 |
|
Pano I. Karatassos, executive chef of Kyma, Atlanta’s most exciting Greek restaurant concept, has an inherent passion for food. A celebrated young talent in the culinary industry, Pano has made significant contributions to his family’s business, Buckhead Life Restaurant Group - founded by his father I. Pano Karatassos – and to fine dining throughout the country. Training under three of America’s best chefs and at the renowned Culinary Institute of America, his culinary journey has come full circle – with a return to his roots in Atlanta’s fine dining scene.
Prior to assuming the role of Executive Chef at Kyma and leadership within Buckhead Life Restaurant Group, Pano worked at prestigious restaurants around the country. He spent one year as Saucier under Chef Thomas Keller at the Mobil 5-Star French Laundry in Napa Valley and two years as Saucier under Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten at Jean-Georges in New York City. He also spent two and a half years at Le Bernardin in New York, where he did his culinary externship and then continued after graduation. Under Chef Eric Ripert at Le Bernadin, Pano completed every kitchen station and finished as Tournant.
Before his training in New York and California, Pano cooked at his father’s Atlanta restaurants since he was 16. From his experience at Pano’s & Paul’s to The Fish Market at Lenox Square to 103 West, Pano learned the basic fundamentals of cooking.
Pano graduated from The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York in 1996, and from Florida International University (FIU) in 1993 with a degree in Hospitality Management, following coursework at Florida State University.
Kyma, which means “wave” in Greek, opened in December 2001. In a short time, Chef Pano’s cooking garnered much attention for the restaurant. Kyma was named one of the top 20 restaurants in the country by Esquire in 2002 and has been featured in Wine Spectator, Cooking Light, Gourmet and In Style magazines. Kyma’s sister restaurants include Pano’s & Paul’s, 103 West, Buckhead Diner, Chops / Lobster Bar, Pricci, Veni Vidi Vici, Atlanta Fish Market, Corner Café / Buckhead Bread Company, Nava and Bluepointe.
Chef Pano served as one of four national spokespeople for the American Lamb Board in 2003 and was selected as the featured guest chef in the acclaimed Telluride Food & Wine Festival in 2004. He participates in a variety of community fund raising efforts for organizations such as Share Our Strength, Atlanta Community Food Bank and The Atlanta Speech School.
Today, Pano and his wife, Angela, reside in Atlanta with their sons, Pano and Lucas.
|
|
 |
|
Chef David Medure may not have a classic or even “typical” culinary background, yet in a few short years he has worked and trained with two of Florida’s top chefs at The AAA Five Diamond Grill Restaurant at The Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island, and at Matthew’s Restaurant in Jacksonville.
The rising star chef honed his culinary reputation at Todd English’s acclaimed Olives restaurant in 1996 as Chef Tournant where he trained with Todd English.
Most interesting and telling of David Medure is his commitment to learning every aspect of culinary preparation, not by the traditional schooling, but by doing.
Medure is passionate about simple flavors and fresh ingredients. He believes that good foundations lead to the finest dishes. “I tend to follow the classic French techniques of cooking and am adamant about creating the flavorful stocks. I believe that a well-made stock is the most important ingredient in any sauce as it adds a complex element to any preparation,” said David Medure.
Medure’s career actually began serving food at The Ocean Bar & Grill at The Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island, where he quickly realized he was much more interested in how the food was prepared than serving it. On nights’ off and during his free time, David began to volunteer in the garde manger at the hotel’s fine dining restaurant, The Grill, a AAA Five Diamond restaurant, where he assisted in whatever food preparation and fabrication was necessary for that day. In 1996, Medure was finally hired to work full-time and worked his way up through the ranks in The Grill’s kitchen where his older brother Matthew was Executive Chef.
In December 1997, Medure left The Grill to help his brother open Matthew’s Restaurant in Jacksonville, Florida. As Chef de Cuisine, he played an important role in making Matthew’s one of the top restaurants in Florida.
Three years later, David Medure assisted his brother in opening Restaurant Medure in Ponte Vedra, where he is Chef de Cuisine.
