Guest Chef is briefly rising from the dead!  When we decided to close our doors and sell the restaurant, there were several chefs who still really, really wanted to come and cook.  They asked if we would be willing to reopen for their appearances while we were on the market.  And we thought “what the heck – why not?”.  Our model has always been pretty fluid and seems like we should go out the same way.  So we will be reopening on June 4^th through the 16^th with Chefs Mike Wilson and Jackie Marie Colyer Kirschner.  Then we will be open Friday through Sunday  July 5^th, 6^th, and 7^th and July 12^th, 13^th, and 14^th  with Chef Adam Zappa.  We hope you will be as enthusiastic as they are and come in for our Back From the Dead Dinners – and we promise not to serve brains!

]]> http://www.theguestchef.net/archives/3581/feed 3 http://www.theguestchef.net/archives/3507 http://www.theguestchef.net/archives/3507#comments Thu, 16 May 2013 19:25:30 +0000 cameronjscott http://www.theguestchef.net/?p=3507 Thank You For All Your Support!

My Dearest Guest Chefians –

It is with a heavy heart that I announce the demise of this grand experiment that has been Guest Chef.  We opened a little over a year and a half ago on Nov. 4th 2011with a red hot fire fighter extravaganza where our boys and girls of the big red trucks cooked for three nights.  We donated the proceeds to charity and with a bucket of karma we sallied forth with the idea that we could start a new restaurant every two weeks.

And we did!!!!  Our first genuine chef was Eva Santillanes, a grandmother who had no restaurant experience but a ton of pride in her cooking and the desire to show it off.  After Eva we had a parade of fabulous chefs ranging from Joseph Humphrey (dragging a couple of michelin stars behind him from previous restaurants) to David and Maddy Hung – a father daughter team who wanted to come to GC because cooking is what they loved to do together – and they filled the restaurant twice a night for 12 nights. We had one man shows, like Greg Lutes, who had applied to be an executive chef at a number of top flight restaurants and had his prospective employers in to see what he could do – and landed a job.  We had Vera Ciammetti, who came while I was still building the restaurant and said “I’m doing this!!!!” and she did.  In fact she came two or three different times and cooked her amazing italian food and filled the restaurant not only with happy diners but with her personality – and I am not sure which was more satisfying.

And through it all, my amazing staff has been an absolute rock.  They embraced my wacky idea and stepped up to the challenge of learning a new menu, adjusting to the wants and needs of a different chef, and reworking the restaurant every two weeks.  To Ilya, Mora and Manuel, I can’t thank you enough.  And a special, special thanks to Kristen my right hand and left as well for that matter.  Without her support, diligence and brilliance we wouldn’t have lasted a month.

This Sunday the 19th will be our curtain call.  It is fitting that Paul Skrentny, who has not only been my go to chef when I had a hole in the schedule but has also become a friend, will be manning the line for our last three nights.  I hope as many of you as possible will come in for a last supper – I have appreciated your support and valued your patronage.

Sincerely

Scott Cameron

Owner

Guest Chef is briefly rising from the dead!  When we decided to close our doors and sell the restaurant, there were several chefs who still really, really wanted to come and cook.  They asked if we would be willing to reopen for their appearances while we were on the market.  And we thought “what the heck – why not?”.  Our model has always been pretty fluid and seems like we should go out the same way.  So we will be reopening on June 4^th through the 16^th with Chefs Mike Wilson and Jackie Marie Colyer Kirschner.  Then we will be open Friday through Sunday  July 5^th, 6^th, and 7^th and July 12^th, 13^th, and 14^th  with Chef Adam Zappa.  We hope you will be as enthusiastic as they are and come in for our Back From the Dead Dinners – and we promise not to serve brains!

Jackie Marie Colyer Kirschner was born and raised in the Appalachian Mountains of eastern Tennessee and western Virginia.  Her mother was the 13^th and last child of a farmer and coal miner.  Her father was a city boy , his father and mother owned the local ‘grocery store’.

Jackie was the 3^rd daughter and was the one who liked to cook with her mother. Her father a training manger for a chain of grocery stores so the family was the first to try new foods.  She also cooked with her grandmother on summer breaks, tending the garden and orchard, foraging for wild berries and herbs to preserve for the winter.

