Michael Cimarusti Chef Chef Michael Cimarusti has helped define the top echelon of seafood in Los Angeles—and the country. At his restaurant, Providence, his impeccably crafted, sustainably sourced dishes have earned national recognition and accolades. After several nominations, including one for Best New Restaurant for Providence in 2006, Michael won for Best Chef West. Providence racked up two Michelin stars, has been named Top 50 Restaurants in the US by Gourmet Magazine,…

6 Questions with Jamie Bissonnette How has travel influenced you professionally? The restaurant that I'm sitting at right now, Little Donkey, is my business partner and I’s restaurant that we opened up based on our travels. This restaurant has food from everywhere. We do Vietnamese food, we do Korean food, we do Middle Eastern food, we do American, Spanish, Japanese. It's all based on things that inspired us in our…

6 Questions with Shota Nakajima What does travel mean to you? Travel means experience and knowledge. I think going to different countries is very humbling. I grew up in Japan and I grew up in the United States. I grew up being confused about different cultures at times because, you know, they were two completely different common senses. As I grew up and traveled more to different countries, I saw…

6 Questions With Bonnie & Israel Morales Opening a Post-Soviet restaurant in the USA isn't exactly a certain hit. Why did you? Bonnie: To tell my family's story. And also to share the food with people who wouldn’t be exposed to it. And because we’re crazy.Israel: I would have led with "crazy." This food isn't only under-represented, but it’s misrepresented. And so part of why we wanted to open Kachka…

6 Questions with Jose Salazar What brought you to the culinary world? I started out as a bartender and server, right out of high school. It made sense for my lifestyle… Which was not being up early in the morning. It was fun. It was interactive. I didn't think of it as a career at the time, but it paid pretty well, was flexible, and, again, it was fun. By…

Bonnie & Israel Morales Chefs and Founders, Kachka Sometimes passion comes at odds with the best business sense. Or seems to. Bonnie and Israel found a way to combine what they felt they had to do – opening a restaurant based on homecooking of the former Soviet Union – even if it didn’t exactly seem like a surefire hit. Bonnie, who grew up eating her Belarusian parents’ cooking, noted, “We felt if…

Ray Garcia Chef Native Angeleno Ray Garcia is just your average law school-bound poli-sci and business economics UCLA grad who decided to become a chef instead. He paid his way through college working in restaurants and discovered a love for cooking even the siren song of the legal system couldn’t contend with. And it worked out. His first restaurant, Broken Spanish, racked up countless accolades by Esquire, USA Today, LA Weekly, Los Angeles Times and Los…

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…

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…