Talent

Born in Wisconsin, Chef Alex Seidel began his culinary career as a dishwasher at 14 and after completing culinary school at Western Culinary Institute, he quickly progressed to becoming a sous-chef by age 20. He opened Fruition, a farm-to-table restaurant, in Denver in 2007. Now, Alex is chef-owner of five establishments: Fruition Restaurant, Fruition Farms Creamery, Mercantile Dining & Provision, Füdmill and Chook. He is also the proud grower on a 10-acre farm, purveying all the fruits and vegetables used in his establishments.

Alex was recognized as Food & Wine’s “Best New Chef” in 2010, he was a finalist for James Beard’s “Best Chef, Southwest,” and earned “Chef of the Year” titles from local media, including Denver Magazine and 5280. Alex cooked at the 20th Anniversary of “Dinners Across America” and was an opening chef of Aspen’s Chefs Club by Food & Wine.

Award-winning Chef Aron Schwartz’s culinary education started at a young age with frequent visits to Chino Farms with his Dad. The taste of the farm fresh produce and quality ingredients still resonates with him today. A graduate of The Culinary Institute of America, he ventured to Charlotte’s in Lakeville Connecticut. This experience enhanced what he already knew to source the best ingredients and let their flavors shine.

After, he worked as sous chef at Lutèce in The Venetian in Las Vega and executive chef at Bernard'O Restaurant, Marina Kitchen, Tequila Bar and the Exchange in San Diego, culminating in his own, Ranch 45 Local Provisions, alongside his wife and GM, Pam. At Ranch 45, Chef Aron features local, in-season products in his cuisine through relationships with like-minded ranchers, farmers, fishermen and wine growers, which brings his guests the best food in every category.

Born into a family of farmers, butchers, bakers and restaurateurs, Maître Cuisinier de France, Bernard Guillas was influenced at a young age by his daily exposure to food in Brittany. He got his start in the industry formally, with the legendary Georges Paineau at the 2 Star Michelin restaurant, Le Bretagne. Moving state side, he worked in several renowned restaurants before landing in San Diego as executive chef of the La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club Inc and the landmark AAA 4-diamond Marine Room restaurant. After 27 years at this role, Chef Bernard retired from La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club and is executive chef and owner of Chefluv Inc, a company creating a philosophy of couture modern cuisine rooted in gastronomic exploration.

In addition to being an author of two cookbooks, Chef Bernard has a roster of impressive credits that include appearances on The Today show, Martha Stewart Radio, James Beard House, Food Arts Magazine and the Discovery Channel’s Great Chefs of the World television series. Bernard was named Chef Magazine’s Chef of the Year and San Diego’s Best Chef numerous times and was been inducted into the Académie Culinaire de France and the Disciples of Escoffier International.

Cameron Baker was born in Exeter, New Hampshire, where he spent the first twelve years of his life. In 2002 he moved to Summit County. In 2006 at the age of 15 his culinary Journey began working at Food Hedz World Café under chef David Welch. After spending 6 years in David Welches kitchen, he left to continue his culinary education and started attending Colorado Mountain College studying culinary arts, and hospitality management under Kevin Clarke. 

After graduating in 2014, Cameron moved to Denver. He joined Alex Seidel and Matt Vawter’s team at Mercantile dining & provision. During the 3 ½ years at Mercantile Cameron refined his craft and worked his way up to Sous Chef. After departing Mercantile, Cameron moved to Fruition Restaurant as Sous Chef where he continued to learn and develop as a chef under the guidance of Alex Seidel. In November of 2020, Cameron returned back home to Summit county to help Matt Vawter open Rootstalk as the Chef De Cuisine.

Now Cameron is the Chef De Cuisine of both Rootstalk and Radicato as well as a partner in both businesses. Being a chef is challenging. It takes perseverance and determination. He believes it’s important to create an environment where everyone is passionate, excited, and constantly pushing forward to better their craft and provide a memorable dining experience for guests.

India and Bronx raised chef Cheetie Kumar is a self-taught chef and restaurateur in Raleigh. But it wasn’t cooking that brought her to her current home, but rather music. Chef Cheete’s first career was as a band manager and guitarist herself in the indie music scene. All the while, the flavors she was immersed in growing up and the love for dinner parties still lingered. In 2014, Chef Cheetie and her husband opened Garland, with a menu where flavors of South Asia intertwine with the bounty of local North Carolina agriculture. Garland ended daily service in 2022 and continues to appear at pop ups across North Carolina while Chef Cheetie works on her next project.

