Mark Estee Chef & Restaurateur With a larger-than-life personality, it’s only fitting that Mark Estee is celebrity chef to “The Biggest Little City in the World,” a James Beard Award semifinalist for Best Chef, as well as the newest Food Network star. A staple of the northern Nevada culinary scene, Mark is a pioneer in the local food movement. “Our job is to buy great products and not eff them…

6 Questions with Mark Estee What sparked your passion for thinking and cooking 'local'? My passion for the local food movement is something that I hang my hat on. But you know, I went to Chez Panisse with Alice Waters in Berkeley back in the late 1990s, and she asked me where I got my food from. And I was like, I don't know, the produce guy, the meat guy,…

Charles Bililies & Tony Cervone For Charles Bililies, founder and CEO, and Tony Cervone, chef and partner, at San Francisco’s Souvla, the best approach to life is to find what you love—and then just do it really, really well. For this dynamic duo, that’s souvlaki: grilled skewered meats roasted and dripping to perfection, and served with casually elegant California flair. What started as a passion project has turned into a brand…

6 Questions with Chris McDade & Natalie Grindstaff Chris, what gets you excited about visiting Portugal? For me the easy answer is tinned fish, and experiencing this long and rich tradition in person. But even more, it's the traveling itself. Traveling is such a great lens to experience culture, food, politics, and history. People build their lives around food, and we're going to be meeting local producers and eating incredibly…

Zach Pollack Chef Anyone who’s met Zach Pollack will tell you he’s obsessed with Italian tradition. And if you’ve eaten at one of his award-winning restaurants in Los Angeles, you know that with obsession comes perfection and a really delicious plate of pasta. That passion and expertise has earned him Los Angeles Magazine’s “Top 10 Best New Restaurants,” a spot on Forbes’ “30 Under 30,”  and a nomination for the James Beard Foundation’s “Rising…

Andrew Murray Winemaker The trip that changed everything for Andrew? Traveling through France’s Rhône Valley with his parents, and falling in love with winemaking as a teenager. He quickly left his UC Berkeley paleontology studies behind to pursue a degree in viticulture and enology from UC Davis’ renowned wine program. By his early twenties, he had founded his own eponymous winery in California’s Santa Ynez Valley, so similar to the…

6 Questions with Charles Bililies & Tony Cervone Souvla’s motto is 'Make it nice and be nice.' what's the backstory? CHARLES: We look to this phrase as a constant reference point. Coming out of Michelin three-star restaurants like I did, there was always this relentless pursuit of perfection, which is great in many ways but comes with a very heavy human toll. When we set out to create Souvla, we…

Lisa Donovan Chef, Author There are a few things we know for certain about Lisa Donovan: she’s a fierce advocate for women’s rights, she can wax poetic over the nuances of Mexican corn varietals, and she knows how to make a mean buttermilk chess pie. Lisa is one of the top pastry chefs in the South, kneading and baking the night’s best courses at some of Nashvilles hottest restaurants. Lisa…

6 Questions with Lisa Donovan How has your family background shaped your cooking? My mother's family is of Indigenous and Mexican descent, and a lot of my early writing was about rediscovering and honoring the women in my family. I think back on the simplicity of the kitchen I grew up in—always these pots of beans and very simple tortillas that my grandmother would make on the skillet. My father’s…

Argentina with John Manion November 6 – 12, 2023 If you have a taste for world-class wine, good food and vibrant culture, join us as we hike, dine and drink in the rich history and landscapes, from Mendoza to Uco Valley to Buenos Aires. Meet chefs and winemakers, and artists in their studios. You’re in the company of award-winning Chef John Manion, a master of South American cooking and owner…