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Best of Tahoe Chefs dinner (May 18) benefits Tahoe Forest Cancer Center |
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Written by Submitted to the World
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Tuesday, 13 May 2008 |
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North Tahoe’s premier chefs are once again gearing up for the most popular food event of the year - the 9th annual Best of Tahoe Chefs. The Best of Tahoe Chefs Dinner will be held Sunday, May 18, 2008 at the Resort at Squaw Creek. This unique event brings together many of the top local chefs to help raise funds for the Tahoe Forest Cancer Center. During this annual gala, the Chefs pull out all the stops to create a delicious, one-of-a-kind menu found only at this event.
This year’s impressive line up includes chefs from Tahoe’s finest local restaurants including: Moody’s Bistro, Dragonfly, Resort at Squaw Creek, Jake’s on the Lake, Mamasaki and Pianeta, and more. The evening begins at 5pm with a cocktail reception, silent auction and live music; followed by the main event – dinner, which features a new “roving feast” format with multiple food stations.
 The meal is interactive with guests visiting chef stations for food, wine and conversation. This new setting also provides an ideal opportunity for guests to learn more first-hand about the various dinners up for auction by the participating restaurants. Each course will feature a unique wine pairing provided by Ron Florian of Florian’s Fine Wines located in Truckee.
Tickets are $125 per person and include wine, appetizers, a roving feast provided by 13 local Tahoe chefs, dessert, and live entertainment. Tickets are limited, so call now to reserve your spot. Portions of the ticket price may be tax deductible. Proceeds benefit Tahoe Forest Cancer Center. For more information or to purchase tickets, please call the Tahoe Forest Hospital Foundation, (530) 550-2300 or www.tfhd.com.
Best of Tahoe Chefs 2008 Chef Bios
 Wyatt Dufrense | Sous Chef | West Shore Café
Ben “Wyatt” Dufresne is the lead Sous Chef at the West Shore Café, a position he has held since the restaurant opened in June of 2006. Ben began his career in the culinary arts as a teenager working at a fish market in New York. Discovering his fascination in the natural sciences, he graduated from Bates College in Maine with a double degree in biology and environmental studies. After interning with an organic vegetable farm, Ben spent a year developing his cooking skills in Colorado. He found his niche when he moved to Lake Tahoe in 2002, becoming Sous Chef at the Plumpjack Cafe while still finding time to ski. His love for science and nature helps balance his cooking techniques between cutting edge styles to classic favorites with keen attention to local organic produce.
Bill Arnoff | Executive Chef | Pianeta Ristorante
Bill Arnoff is the Executive Chef at Pianeta, featuring Italian Mediterranean cuisine. Their food is bold, bright and rustic featuring fresh pasta made daily onsite. Situated in a circa 1890’s historic Truckee structure, Pianeta’s offers a warm, intimate atmosphere created by a split-level design with brick and stone walls and a dark wood interior and Italian frescoes. Bill began his culinary career at age 17 because of his love for food and the creativity it brings - and has been perfecting his craft ever since. Bill was an apprentice for three years under Michael Veron Protégé of Roger Verjes and spent one year working under Hubert Keller in addition to working in the kitchens of Chez Louis, Christopher’s Café Venezia and Michael Wilde’s Bay Wolf. In 2006, Pianeta won “Best Italian Restaurant” from the Sierra Sun and also received impressive four-and-a-half stars from the Reno Gazette-Journal.
 Jacques Cornelis | Executive Chef | Resort at Squaw Creek
Jacques Cornelis is the Executive Chef at the Resort at Squaw Creek which he joined in 2000, overseeing all food operations, including five restaurants. Jacques has 40 years experience in food preparation in the United States, France, and his native Belgium. He began his career serving a four-year apprenticeship at De Watermolen in Belgium, a one-star Michelin property. He subsequently worked in the finest restaurants in Brussels and France before coming to the United States after 14 years experience in Europe. Jacques became the Chef de Cuisine for Le Cordon Bleu in Dania, Florida before coming west to San Diego, where he stayed for 21 years with the same company overseeing the Food and Beverage Operations for three hotels. Jacques has served on the National Board of Directors of the American Institute of Wine and Food, while being the Chairman of the San Diego Chapter.