Chef Cheetie is a five-time James Beard Awards Semifinalist and was a Nominated Finalist for “Best Chef: Southeast” in 2020 and 2022. She is active in food advocacy and serves on the board of the Independent Restaurant Coalition, the Southern Foodways Alliance and several NC based organizations.

Barbecue is an unexpected second career for Jackson, a tall Texan with a wide-open smile that quickly leads to playful banter. Jackson’s short journey to celebrated pitmaster of the mountains had some surprising twists, including a decades-long stint at a car lot and the astonishing discovery of a fortune in cash hidden in a car trunk there. That treasure allowed him to move to Cloudcroft in 2015 and buy — mortgage-free — the 5,000-square-foot Mountaintop Mercantile that’s a prominent fixture in town.

When Jackson bought the vacant Mountaintop Mercantile, he turned the second-floor bakery into his living quarters. He furnished his new restaurant with mismatched dining tables and on opening day, gave away all the food as a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society. The secret was out: Some seriously fantastic Central-Texas-style smoked meats were now available under the Ponderosa pines of the Lincoln National Forest.

Chef Javier Plascencia is a down-to-earth, charismatic man, who is continuously in the search for flavor. Born in Tijuana, and brought up in a hardworking family, Javier has a natural curiosity for taste that has led him to take an adventurous journey, first into Baja, and then to the rest of the world to find unique ingredients. There are no limits to his culinary vision.

After studying in San Diego, he opened his first restaurant in Tijuana in 1989, and today he is one of the most prolific entrepreneurs of the region, with several establishments, all with innovative concepts.

Also known as an ambassador, Chef Plascencia represents Baja, California and is a fervent promoter of local products, from wine and beer to meat from organic farms and seafood.

As Pastry Chef at beast + bottle group, Jodi Polson’s seasonal desserts showcase local ingredients sourced from the restaurants’ trusted farmers and purveyors.

As a native of Michigan, Jodi grew up baking but thought of it more as a hobby rather than a career. After teaching at a private school for three years, she realized her passion was for the culinary industry and she enrolled in Johnson & Wales University in Denver, where she earned a B.S in pastry arts within a year. After graduation, Jodi worked at some of Denver’s most beloved bakeries, including Glaze, Devil’s Food, and Leaf & Crumb. The exposure to different styles of bakeries allowed Jodi to hone various techniques while developing her own culinary style and values.

Driven by nostalgia, Jodi loves reinventing sweets she enjoyed during her childhood, like butterscotch candies, and reimagining it as Butterscotch Pudding Pie, for the beast + bottle menu. At Coperta, Jodi’s menu will offer her riffs on traditional offerings, like Olive Oil Cake, Cannoli, Grispelle, a Southern Italian-style doughnut, and seasonal Gelato.

In addition to working with the fruits and vegetables sourced locally from the beast and Coperta’s trusted farmers, Jodi likes to cook with fresh herbs, such as mint, because of the compelling Rlavor and nuances they contribute to the dish: a variety of texture, color, and having an unexpected ingredient that yields a great element of whimsy and surprise are key ingredients to a balanced dessert.

A graduate of Johnson & Wales University, James Beard nominated Chef Lindsay Autry has held various chef positions at prominent restaurants on the East Coast and in Mexico and has worked alongside some of the best in the world. Currently, Chef Autry resides in West Palm Beach. She is the co-owner and founder of the culinary hot spot, THE REGIONAL, alongside partner and area restaurateur Thierry Beaud, and conceptor of Honeybelle at PGA National Resort.

As a native North Carolinian, Chef Autry describes her cuisine as soulful, embracing Mediterranean flavors with a blend of her southern roots. Her exceptional skills in the kitchen have earned her the reputation of one of America’s prominent chefs, making headlines as a finalist on Bravo’s ninth season of “Top Chef.” In 2020, Chef Autry received her third consecutive James Beard nomination for “Best Chef: South.” THE REGIONAL was named “#1 Best Restaurant in Palm Beach County in 2016” by The Palm Beach Post.

At just 26 years old, Chef Maggie DeMarco is the Chef de Cuisine of Telluride’s well-known fine dining French restaurant, La Marmotte, curating daily menu selections around fresh ingredients from a local farmer.  

