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Ashley Christensen

Host Chef, Poole’s Diner

 

Raised in Greensboro, N.C., Ashley Christensen has always valued the combination of food and community.  These are reflected in her simple, off-the-cuff style cooking that prioritize locally grown produce and a respect for the people that create it.  In 2007, Ashley opened Poole’s Diner in downtown Raleigh.  The restaurant quickly gained national attention from Bon Appetit, Gourmet,  The New York Times, and Southern Living.  Ashley as been a guest chef at The James Beard house, Taste of the South, and was most recently featured on the Food Network’s “Iron Chef America.”  This fall, she opened three new restaurants in downtown Raleigh: Chuck’s, Beasley’s Chicken & Honey and Fox’s Liquor Bar, all reflecting her unique cooking style in a small, but flavor packed menu.  http://www.ac-restaurants.com/

 

 

Cynthia Wong

Executive Pastry Chef, Empire State South

 

A native of Mobile, Ala., Cynthia Wong gained her culinary experience at home and abroad, beginning in San Francisco, earning her culinary degree in France, working at a bakery in Barcelona, and returning home to the states to live and work in Atlanta.  She has worn many hats beyond that of a typical chef, writing for Atlanta’s Creative Loafing Cheap Eats column and serving as an assistant food stylist for Turner Broadcasting’s “Dinner and a Movie.” Cynthia has become a household name in Atlanta, working for restaurants such as Cakes & Ale, Via Elisa Fresh Pasta, and most recently Empire State South. https://twitter.com/#!/CynthiaWongster

 

 

John Fleer

Executive Chef, Canyon Ranch

 

Born and raised in the Blue Ridge Mountains of N.C., John Fleer’s creations strike an informal, nostalgic and often playful chord through the history of Southern Appalachia and the broader South. Following a notable stint as a private chef for celebrity icon, Mary Tyler Moore, John spent fourteen years as executive chef at Blackberry Farm in Walland, Tenn. John continued his culinary experience at Lonesome Valley’s Canyon Kitchen in western N.C. where his work earned him a nomination for the James Beard Award.  http://www.lonesomevalley.com/info.php?pnum=11

 

 

Adam Hayes

Executive Chef at Red Stag Grill

 

Executive Chef Adam Hayes leads the exemplary culinary team at the Red Stag Grill which features contemporary European comfort food, an extensive wine by the glass menu, and a lively bar scene in the heart of Biltmore Village.  Chef Hayes is known for integrating local ingredients and flavor into each creative dish. His featured items include skillet roasted mussels, beef goulash with spaetzle, grilled elk filet, and North Carolina smoked ruby trout dip. Chef Hayes comes to the Grand Bohemian Hotel most recently from his role as Chef de Cuisine at Print Works Bistro at the Proximity Hotel in Greensboro, NC. http://www.bohemianhotelasheville.com/dining/dining.asp       

 

 

Matt Kelly

Co-Owner, Vin Rouge

 

Starting from the sidelines as a part-time dish washer during college, Matt Kelly worked his way through the kitchen to take on the role of chef at Triangle-area restaurants such as Four Square, The Fearrington House, Fins and, most recently, Vin Rouge where he serves as co-owner of the celebrated French Bistro in Durham.  He studied at the Culinary Institute of America prior to his restaurant tour and spent two years touring Hudson Valley farms.  During his travels, he studied the synergy between chefs and farmers, living and learning at the Inn at Little Washington in Virginia and Goat Hill Farm, which serviced the Inn. He is most well known for his southern, seasonal influenced classic cuisine. http://www.vinrougerestaurant.com/about.html

 

 

Tandy Wilson

Owner, City House

 

During his first restaurant job at The Orangery while attending the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tandy Wilson moved quickly from the dish room to the kitchen, discovering his talent and love of cooking.  After graduating with a degree in hotel restaurant administration, he attended the Scottsdale Culinary Institute in Arizona. After a brief stint in Calif. and Italy, Tandy returned to his roots in Tenn. He worked at Margot Café and Bar in Nashville and soon opened his own restaurant, City House, in 2007.  He extends his passion for food beyond the kitchen by serving as a member of the Southern Foodways Alliance and getting involved in local and regional culinary activities. http://cityhousenashville.com/

 

 

Tyler Brown

Executive Chef, The Capitol Grille

 

Culinary talent runs in the Brown family. Tyler Brown was introduced to the culinary industry by his mother, an accomplished chef.  After graduating from Johnston & Wales University, Tyler spent time at Peninsula Grill in Charleston, S.C., The Fearrington House in Chapel Hill, N.C., and Southern Comforts BBQ & Soul in Charlotte, N.C.  Since 2003 he has served as executive chef at The Capitol Grille in Nashville.  Outside the kitchen, Tyler is a member of the Southern Foodways Alliance and is currently on the board of the Slow Food USA Nashville Chapter. http://www.capitolgrillenashville.com/chef.aspx