Elsa Corrigan | Executive Chef | Mamasake
Elsa Corrigan is the Executive Chef at Mamasake, specializing in Sushi, Sashimi and Cal-Asian tapas. Elsa graduated from the California Culinary Academy and has been a chef for 19 years. She has a passion for food and feeding people as well as a desire to travel and experience different foods of the world. Mamasake has received various awards including “Best Atmosphere” and “Best Tahoe Sushi” by the Sierra Sun/Tahoe World readers. In 2007 Elsa participated in The Sushi Masters competition in Sacramento with five other sushi chefs and received three bronze medal
 Douglas Dale | Chef and Owner | Wolfdale’s Cuisine Unique
Douglas Dale is the Chef and Owner of Wolfdale’s where the blend of the West and the Far East flavors create “Cuisine Unique”. In 1975 Douglas studied cooking under Chef Hideko Matsuura-san of Mineji. He graduated from Antioch University in Ohio in 1976, and in 1977 apprenticed under Chef Hiroshi Hayashi of the Seventh Inn, in Boston. Douglas first opened Wolfdale’s in Homewood, California in 1978 with his brother, sister, and her husband. In the fall of 1986 the restaurant, now owned by Douglas and his wife Kathleen, relocated to its current site in Tahoe City’s oldest and most historic building. On several occasions Wolfdale’s has received the highest rating of 3-starts from San Francisco Chronicle’s food critics as well as numerous other awards and praised reviews. On June 7, 2008 Douglas will be one of the featured chefs at the Napa Valley Wine Auction.
 Mark Estee | Executive Chef | Moody’s Bistro
Mark Estee is the Executive Chef at Moody’s Bistro where diners can expect the unexpected, a new twist on an old favorite or a surprising burst of flavors. Mark began his culinary career at the prestigious Johnson and Wales University in Providence, RI. His culinary credo is “fresh, simple, local, and seasonal.” Consequently, Mark has cultivated relationships with nearby farmers to ensure his kitchen always features the freshest seasonal produce available, planning his nightly menu based on items that may have only that morning been growing in a field or green house. Mark was the Executive Chef at Lahontan Golf Club and the Lone Eagle Grille and was Executive Sous Chef at the Hyatt Regency Resort and Casino. He has also worked briefly at Lespinasse in the St. Regis Hotel in both Washington D.C. and New York City, V at Orchard Park Hotel in San Francisco, Gary Danko in San Francisco, and Chez Panisse in Berkeley.
David Lutz | Executive Chef and Owner | Evergreen
David Lutz is excited and proud to be opening his own restaurant, Evergreen. He is expecting to open in June 2008 at the Cobblestone Center in Tahoe City. After four years with the Tahoe Mountain Club, the last three as Executive Chef, David is ready to open his own doors featuring seasonal American cuisine with a focus on local, sustainable products at lunch and dinner. A San Francisco Bay Area native, David began cooking in high school and fell in love with the business. Later, he attended the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York. He cooked at some of Chicago’s top restaurants before returning to the Bay Area. Career highlights of his time there are Postrio restaurant and the Lark Creek Inn. David relocated to Tahoe with his family in 2003, joining the Wild Goose team the following year. That led to participation in many of the local chef events, winning double gold medals at the 2006 Autumn Food and Wine festival. The opening of Evergreen will allow David to share his vision with everyone.
Billy McCullough | Executive Chef and Owner | Dragonfly
Billy McCullough is the Executive Chef and Owner at Dragonfly which features Cal-Asian cuisine, a confluence of fresh California products with the flavors of Asia. This year’s Action poll recognized Dragonfly as the Best Restaurant in Truckee and also home to the Best Server. Billy started his career by studying at the Western Culinary Institute in Portland Oregon. He is a local-bred chef who is also inspired by the skill and creativity of the area’s top local chefs. Billy assisted in opening Chamber’s Landing on Lake Tahoe and the old Backstage Bistro in Squaw Valley, has interned with Jean Pierre Boignon at Le Bistro and worked several years as Sous Chef for Wolfdale’s Cuisine Unique in Tahoe City.
