and currently is training a team of young chefs to have the same passion for food that he possesses.

Jack Connell, Chef de Cuisine,Twenty-Two Bistro
Jack Connell began his culinary journey as a prep cook working at the beach for a summer job in college. After graduating, he worked his way up the culinary ladder and eventually wandered to Lake Tahoe to ski for the winter. He quickly fell in love with the mountains and stayed working at Plumpjack Cafe for three years eventually earning the title Sous Chef. After training at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, and work at the Merion Cricket Club in Haverford, Pennsylvania, a phone call from restaurateur Ray Villaman encouraged Jack to come back to Lake Tahoe and help open Twenty-Two Bistro in Squaw Valley. He currently resides in Olympic Valley in the role of Chef de Cuisine at Twenty-Two.

Elsa Corrigan, Chef, Owner, Mamasake
Elsa Corrigan grew up in the Bay Area and skied in Tahoe since age 6. Passionate about the outdoors, travel and food she has lived in the Tahoe area for twenty years. Graduate of the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco, she has experience in restaurants in San Francisco, Napa Valley, London and Tahoe. Her present restaurant, Mamasake in the Village at Squaw Valley, highlights her eclectic combination of experience with Italian, Mexican, and Japanese foods.

Douglas Dale, Chef, Owner, Wolfdale’s
Douglas Dale is the Chef and Owner of Wolfdale’s where the blend of the West and the Far East flavors create “Cuisine Unique.” In 1975 Douglas studied cooking under Chef Hideko Matsuura-san of Mineji. He graduated from Antioch University in Ohio in 1976, and in 1977 apprenticed under Chef Hiroshi Hayashi of the Seventh Inn, in Boston. Douglas first opened Wolfdale’s in Homewood, California in 1978 with his brother, sister, and her husband. In the fall of 1986 the restaurant, now owned by Douglas and his wife Kathleen, relocated to its current site in Tahoe City’s oldest and most historic building.

Mark Estee, Executive Chef, Owner, Moody’s Bistro & Lounge and Baxter’s Bistro & Lounge
Mark Estee is the Executive Chef at Moody’s Bistro where diners can expect the unexpected, a new twist on an old favorite or a surprising burst of flavors. Mark began his culinary career at the prestigious Johnson and Wales University in Providence, RI. His culinary credo is “fresh, simple, local, and seasonal.” Consequently, Mark has cultivated relationships with nearby farmers to ensure his kitchen always features the freshest seasonal produce available, planning his nightly menu based on items that may have only that morning been growing in a field or green house.

Ron Florian, Owner, Florian’s Fine Wines & Specialty Foods
Florian’s has been a staple in the Truckee community since 1999 and specializes in fine wines, specialty foods and gourmet gift baskets, highlighting the best and most popular varietal wines from California, Europe, and Australia, dessert and specialty wines, and the most popular micro-brews.

Guy Frennete, Chef de Cuisine, Moody’s Bistro & Lounge
Guy began his career in Maine, where he began working at a Mexican restaurant to earn money for a new car. Ultimately, he moved to the West Coast and became a line cook at Aquerello in San Francisco, where he developed a passion for designing menus and dishes. He left Aquerallo to become a chef at Oliveto in 2000. An avid skier, Frenette wanted to move to Truckee to enjoy the outdoor lifestyle. After he met Moody’s co-owner and Executive Chef Mark Estee at an Iowa appreciation dinner for pork farmers, he jumped at the chance to move to the mountains.

Jason Friendy, Executive Chef, Resort at Squaw Creek
Chef Jason brings a distinguished background in the culinary arts to Resort at Squaw Creek. Born in a small ski resort town in Pennsylvania’s Poconos, Chef Jason was raised in a Hungarian and Italian family where food was an integral part of everyday life. A graduate of Johnson & Wales University with a degree in Food Service Management, Chef Jason has work for numerous top tier resorts and restaurants. His current focus is crafting dishes at the forefront of current culinary trends using local organic farms and seafood sourced from sustainable fisheries.

Lee Kresy, Head Chef, Sunnyside Resort
Chef Lee Kresy is the chef/partner at Sunnyside Restaurant and Lodge. Lee grew up in the bay area and started working in the restaurant business at the age of 17, and was managing kitchens at 18. Lee moved to Lake Tahoe in 1981 and has worked for Sunnyside Resort, Squaw Valley, Jake’s on the Lake, and now Sunnyside. Lee’s passion has always been about food and is always looking for new creative ways to prepare and present his culinary arts using as much sustainable and organic foods as possible.

David Lutz, Chef, Owner, Evergreen
David Lutz opened his own restaurant, Evergreen in June, 2008 in Tahoe City. After four years with the Tahoe Mountain Club, the last three as Executive Chef, David is ready to open his own doors featuring seasonal American cuisine with a focus on local, sustainable products at lunch and dinner. David relocated to Tahoe with his family in 2003, joining the Wild Goose team the following year. That led to participation in many of the local chef events, winning double gold medals at the 2006 Autumn Food and Wine festival.

