DIANE BROWN After a 30 year corporate consulting career assisting financially stressed companies restructure their operations, Diane decided to pursue her long-held passion for all things culinary. In 2006 she completed the Professional Food and Wine Program at Denver's Cook Street School of Fine Cooking, which included study in France and Italy. In 2007 she launched Chef Diane's, a make-to-order bakery focusing on fresh natural ingredients combined with heirloom and classic recipes for cupcakes, cakes, artisan ice creams, classic and seasonally inspired desserts.
AMY HOYT began her culinary career working at Strings and Zenith. In 1991 she opened the delicious Bobby Dazzler Bakery. Named Best of Westword in 1993, 1994 and 1995, her bakery was famous for its breads, wedding cakes and sumptuous desserts. Many of her favorites are from old-fashioned Hoyt family recipes. Amy has taught dozens of popular classes at The Seasoned Chef over the last decade, and is especially fond of any classes that involve butter, cream, sugar and chocolate!
SHELLIE KARK, chef and culinary educator, Chef Shellie is passionately dedicated to instilling renewed joy and communion through cooking by bringing friends, families and loved ones back to the table. A graduate of the California Culinary Academy, Chef Kark has worked in a number of renowned restaurants including La Folie in San Francisco and Seattle’s Dahlia Lounge. She has an AOS degree from the California Culinary Academy, is a certified Chef of Wine Arts and certified Sommelier. Returning to her native Denver, Chef Kark established the Cook Street School of Fine Cooking where she was the Chef de Cuisine and taught the Professional Food & Wine Career Program. Chef Kark is the co-founder of the DVD-based KitchenCUE™; the future for in-home culinary education.
kitchencue.com
ANDREW LUBATTY, Executive Chef of the Avenue Grill, was born in Southampton, NY and began his culinary career at the age of thirteen working summers in local restaurants. After graduating from high school he attended music school at Berklee College of Music in Boston and continued dividing his time between music and cooking. At the age of 28 he decided to become a chef and enrolled at the Culinary Institute of America in New York. Upon graduation Andrew apprenticed at the four diamond Los Abrigados Resort in Sedona, Arizona. The Resort’s executive chef hired him to run in his new restaurant in Scottsdale.
Looking for new culinary challenges, Andrew took his first executive chef job for a corporate restaurant, Sfuzzi. His responsibilities included management consulting, menu development and opening new locations. Andrew moved to Denver in 1997 and took a position at the Avenue Grill where he is now Executive Chef. The San Francisco style restaurant is the perfect backdrop for his style of New American cuisine with Asian and Italian accents.
He has appeared on local television spots as well as teaching cooking classes. He is a Certified Executive Chef by the American Culinary Federation and has received numerous awards for his works at culinary competitions. avenuegrill.com
RICH MCGAUGHEY was introduced to cheese-making as a child by his family. He has developed his skills over the years and has become proficient in making soft and hard cheeses. Rich enjoys teaching these traditional methods to others who share his interest in artisanal cheese.
CADE NAGY, Executive
Chef and owner of Catering by Design, is a two-time silver medal
winner in the U.S. Chef's Open—the "Olympics" of Culinary Arts. He
acquired award-winning knowledge and experience through studies at the
American Culinary Federation, and honed his skills at the Ritz Carlton
and the renowned Van Gogh's in Atlanta. He is very proud to be actively
involved with the International Caterer’s Association (ICA), Colorado
Chefs Association (CCA), the American Culinary Federation (ACF). He has
been featured in the food sections of The Denver Post and the Rocky
Mountain News, and has been selected by his peers nationally to share
his knowledge and expertise by conducting seminars at the National
Catersource Convention in Las Vegas.
Cade's trademark is his creativity: "I never use a recipe". cateringBD.com
MARY NGUYEN, Owner and Executive Chef of Parallel Seventeen, began her career in the financial industry, but decided that food was more interesting than stocks and bonds. After operating her own catering company, she learned the ancient art of sushi at Hapa Sushi Grill & Sake Bar in Cherry Creek where she became Executive Chef. In 2005 she opened the immensely successful Parallel Seventeen (located at 17th and Franklin), a bistro and bar, serving small plates of modern Vietnamese cuisine. parallelseventeen.com
ELIZABETH PERREAULT graduated
from the University of Denver with a degree in Hotel and Restaurant
Management. She worked in the industry for 10 years as a line cook,
caterer, manager, and other positions, then took a break from the world
of food. After a stint in the Peace Corps and trying her hand in the
technical world, Elizabeth came back to her passion for food. She
graduated with honors from the Culinary School of the Rockies and
happily began baking in the industry and continuing to travel the
world, this time taking cooking classes as part of her travels.
Thailand, Italy, France and Morocco are the places she has traveled and
cooked in the most and are the cuisines she loves best. Elizabeth is
now co-owner of Rustica Baking in Boulder, Colorado..
CHERYL ROJIC jumped into the professional culinary world in 2000 when she started Stone Canyon Cuisine Personal Chef Service. She provides delicious, convenient, freezable meals for her clients customized specifically for their culinary and dietary needs. Her cooking focuses on incorporating, or avoiding, various ingredients for general health and support of certain health issues. She is also a demonstration chef for two high-end appliance distributors and a Reiki Master studying the effects of foods on the energy centers of the body.
CHARLOTTE SAENZ has taught Mexican cooking for nearly 30 years, using traditional family recipes. She wrote Bienvenidos! Mexican-American Cooking with Charlotte Saenz and has demonstrated her recipes on numerous TV shows including the Food Network’s Calling All Cooks. Her recipes have appeared in The Rocky Mountain News and Westword. She has taught her popular Mexican Cooking and Tamale Workshops at The Seasoned Chef since 2002.
DAN WITHERSPOON is one of the most popular instructors at The Seasoned Chef as he is dedicated to teaching enthusiastic home chefs the culinary skills and techniques that will “change their life in the kitchen”. For 28 years, Dan has worked as a professional chef and culinary instructor, working his way up from an apprenticeship under celebrated Belgian Chef Henri Bergmans, to executive chef positions in Southern California and the Denver area. His specialty is seasonal cooking: designing menus in harmony with the freshest foods available while keeping current trends in mind. He has extensive teaching experience and provides a variety of culinary experiences, including corporate team building, through his own business The Gourmet Spoon. thegourmetspoon.com