Cooking became a huge part of her life from a young age and in a few short years, Chef Maggie amassed a culinary resume larger than some chefs twice her age. She has trained in Michelin-starred restaurants in the US and abroad, including Thomas Keller’s Bouchon Bistro in CA, La Cabra in Madrid, Spain, and Oasis Sapori Antichi in Italy. She has studied in the Puglia Culinary Center where she trained under an Italian Culinary Master Chef, a Top Chef Masters competitor, and James Beard Award-nominated Chef. 

Chef Maggie is excited to collaborate with the esteemed Chef Lindsay Autry to create a distinctive menu for ‘A Lunch Above and Beyond.’

Matt Vawter was born and raised in Summit County, Colorado. After graduating Summit High School he attended the Colorado Mountain College Culinary Apprenticeship Program in Keystone, Colorado. After completing the program at CMC he was encouraged by his mentor to leave Summit County and gain more experience in the burgeoning culinary scene in Denver.

Matt joined the culinary team at Fruition restaurant led by Chef Alex Seidel. During their time together Alex and Matt proved to be a powerful duo leading Fruition to nationwide prominence and eventually partnering to open Mercantile dining & provision in Union Station at the heart of Denver. Despite the collective success of Mercantile and Fruition, Chef Vawter felt the urge to return home to his mountain roots and raise his children in Summit County.

In December of 2020 he opened Rootstalk in Breckenridge with the intention to provide approachable, technique and ingredient driven food to the local community. Rootstalk is built to feel like coming home, channeling Matt’s own experience of returning back to the place that he loves so dearly. Eighteen months after Rootstalk’s opening Matt and his partners opened Radicato in the center of Breckenridge. Radicato speaks to the feeling of being deeply rooted in a place and a desire to devote your energy there. Radicato is a gathering place for both the Summit County Community and visitors to this special place.

Chef Paul C. Reilly has imparted quite the culinary footprint, from the French Culinary Institute in New York, to Browne Trading Company in Maine and Encore on Colfax in Denver. His diverse portfolio led him to open American, farm-focused restaurant beast + bottle as executive chef and co-owner with his sister Aileen. In 2016, they opened Coperta, and Pizzeria Coperta in 2019, celebrating the culinary traditions and food of Rome and southern Italy, in Denver.

Paul’s creative use of whole animals and local ingredients has earned accolades such as Best Restaurant for many publications including Denver’s Westword and James Beard Foundation’s 2022 Smart Catch Leader.

Dani fell in love with wine during a semester abroad in France, outside Paris. While taking a winding career path in the industry, Dani brings a deep passion for wine and hospitality. After working for Morgan Stanley for several years, Dani went back to school to earn an MBA at the University of Michigan, Ross School of Business. After graduating, she joined the PepsiCo marketing team in Chicago, working on the Tropicana and Quaker Oats brands. Dani focused on innovation, product management, and trade marketing across the juice and foods portfolio before joining the Cakebread Cellars team as a brand manager in 2020. She passed both the WSET Level 2 and WSET Level 3 with distinction.

Her family lives in Napa and loves exploring new wineries in the valley every month. She has visited over 50 so far! Her favorite Cakebread Cellars wine is Sauvignon Blanc, perfect for the warm summer days in Napa.

Dani has been visiting Telluride for over 20 years, she loves eating at the New Sheridan Chophouse, breakfast at the Butcher and the Baker, and enjoys camping at the Blue Lakes.

David Phillips is co-owner and President of Michael David Winery in Lodi, CA. David is a 5th generation wine grape grower, and spent his childhood farming the same land that is now home to the winery. Shortly after graduating from U.C. Davis in 1987, Dave went on a world-wide tour of wine regions in Europe, South Australia and New Zealand. He then went to work for an international cork company in San Francisco before returning to help his older brother Michael run the family business. These days, David and his wife Corene are primary ambassadors for Michael David Winery and travel the world on the winery’s behalf to meet with distributors, retailers and restaurateurs.

David and Corene have two college age sons, Conner and Joseph. The family loves outdoor activities and spending time together when they can. David is an avid runner and skier who takes every opportunity to hit the slopes.

Erik spent his professional career under the mentorship of Chef Thomas Keller at The French Laundry and Bouchon Bistro. He made a reputation of leading his programs with integrity and thoughtfulness. Taking a firsthand approach to his craft, he completed Sommelier certification before moving from his hometown of Phoenix, AZ to Yountville, CA.

Upon arrival to the Napa Valley, he was first hired as The French Laundry “vintern” - stocking the most iconic wines of the world and later, was asked to stay as their Cellar Sommelier. He soon pivoted to Bouchon Bistro where he earned the Head Sommelier position at age twenty-four. In that role, Erik was awarded Zagat’s coveted 30 under 30 distinction. While at Bouchon, Erik managed a dynamic and successful program that years later still reflects his impact.

