Chef d'Honneur Daniel Boulud Restaurant Daniel

As Chef-Owner of some of the country's finest restaurants, author of numerous cookbooks and creator of kitchenware and gourmet products, Daniel Boulud's beginnings on his family’s farm near Lyon may seem a distant past. Yet that past, rooted in the rhythms of the seasons, produce fresh from the fields and fine home cooking have paved the road to Boulud's becoming one of America's leading culinary authorities.

After his nomination as best cooking apprentice in France, Daniel went on to train under the renowned Chefs who would become his mentors: Roger Vergé, Georges Blanc and Michel Guérard. Now Boulud himself serves as a mentor to the talented young cooks he has been working with here in the United States for almost twenty-five years.

Before making his way to the U.S., Daniel spent two years in Copenhagen working as a Chef in some of the city’s finest kitchens. Eager to come to America, Boulud landed in Washington, DC as the private chef to The European Commission. Soon after, he moved to New York City, which he has called home ever since. During his first years in New York, Daniel opened the Polo Lounge at The Westbury Hotel and later Le Régence at the Hotel Plaza Athenée. From 1986 to 1992, Daniel was Executive Chef at Le Cirque. During his tenure there, the restaurant was regularly one of the most highly rated in the country. In 1992, Daniel earned the James Beard award for “Best Chef of New York City.”

1993 was an important turning point for Boulud, the year in which he opened his much-heralded restaurant DANIEL on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. Here, the foundation on which he has built his career, his inspiration has been the seasonal ingredients supplied by dedicated local purveyors. Not long after opening, DANIEL was rated “one of the ten best restaurants in the world” by the International Herald Tribune. Daniel himself was declared “Outstanding Chef of the Year” at the James Beard Awards in 1994. After five successful years, the chef-restaurateur relocated DANIEL restaurant to its Venetian renaissance inspired setting in the former Mayfair Hotel on Park Avenue and 65th Street. Since the restaurant’s re-opening, Daniel Boulud has been named “Chef of the Year” by Bon Appétit Magazine, and the restaurant has received Gourmet Magazine’s “Top Table” award, a coveted four star rating form The New York Times as well as Wine Spectator’s “Grand Award” and New York City’s top ratings for cuisine, service and decor in the Zagat Survey. In September 1998 Daniel Boulud opened Café Boulud, named for the gathering place his great grandparents tended on their farm outside Lyon at the turn of the century. The contemporary Café Boulud is a French- American restaurant with an international accent welcoming Manhattan’s café society to a spot with the cosmopolitan chic of a Parisian rendez-vous. The chef created his first restaurant outside of New York City when he launched another Café Boulud in 2003 at the legendary Brazilian Court Hotel in Palm Beach, Florida. DB Bistro Moderne, which Daniel opened in 2001, serves his interpretation of updated bistro cooking rooted in French tradition. DB Bistro, the most casual and fast-paced of Boulud's Manhattan restaurants, is in the City Club Hotel on West 44th Street, just steps from Times Square.

Most recently, Boulud created Daniel Boulud Brasserie. “The restaurant is reminiscent of beautiful places you've seen, but is like no place you've ever been,” explains Chef Daniel Boulud of his new restaurant at the Wynn Resort and Country Club. A splendid waterfront setting sets the tone, at times Alpine lakeside auberge and at others, Mediterranean seaside resort. The menu abounds with the kind of straightforward cooking that Boulud calls “French comfort food” adapted to this modern rendition of a bustling French brasserie to the Las Vegas Strip.

The chef’s as yet un-named causal wine bar and restaurant is due to open late in the Spring of 2007on Broadway at 64th Street, directly across from Manhattan’s Lincoln Center.

Daniel’s other endeavors include Feast & Fêtes Catering and his “Daniel Boulud CONNOISSEUR” line of Caspian caviar and smoked Scottish salmon offered via direct mail. Daniel was one of the founding partners of Payard Patisserie & Bistro and sold his interest in the business to François Payard in September 2000.

Daniel was named “Outstanding Restaurateur” in May 2006 by the James Beard Foundation. The creativity, energy and personal attention apparent in each of Daniel’s restaurants and gourmet products are surpassed only by his generosity and sense of community. The Chef has served on the board of Citymeals-on-Wheels since 1999, tirelessly hosting galas and raising funds and awareness to support their efforts to prepare and deliver nutritious meals to homebound elderly New Yorkers.

Régis Marcon Restaurant  Régis & Jacques Marcon

The Auberge des Cimes is dedicated to the culinary tradition often inspired by Margaridou (she was a cook from Auvergne in the beginning of the century). Régis Marcon loves her message of simplicity, her care for nature and her attachment to her country.