Billy McCullough, Chef, Owner, Dragonfly
Chef Billy McCullough is the chef/owner of a Dragonfly Restaurant and Sushi Bar in Truckee and the chef/partner at the newly opened Twenty-Two Bistro in Squaw Valley. He is the founder of the Best of Tahoe Chefs Dinner, which has raised money for local cancer causes for the last ten years. A graduate of The Western Culinary Institute, Billy gained his chops training under two of the areas top chefs- Douglas Dale of Wolfdales and Jean Pierre Doignon of Le Bistro. At Dragonfly, his unique blend of Asian Flavors with local, sustainable products was called “the first true Cal-Asian Restaurant” by Mike Dunne of the Sacramento Bee and won “Restaurant of the Year” from the Sierra Sun. At Twenty Two Bistro, he has spread his culinary style into “comfort food with a global flare” and has continued his quest to support the Slow Food movement by using sustainable, seasonal products.

Sam Okamoto, Chef, Drunken Monkey
Sam Okamoto is a 27-year veteran of the food industry having worked as a restaurateur, columnist, author, cooking instructor, and nutrition expert. Okamoto was originally trained as a French chef before moving to Canada in 1969. After seeing firsthand that North American cuisine was lacking in nutrition, Okamoto began experimenting with new cooking techniques that put an emphasis on health. Okamoto’s father, a well known chef in Kokura, Kyushu Japan, passed on his knowledge of the art of sushi, which has become one of Okamoto’s specialties.

Matt Pierz, Chef, PIne Street Café
Matthew Pierz is a Culinary Institute of America graduate who came to Lake Tahoe in 1983 from Scottsdale, Ariz., with Trace, Inc. to open Stephen Restaurant in Incline Village. (now Big Water Grille). Although classically trained and well traveled, he defines his style as basic comfort food, very approachable. Nothing you can’t pronounce or find in the grocery store. His newest challenge has been to bring “real” food to Tahoe Forest Hospital patients, residents and employees.

Michael Plapp, Chef de Cuisine, Baxter’s Bistro & Lounge
Michael Plapp is the Chef de Cuisine at the new restaurant in Northstar Village, Baxter’s Bistro & Lounge where he plays a key role in furthering the restaurant’s commitment to fresh, seasonal and sustainable cuisine. Michael was opening chef at Six Peaks Grille and chef of Glissandi Restaurant at the Resort at Squaw Creek. He was also the chef/owner of Playa Vista Café in Kings Beach, twice winner of Tahoe World’s poll for Best North Shore Vegetarian Food.

David Smith, Executive Chef, Cottonwood Restaurant
David Smith has been Executive Chef at Cottonwood for twelve years. With a BA from Skidmore College in New York, David went on to study under a number of excellent chefs from New York to Alaska before taking the lead position at Cottonwood. He brings a creative zest to a menu that can only be described as eclectic, featuring the best local, organic produce and sustainable meats and fish available. Nothing is out of bounds, and patrons are likely to find nightly specials that demonstrate his creativity and thoughtful experimentation.

Mike Trombetta, Chef, Owner, Farm & Belly
Farm to Belly is a Personal Chef service locally owned and operated by Mike Trombetta. Mike, a graduate of New England Culinary Institute, has resided in North Lake Tahoe since 1999. Spending summers with his Grandparents in Providence, Rhode Island is where Mike’s love of food was born. Experiences that include picking lobsters straight from the docks, quahoging and fishing off his Uncle Vanni’s boat, catching fresh pasta as it flowed from the machines into his hands and savoring éclairs and cannoli from Conti’s Italian Bakery were all kindling for his future love.

Jay Veregge, Big Water Grille
Jay Veregge, Executive Chef, brings a wealth of experience to Lake Tahoe. He began in the mid ‘80s training as an apprentice to Pierre Gagnaire in France. Veregge calls his style “market basket cuisine.” “My signature is seasonal local and regional foods,” he says. “Our dishes are a surprise and each has a cutting edge, unique, enticing twist ... but approachable.”

Julia Walter, Executive Chef, River Ranch
Julia Walter is the Executive Chef of the River Ranch Lodge and Restaurant on the Truckee River in between Squaw Valley and Tahoe City where she has held this position since November of 2007. Julia’s culinary background began at Johnson and Wales in Charleston, South Carolina, one of the nations’ top culinary schools, where she graduated with high honors. She worked as the Executive Chef at the Mustard Seed, a well known restaurant in South Carolina specializing in fresh organic produce with focus on seafood and vegetarian delights.

Scott Yorkey, Head Chef, Jake’s on the Lake
Scott Yorkey is the Executive Chef at Jake’s on the Lake, featuring Californian Cuisine with infused flavors, innovative ingredients and exciting presentations. Scott has been in the industry for 15 years, working in the kitchen as soon as he was able at age 14. He graduated from the Hotel-Restaurant Culinary Program at Santa Barbara Community College in 1999. In 2005, Scott was awarded two gold medals and one silver medal at Lake Tahoe’s 2005 Autumn Food and Wine Festival.