As Chef de Cuisine, Medure is responsible for the day-to-day operation of the restaurant and for the creation and execution of the nightly menu and the restaurant’s Chef Table. |
|
 |
 |
Michel Richard was a pioneer in creating the revolutionary French/California cuisine. His style is light, fresh and intelligent, focusing on innovative combinations, witty presentations and always an element of texture. “His restless California cuisine is beautiful, offbeat and constantly changing,” says Ruth Reichl of the New York Times.
Richard knew he wanted to be a chef when he first glimpsed a restaurant kitchen at the age of eight. His fate was decided. At fourteen, Richard apprenticed in a restaurant-run patisserie in Champagne, France. Three years later he moved to Paris where he quickly rose to the top position at Gaston Lenotre’s esteemed pastry shop.
But, like many other chefs of his age growing up during the Bocuse revolution, Richard wanted to move to America. The opportunity came in 1974 when Lenotre opened a pastry shop in the States. Perhaps, America was not yet ready for Lenotre’s sophisticated French fare, the patisserie soon closed.
In 1987, Michel opened Citrus as Executive Chef and owner, adapting his native French cuisine to the tastes of Southern California. Citrus put Michel Richard on the culinary map, and in 1987 was voted The Best Restaurant in the United States by Traveler’s magazine in 1988, Michel Richard was inducted into the James Beard Foundation’s “Who’s Who” in American Food and Wine. Cont’….
Michel is the author of Michel Richard’s Home Cooking with a French Accent, published by William Morrow in 1993. His many philanthropic endeavors include a Gala for which he organized 70 of France’s greatest chefs to honor Julia Child and raised money for the American Institute of Wine & Food. Michel was a nominee for James Beard’s, Chef of the Year Award for 1996. The same year, he received the Five-Star Fleur de Lys Award for Outstanding Restaurant. The October 2001 issue of Gourmet, listed Michel Richard Citronelle as one of the Top 20 Restaurants in the Country, and by October of 2004 Gourmet put Michel’s photo on the front cover, an unprecedented honor.
In May 2002, Michel was voted by the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington as the Best Fine Dining Restaurant and Chef of the Year, an accomplishment that no other has attained in the history of the RAMW. Citronelle is repeatedly the recipient of such high honors as Exxon Mobile Four Star and AAA Four Diamond Award awards. In 2002 Michel Richard Citronelle became an invited member of the internationally acclaimed Traditions & Qualité, Les Grandes Tables du Monde, and 2003 brought the highest honor of becoming a member of the prestigious Relais & Chateaux organization, of hotel and restaurants originated in France.
Constantly creating something new, Michel has recently released his second book, Happy in the Kitchen, published by Artisan, and is opening a new restaurant, Central, in Washington, DC.
|
|
 |
 |
A native of upstate New York, Chef Jeremy Sewall spent his childhood summers in Maine with family feasting on lobsters, clams, chowders and other New England specialties.
After graduating from the esteemed Culinary Institute of America with honors, Sewall returned to Maine and worked at the White Barn Inn, in Kennebunkport, a Relais and Chateau property. The European values of the Inn made his move to Europe a natural one. After working in various restaurants in London and Amsterdam, he returned to Boston and began working at the famed L’Espalier, known for their exacting standards and classic French applications.
A stint as an Executive Sous Chef for a Fortune 500 company’s executive dining room and Sewall was off to the West Coast, where he was immediately recognized for his technique and passion by Bradley Ogden, the Chef-owner of the Lark Creek Inn, in Larkspur, California. Hired as Sous Chef, he was quickly promoted to Chef in 1999.
In 2000, just one year after his promotion to Chef at the Lark Creek Inn, Sewall was one of five chefs across the country to be nominated as a Rising Star Chef in America by the James Beard Foundation.
He moved back to the East Coast to open Great Bay Restaurant in Boston as Executive Chef where he and the restaurant garnered many accolades from the New York Times, Esquire, Gourmet and the Boston Globe.
He left Great Bay to follow his dream of opening his own restaurant. In lat February of 2006, Sewall and his wife Lisa former pastry chef at L’Espalier together opened Lineage. Located in the heart of Coolidge Corner, Brookline, Massachusetts, Lineage takes its name from Sewall’s own ancestor Judge Samuel Sewall of the Salem Witch Trials fame who owned most of what is now called Brookline in the late 17th century. The Sewalls have returned home.