The specialities of the house are realised with the “produits du terroir” of Ardèche and Auvergne. The innovation and careful study that are features of Régis Marcon’s cuisine make him one of the best great chefs of tomorrow.

Michèle and Régis Marcon met in 1974 in La Louvesc a village nearby where Michèle’s parents were innkeepers and Régis was working as a trainee in another hotel. After serving in the Army , Régis married Michèle . They first shared a sporty life. For a winter season they ran a ski school in the Central Mountains “Le Puy de Dôme”. Régis worked as a ski instructor and Michèle was in charge of the school.

In 1979, they settled in Saint-Bonnet le Froid, in the family bar restaurant. Jacques, their first son was born in La Louvesc in 1978; Marie in 1979, in Saint-Bonnet le Froid. Then, Thomas in 1985, and in autumn 1995, Paul.

They have worked together to turn the Auberge des Cimes into a pleasant place to live in. Each one works in his own sphere: Régis in his kitchen with his eldest son Jacques who has come back home after a good training and experience in other famous restaurants. Michèle watches over the house, she has a particular concern for hospitality. She is also very interested in wines. In her cellar, the wines of la vallée du Rhône are especially highlighted (The Rhône valley being close to the Central Mountains).

Restaurant Restaurant Régis & Jacques Marcon has won wide acclaim:

- 2 Macarons Michelin in 1989 and 1997.

- 3 Toques GaultMillau 19/20.

- 3 points Champérard

- 3 stars in Le Bottin Gourmand Guide

- Relais & Châteaux, Relais Gourmand in 1997

- 2 stars Michelin and Chef of the Year in 2000

- 3 stars Michelin in 2005

Quote from Regis Marcon on autumn:

“I like to think of autumn in terms of three characteristics: color : rust ; setting : the forest; a different way of life : calm and peaceful. The village has always been a place where nature lovers like to come; to relax, to gain energy. They can go rambling in spectacular scenery, discover animal and plant life. Its geographical situation is such that it always provides fresh air even throughout the hottest summer days.

Then comes September and autumn life is even quieter and the sun cooler. The forested slopes offer a stunning landscape with an assortment of colours from green to yellow and this quite rusty color that has inspired so many painters.

That’s when I decide to prepare my haversack and knife. I’m quite an addict to this activity: I need to walk through the forest every day to collect fungi of course but also wild berries such as the last blueberries and blackberries. We can make such delicious jellies.

So I slip between the beech trees, the oaks, the fir and pine trees and every year I find new species. My friend Gilles Liège who is a fungi specialist helps me to identify new ones. Every year I improve my knowledge in this domain but I am not a specialist, I’m just a kind of mushrooms hunter. I love collecting ceps, various “girolles,” egg-yolk yellow “chanterelles” lactarius…. I never hesitate to collect russulas such as xerompelina, mustelina, anisé and other less known kinds.

Just imagine how marvellous it is to discover three little ceps, hidden behind fern just lit by a ray of sun at daybreak. You are stunned and can’t help thinking that nature is so beautiful.

Then I remember Margaridou’s words. She used to say: “Cooking can’t be beautiful if it doesn’t bring you back to nature.” Autumn means two or three months of great activity behind the ovens. Game, apples, chestnuts, quince, grapes will add their flavour to mushrooms. For me it will be a favorable occasion to lead my guests into the discovery of nature and offer them a mushroom menu. The season will end with the grey “charbonniers” and the yellow “canaries” and finally, the famous Fungi Fair on the first Saturday of November. Then we might see the first snow -flakes announcing winter.”

Michael Mina Michael Mina Restaurants

Named Bon Appetit Chef of the Year 2005, San Francisco Magazine Chef of the Year 2005, as well as Restaurateur of the Year 2005 by the International Food and Beverage Forum, acclaimed chef Michael Mina continues to dazzle the culinary world with bold dining concepts throughout the country. Not only has he contributed to San Francisco's reputation as a world-class epicurean destination, Mina has also been an integral part of the making of the now-esteemed Las Vegas dining scene.

"I have been very fortunate to earn a living through my true passion," says Mina. "Over a decade in the kitchen has taught me so much about myself, my style and how to share this excitement with my guests. Each new project shows me that there is absolutely nothing I would rather do."

The opening of his eponymous restaurant, MICHAEL MINA, in July 2004, marked the newest phase and ultimate expression in the career of the James Beard Award-winning chef. The restaurant is located in the legendary Westin St. Francis on Union Square in San Francisco, the city where Mina first established his culinary reputation 12 years ago.

