Traci Des Jardins Chef A two-time James Beard winner, Traci owns six different restaurants across California. Many of her eateries feature Mexican soul food including San Francisco’s Mijita (“little one”) taqueria as well as School Night, a Mexican-Peruvian inspired cocktail bar. Chef Traci relishes a good challenge, having competed in a variety of cooking competitions from Top Chef to beating the legendary Mario Batali on Iron Chef America. She’s also an avid philanthropist whose greatest source…

6 Questions with Diego & Rico What inspires you two the most? Our creative process works best when we find something that resonates. It’s like a key to a secret lock, and inside is a field of endless possibilities. Other times, we’ve had some really great ideas by simply misunderstanding a phrase or image. We never go back to reread it or understand it better, we just keep moving forward…

Joshua McFadden Chef You may know him as the head chef / owner of Ava Gene’s and Tusk in Portland (plus two new ones: Mexican-themed La Neta, and the mezcal rooftop bar Tope). Yet Joshua McFadden is so much more than just a chef. He’s a farmer, an author, and an artisan. He’s been awarded two stars from the New York Times for his work at Franny’s in Brooklyn; studied…

David Adelsheim Wine Pioneer Few people in the world know a bottle of Pinot noir as well as David Adelsheim. After meeting several of the first families to plant grapes in the late 1960s, David and his former wife Ginny purchased 19 acres in Yamhill County in 1971, becoming part of the ten families to make wine in the Willamette Valley before 1980. His French connection began by spending a…

Aaron Barnett Chef Canada born, LA-bred chef Aaron Barnett was on the path to becoming a veterinarian when he decided to bail and pursue his passion. From an early age, Aaron Barnett’s parents instilled in him a love of food. He was eating snails and dining on his mom’s home-made ceviche when other kids were munching PB & J. He attended culinary school in California before working in Vancouver, BC,…

6 Questions with Lacey Stone Who’s been the biggest influence/guiding force behind what you do? Being an athlete has had the biggest impact on my life. To be a great athlete, you have to be mentally tough no matter what comes your way. I’ve applied the skills of a master athlete to the way I lead my life and train my clients to succeed inside and outside the gym. Michael…

6 Questions with Kristofor Lofgren What is your vision with Bamboo Sushi? Our whole goal is to have as much of a conversation with people as possible. We have the burger for the carnivorous folks, the sushi in the middle to work on ocean conservation, and then we have a ton of vegetarians and vegans that come in. We have this bell curve, so everyone can be together talking, conversing…

Bonnie & Israel Are Simply the Best As we look back on an amazing week in the Republic of Georgia, we can't quite decide on just one “aha” moment. Was it meeting the local winemakers or hiking to a 14th-century monastery that seems to float above the snow-capped peaks of the Caucasuses? Or maybe it was the hands-on khachapuri bread making or the polyphonic vocal ensemble performed between courses? Of…

6 Questions with Traci Des Jardins How did life on a farm influence your approach to cooking? I think it's important that people have a connection to the life given for the steak that's on your plate. One of my favorite questions is, if you had to kill what you eat, what would you eat? Could you kill a cow? A pig? It's not easy and I don't think it…

Jonathan Zaragoza Chef If Jonathan Zaragoza knows how to do one thing, it’s cook. The Chicago-based executive chef of his family’s Birrieria Zargoza has been on a meteoric rise since he could hold a spatula or roast his own goat—which weren’t that far apart. At 22, he was listed on Zagat’s “30 Under 30,” at 23 he was executive chef at prestigious Logan Square restaurant Masa Azul. Then he rejoined…