Sewall uses his appreciation for fresh ingredients to create a personal interpretation of modern American cuisine. In the short time Lineage has been opened it has received much local and national praise, including “Restaurants Top Tables” in Bon Appetit. “Best Dessert” from Boston Magazine and Sewall was recognized as “Boston’s Best Rising Star” by the Improper Bostonian. |
|
 |
|
Among the world’s chef icons, Jim Dodge, a renowned pastry chef and author, is included in almost everyone’s short list of those who have had the greatest influence on American cuisine in past 20 years. Dodge's hospitality “pedigree” originated in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, where his ancestors were innkeepers for seven generations. From early training and direction at his parents' resort, The Inn at Steele Hill, Dodge went to work for James Smith at Wentworth-by-the-Sea, in Portsmouth, NH, and ultimately met Swiss Chef Fritz Albicker, who changed his interest from becoming an hotelier to a chef.
Later, at Albicker's Strawberry Court in Portsmouth, Jim learned how to meld Swiss influence with his New England heritage, resulting in the unique method of preparation and styling that sets him apart as a chef-extraordinaire. He next moved to the West Coast to be the Executive Pastry Chef at the Stanford Court in San Francisco from 1978 to 1988. In October of 1991 he opened The American Pie, a restaurant and pastry shop offering modern American fare in Lang Kwan Fong, Hong Kong. After opening a wholesale bakery and second American Pie in Hong Kong, Jim Dodge moved back to the States to become the Senior Vice President at New England Culinary Institute in Montpelier, Vermont, where he raised the Institute's standing in the culinary world. He is currently General Manager of Food Services at the Getty Center in Los Angeles.
Jim has published several books, including the award-winning cookbook, The American Baker, and is a contributing editor to the newly revised Joy of Cooking. He as been a contributing editor to several magazines and has received numerous honors, including the "Honor Roll of American Chefs", The James Beard Cookbook Award, and the "Gold Plate Award". Dodge has appeared on the “Today" show, "The Home Show”, “Good Morning America" and "Great Chefs of San Francisco." He was one of the featured chefs in Julia Child’s book, “In Julia’s Kitchen with Master Chefs.” He donates his time regularly to charities throughout the country, and has been an active member of the Boca Bacchanal Committee, serving as Advisory Chef Chairman.
|
|
 |
|
Ernesto De Blasi is Corporate Executive Chef at Caffé Luna Rosa, an acclaimed Delray Beach restaurant with an incomparable beach front setting and a 10-year reputation for serving consistently delicious authentic Italian cuisine. DeBlasi wisely developed his talents by developing a strong foundation with a good education, earning degrees in Business Administration and the culinary arts.
While pursuing his education, DeBlasi was also acquiring a “hands on” culinary training, learning key management skills, working as Sous Chef and Kitchen Manger at the Hilton Hotel at Cocoa Beach. There he gained experience in all aspects of hotel kitchen management, organized numerous banquets and learned staff training and labor control.
DeBlasi then held a variety of chef and management positions, from l989 – 2001, at a number of high end restaurants including the Brooklyn Café, Al Dente, Caroline’s on the River, and 32 East. Along the way, he garnered many local awards and recognitions for both the excellence of his cooking talents and for his participation in worthwhile community events.
He was singled out while at Caroline’s by a prominent food reviewer who noted that he “knows how to handle the bounty of seafood the Gulf of Mexico dishes up, and spikes it with Creole and Southern touches.” He was a three – time “Best Restaurant in Atlanta” award winner, and was named among the “Notable Chefs of the Hamptons”, as well as serving as a presenting chef at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta.
DeBlasi, who joined the staff at Caffé Luna Rosa in 2001, currently presides over the menus at Caffé Luna Rosa in Delray Beach, and its sister restaurant, Ristorante Luna Rosa in Deerfield Beach. And while serving only the freshest fish and seafood, prime meats and house-made pasta and breads, his incomparable menus are matched by a Wine Spectator award-winning wine list.
|
|
|