Born in Cairo, Egypt and raised in Ellensburg, Washington, Mina has had a love affair with the kitchen, creating memorable dining experiences for guests from a very early age. Mina's epicurean journey began in 1987 at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park. During those 18 months of formal schooling, he spent his weekends sharpening his natural talents with hands-on experience in Charlie Palmer's kitchen at Aureole in New York City.

Despite a demanding schedule, being in the kitchen simply remains a labor of love for the celebrated chef. "I started in the kitchen when I was very young," explains Mina, "and I am still as intrigued with the process as I was when I was a 15-year-old Garde Manger in a small French restaurant in my hometown."

At the start of his career, Mina was presented with an opportunity of a lifetime with then Executive Chef of the Bel Air Hotel in Los Angeles, George Morrone. The two were asked to develop a concept and create a menu for an upscale seafood restaurant in San Francisco – the city Mina had dreamed of calling home one day.

Welcomed to San Francisco by a major earthquake on his second day in the city, the unfazed Mina went to work, under the direction of George Morrone, and dedicated himself to creating a complete dining experience training the entire kitchen staff personally and refining the menu as the chef de cuisine. Aqua opened to rave reviews and national acclaim in 1991. Mina served as Aqua's executive chef from 1993 to 2002, where he was awarded Rising Star Chef of the Year in 1997 and Best California Chef in 2002 by the James Beard Foundation.

At 38, Mina is an accomplished chef who has been involved in numerous creative enterprises. He conceptualized, built and opened CHARLES NOB HILL in San Francisco, earning it three-and-a-half stars, the three-star Pisces in Burlingame, and AQUA BELLAGIO in Las Vegas (now MICHAEL MINA Bellagio), a Mobile four-star winner. In 2001, Mina opened NOBHILL at MGM Grand in Las Vegas and AQUA at the St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort and Spa in Dana Point, CA.

In 2002, Mina's culinary and business vision led to the founding of his own company, Mina Group, with partner Andre Agassi. Under the auspices of Mina Group, he has opened five concept restaurants: MICHAEL MINA in San Francisco, ARCADIA in San Jose, STONEHILL TAVERN in Dana Point, SEABLUE at MGM Grand in Las Vegas and SEABLUE in Atlantic City as well as STRIPSTEAK at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. Mina also remains Managing Chef of MICHAEL MINA Bellagio (formerly Aqua Bellagio) and NOBHILL at MGM Grand, both in Las Vegas and plans are underway for a new concept, NEMI, at Las Alcobas in Mexico City in 2007.

Mina has been featured in such national media as Bon Appetit, Food & Wine, Gourmet, Food Arts, Cigar Aficionado, Newsweek, TIME, Robb Report, Travel & Leisure, Wine Spectator, as well as the Food Network's "After Midnight," Fine Living Network's "Opening Soon," Pat O'Brien's "The Insider" and Fox's syndicated "Good Day Live." He has been a featured guest chef at the James Beard House numerous times, cooked for First Lady Laura Bush, and has been a guest speaker at C.I.A. in Hyde Park and at other culinary institutes in California.

Traci des JardinsJardinière

Raised on a farm in California's San Joaquin Valley, Traci Des Jardins developed a deep love for the earth and it's bounty. The Des Jardins dinner table featured produce from the garden and game from the land in dishes reflecting her heritage - Mexican on her mother's side, Lousianian-French Acadian on her father's. Traci began baking with her mother at age six. While she was a student in veterinary studies at the University of California, she realized her true calling was the kitchen. She left Santa Cruz to follow her heart.

Though she never had a job in a restaurant before, through sheer determination she convinced Joachim Splichal, then at 7th Street Bistro in Los Angeles, to hire her. Within two weeks she was running a station in the kitchen. Says Des Jardins, "I was lucky enough to start with one of the best chefs in the country. He had an uncompromised discipline and standard of excellence and for me there was no turning back." With Splichal's encouragement and recommendations she apprenticed in Europe with many of the French greats, including Michel and Pierre Troisgros, Lucas Carton, Alain Ducasse and Alain Passard.

Back in the States, Des Jardins worked at Montrachet in Manhattan before returning to California as opening chef de cuisine of Splichal's Patina. She moved to San Francisco, where she had always wanted to live, and opened Aqua with George Morrone and Elka Gilmore. In 1997, she opened her own restaurant, Jardiniere.

Now one of the most acclaimed and respected chefs in the country, Des Jardins has been honored with numerous awards. She was a James Beard Foundation "Rising Star Chef of the Year", one of Food & Wine Magazine's "Best New Chefs", San Francisco Magazine's" Chef of the Year", and was listed as one of the top three chefs in the Bay Area by the San Francisco Chronicle each year since opening.