 

 

Vivian Howard

Owner, Chef & The Farmer

 

Born to tobacco and hog farming parents in Deep Run, N.C., Vivian Howard learned early on to appreciate the ebb and flow of eating with the seasons. Vivian began learning the trade by working as a server at Voyage in New York City,.  She then later on worked at WD-50 and Spice Market.  Returning home to her roots, Vivian and her husband opened a farm to fork restaurant in Kinston, N.C.  Established in 2006, Chef & The Farmer serves local and seasonal cuisine, with over 70 percent of the food sourced from within 60 miles. http://chefandthefarmer.com/about/chef-vivian-howard/

 

 

 

 

Jim Trappe Ph.D.

 

Jim encountered a wild truffle for the first time while conducting research on mycorrhizae for his Ph.D. thesis at the University of Washington in the late 1950’s. He became an instant truffle addict and has devoted much of his research to truffle ecology and taxonomy ever since. He spent a year on truffle studies in Italy while on sabbatical in 1967 and since has collected truffles on every continent except Africa and Antarctica. After his Ph.D., he worked as a forest mycologist for the U.S. Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station, first in eastern Oregon, then Portland, and finally at the Forestry Sciences Laboratory at Corvallis. After early retirement in 1986, Dr. Trappe was appointed Research Professor at Oregon State University, College of Forestry. He retired from that position in 1996, and since has been a consultant and free-lance researcher.

 

Since 1999, Jim has spent 4 to 5 months per year in Australia on truffle taxonomy and ecology research for the Australian government. He estimates Australia has the world’s greatest diversity of native truffles of all the continents, an estimated 1,500 to 2,000 species. He has authored or co-authored more than 450 scientific papers, three books, and with his students and colleagues has described and named a new order of truffles, two new families, 40 new genera, and 140 new species.

 

 

Ian Purkayastha - Director of Sales - PAQ New York

 

Ian Purkayastha is passionate about the aromatic intensity and earthy glamour truffles impart to food. What began as a hobby in his spare time, soon blossomed into a career.  A young entrepreneur, Ian started his own company at age fifteen, selling truffles to restaurants in a three state area.  He later connected with Emanuele Musini of PAQ Gubbio, which led to an opportunity to open PAQ New York.  Ian serves as PAQ New York’s Director of Sales, selling truffles and truffle products nation-wide to an array of chefs and distributors.

 

Ian goes to Italy in between the winter and summer truffle selling seasons to work at PAQ headquarters, meeting truffle hunters, acquainting himself with PAQ's packaged goods manufacturing facility, and studying Italian at the University of Perugia.

 

 

Tom Michaels Ph.D.

 

Dr. Tom Michaels has been involved with the science and art of growing mushrooms and truffles.  After graduation from the University of California, Berkeley, and a stint as an organic chemist with Shell Development Co., Michaels received his M.S. degree from the University of Nevada researching mushrooms.  At Oregon State University, his Ph.D. dissertation was on the cultivation of Perigord truffles, and having successfully inoculated the first truffle tree in America, he pioneered techniques that laid the groundwork for growing them beyond Europe.

 

Tom’s career included mushroom research and development for Dole Foods and Monterey Mushrooms, Inc.  But in 1999, he returned to truffle cultivation in earnest in the foothills of the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains of east Tenn..  He discovered both a near-perfect climate and soil to bring his lifelong dream to fruition.  Finally, science, intuition and years of caring all came together, and five years ago he produced his first commercial quantities of Perigord truffles ever grown in North America.  Perhaps even more important, their quality was declared “superb” by such leading chefs as Daniel Boulud, David 

Chang and John Fleer.

 

 

Shannon M. Berch PhD PAg
Research Scientist - BC Ministry of Environment

 

A research scientist studying soil conservation, mycorrhizas and commercially harvested mushrooms, Dr. Shannon Berch began her career in truffles and truffle research at the University of Waterloo in Ontario where she earned her bachelor’s of science and masters of science degree in Mycology. She then went on to obtain her Ph.D. in Mycology from Université Laval in Québec. As an extension of her research studies, Shannon participated in several fellowships, serving as a Postdoctoral Fellow for the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) at the USDA Forest Service Lab in Corvallis, Ore. from 1983-85 and a NSERC University Research Fellow in Soil Science at the University of British Columbia.

 

Shannon has co-authored six published works, serves as an adjunct professor with the University of British Columbia and with Royal Roads University, and is a consultant specializing in quality assurance of truffle-inoculated seedlings. In addition, she is a founding member of the Truffle Association of British Columbia.