Lew Orlady | Executive Chef | The Lodge at Tahoe Donner
Lewis Orlady is the Executive Chef at The Lodge at Tahoe Donner. A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America in New York, Lewis has worked in New York, San Francisco and Sacramento before relocating to Lake Tahoe. For eight years, Lewis worked to refine his own style of Seasonal American Bistro cuisine at the Executive Chef and Partner of Sunsets on the Lake.
Michael Plapp | Executive Chef | Balboa Café
Michael Plapp is the Executive Chef at Pacific Crest Grill and Bar of America in Truckee where he plays a key role in furthering the restaurant’s commitment to fresh, seasonal and sustainable cuisine. A seasoned traveler, Michael also adds a Mediterranean flair to specialty entrees on the menu. Michael graduated Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa from the University of California, Irvine with a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering. However, his passion for food and wine brought him to a career in restaurants. Michael began his culinary career in Southern California, gaining expertise at establishments such as Bistro 45, Patina, and Campanile as well as at Restaurant Daniel Boulud in New York. He continued to further develop his culinary style as chef from other local establishments including PlumpJack Café Squaw Valley and The Big Water Grille. Michael was opening chef at Six Peaks Grille and chef of Glissandi Restaurant at the Resort at Squaw Creek and was also the chef/owner of Playa Vista Café in Kings Beach, twice winner of Tahoe World’s poll for Best North Shore Vegetarian Food. Prior to joining Pacific Crest, Michael was the Executive Chef at Balboa Café in Squaw Valley.
 Charlie Soule | Executive Chef and Owner | The Soule Domain
Charlie Soule is the Executive Chef and Owner of The Soule Domain, which he opened in 1985 at age 26. The restaurant specializes in Creative American cuisine using fresh, healthy ingredients with an unpretentious preparation and was recently voted the “Best Place to Take a Date.” Charlie grew up in Kings Beach and graduated from NTHS in 1976. He was inspired to pursue the culinary arts since it complemented the Tahoe lifestyle of winter and summer sports. Charlie worked at the Hyatt Lake Tahoe as a line-cook at the Pines and at Hugos. He also worked for Debbie Macrorie at Christy Hill in Squaw Valley, first as a breakfast cook, then dinner prep. Passion, hard work, persistence, and daily improvement are mottos Charlie lives by.
Julia Walters | Executive Chef | River Ranch Lodge
Julia Walter is the Executive Chef of the River Ranch Lodge and Restaurant on the Truckee River in between Squaw Valley and Tahoe City where she has held this position since November of 2007. Julia’s culinary background began at Johnson and Wales in Charleston, South Carolina, one of the nations’ top culinary schools, where she graduated with high honors. She worked as the Executive Chef at the Mustard Seed, a well known restaurant in South Carolina specializing in fresh organic produce with focus on seafood and vegetarian delights. Julia moved to the Truckee area in 2002 where she was hired as the Sous Chef and most recently the Chef de Cuisine of Moody’s Bistro and Lounge.
Scott Yorkey | Executive Chef | Jake’s on the Lake
Scott Yorkey is the Executive Chef at Jakes on the Lake, featuring Californian Cuisine with infused flavors, innovative ingredients and exciting presentations. Scott has been in the industry for 15 years, working in the kitchen as soon as he was able at age 14. He graduated from the Hotel-Restaurant Culinary Program at Santa Barbara Community College in 1999. In 2005, Scott was awarded two gold medals and one silver medal at Lake Tahoe’s 2005 Autumn Food and Wine Festival.
Ron Florian | Owner| Florian’s Fine Wines and Specialty Foods
Florian’s has been a staple in the Truckee community since 1999 and specializes in fine wines, specialty foods and gourmet gift baskets, highlighting the best and most popular varietal wines from California, Europe, and Australia, dessert and specialty wines, and the most popular micro-brews. Florian’s also features cheese, proscuitto, pate, bread, garlic specialties, and other delicacies from France, Switzerland, Italy and Germany.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 13 May 2008 )
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