In 2013, Erik returned to The French Laundry as an Assistant Sommelier and was promoted two years later to Head Sommelier where he guided the wine program for five years. Erik’s passion for his profession, love of his family, and the belief in the land we tend will have a lasting and resounding impact on the DAOU legacy that is PATRIMONY.

Veteran sommelier, Kenny Koda and his wife, Chef Ania, manage the renowned Ania’s Table and K-Bar in the elegant Lumiere Hotel. This powerhouse combination of talent offers a uniquely sophisticated dining and wine experience for their guests.

Kenny’’s sommelier journey began at Harmons in Telluride and then was recruited to be Rudd Winery’s wine director, from there, he continued to hone his skill at Press Restaurant, Dean & Deluca and a number of other wineries along the way.

When they are not in Telluride offering luxurious dining, fine wines and carefully curated cocktails in Ania’s Table and K-Bar, Kenny and Ania divide their time between Kaui and Italy.

Leah decided on pursuing a future in the wine business, while studying abroad at the Ecole Supérieure des Sciences Commerciales d'Angers, in the Loire Valley of France. Upon returning to Durango, CO and graduating from Fort Lewis College with an International Business Degree, she did just that. Although Leah worked in restaurants and a wine shop all through college, she officially began her wine career as a sales rep for the wholesale distributor, Grand Vin. She successfully completed the Court of Master Sommeliers Introductory Sommelier Course shortly thereafter. Not long after winning an incentive trip to the Douro Valley in Portugal, Leah became the Rocky Mountain Regional Sales Manager for Premium Port Wines, the United States based importer for the Symington Family. Her territory covered thirteen states, 26 distributors and a lot of residual sugar.

A strong desire to return to Durango connected her with Republic National Distributing Company, to work as their Wine Specialist for Southwest Colorado, in 2007. Leah continuously strives to further her education and enjoys teaching others. She achieved the “Graduate Level” education designation from RNDC and passed the Wine & Spirits Education Trust Advanced Level 3 Exam, with merit. She has also successfully completed the Kobrand International Wine Seminar, The Wine Academy of Spain's Spanish Wine Educator Program. Always involved in either coordinating or speaking in seminars at numerous wine and food festivals, Leah joined the Durango Wine Experience as their Event Coordinator in 2009. She was essential in the growth of the event for nearly a decade, when she retired in 2018. Leah was a wine judge for two years for the Colorado Wine Festival “Best of Fest” wine competition in Palisade, Colorado.

With a passion for wine, food & entertaining, Leah loves to host large ridiculous dinner and brunch parties at the famous “Triple D Ranch”.

Speaking at events like the Purgatory Mushroom Festival, Snowcat Wine Dinner Excursions, various wine festivals, wine dinners and educational events fill her time with joy.

When she aced the WSET Sake level one exam in 2022, she signed up to sit the WSET Level 3 Sake exam in September of 2023. You can probably find her ‘studying’ in a dark sushi bar somewhere.

Champagne and the art of Sabrage has become an obsession for this gal. Leah loves to give very detailed lessons and entertain with flashy demonstrations.
Leah loves that her “job” has taken her around the world to France, Italy, Spain, Australia, Portugal, Argentina, Washington State, Oregon, Mexico, Telluride, and extensively to the wine country in California; but she is always very happy to come home to Durango.

Leah is currently drinking a generous glass of wine, hanging out with the dude at the Triple D Ranch, collecting eggs from her chickens, petting the floofy dog, planning someone else’s wine event and working as a Wine Specialist for Republic National Distributing Company & Grand Vin, in the Durango and Telluride area. That seems like enough, right?

A proud Ensenada native, Lulú Martínez Ojeda grew up surrounded by wines and food, which led her to study Viticulture and Oenology in Bordeaux, France. She then started working at Chateau Brane-Cantenac, second Grand Cru Classe, a winery owned by Henri Lurton and known as one of the oldest and most lauded houses in Bordeaux, France.

In 2014, Lurton’s interest in investing outside of Bordeaux sent Lulú back home to start her own vineyard, in the surrounding Valle de Guadalupe, continuing what her ancestors started here years ago. Lulú is a forward thinker, who lets the land do the talking. She creates complex wines, with varietal typicity, natural freshness, aromatic finesse and balance in her lines of wines PLAN B and OCHO.