In her late teens Jackie branched out and by the time she came to the Bay Area she was planning parties for friends. In her late 20’s she moved to Southern California and her passion for food became a catering business with corporate clients, a pastry chef for several restaurants and wedding cakes for hotels.

After her twin sons were grown she came back to the Bay Area, travelled in 5 continents (cooking in all of them, she never stopped trying new foods) and has renewed her passion for food by giving cooking classes… 50 years of being a foodie for friends and for vocation.”

Michael J. Wilson was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pa.  As a kid, he grew up with 3 major league baseball players on his block.  Although he enjoyed going to Connie Mack Stadium for the games, his fascination veered from the game to the hotdogs, soft pretzels and concessionaires. Like any kid, home on a sick day, television was there.  In the early 60’s there were only 3, at best, television stations.  Then came National Educational Television, the predecessor of PBS.  Julia Child was there during the day and she was the best thing a kid could find on television.  He found himself watching her and Graham Kerr even on days he wasn’t home on a sick day from school. At an early age he learned to make ice cream from his great-grandfather.

His first food related job was a summer job as a dishwasher in an industrial cafeteria.  Through college he worked in bars and restaurants in the Milwaukee area, eventually owning and operating a discothèque and a live jazz club. Opportunity took him into the corporate world. After 25 years of enterprise sales, training and sales management, he has taken a different route.  In his spare time he still managed to pursue his interest in the culinary arts.  He has tested and written cookbook reviews for the Contra Costa Times. Since leaving the corporate arena Michael has launched a mobile food business, Pop Boston’s.   Pop Boston’s, named after his Great-Grandfather,  operates at colleges, fairs, festivals and private engagements throughout the Bay Area.

In 2011, Jackie and Mike decided to start a culinary club. The mission was to get like mined people together for a good “hands-on” experience and a great meal after.  In July of 2011 Culinary Addicts was launched.  A cottage was converted into a demo kitchen. It was equipped with everything necessary for full instruction.  Along with the demo kitchen a garden is maintained which supplies the members in attendance. Neighbors and club members who grow also contribute to the bounty. The concept of farm fresh to fork continues to this day.  The combined club membership now totals over 500 members and growing. At present Michael and Jackie are working on a Culinary Addicts cookbook.

Guest Chef had such and enthusiastic response to our wine paring dinners in April that we decided to do an encore of sorts. This time Guest Chef is teaming up with R&B Cellars – One of the up and coming Bay Area wineries. Paul Skrentny has worked with wine maker Kevin Brown to put together a spectacular 6-course tasting menu featuring just the right wine with each course. It is the perfect event for the wine connoisseur or for the diner who wants to learn a bit more about the relationship between wine and food. We had many sold out nights when we did this last month so make your reservations early and we will look forward to seeing you.

Bon Appetit!

About R&B Cellars

R&B Cellars is Alameda’s largest family-owned winery. It is part of the burgeoning East Bay urban wine scene and is a member of the illustrious East Bay Vintners Alliance, a group of 22 outstanding urban wineries in San Francisco’s East Bay. R&B’s core mission has been to create high quality wines that deliver tremendous value to the consumer. Since 1997, winemaker Kevin Brown has taken a detail-oriented and labor-intensive approach to crafting the highest quality wines. Each of the winery’s varietals, having earned 90+ point scores and numerous accolades across the country, has helped to set R&B Cellars apart from the traditional players in the marketplace.

Winemakers Are Jazz Musicians:
Kevin and Barbara Brown, the owners and winemakers: “Wine & jazz is a perfect pairing!” Both Barbara and Kevin are jazz musicians, performing at winery events, charitable events, winemaker dinners and wine tastings across the country. Their passion for jazz is evident by the beautiful musical wine labels and the fun, jazzy names. It is a natural blending of passions: music making and creating fantastic wines. Their motto: Wine That Swings! And so it does.

Award Winning Wines:
R&B Cellars originally started in 1997 as a side project for Kevin. His goal was to create some of California’s finest Napa Cabernet Sauvignon, producing only 230 cases that first year. The first vintage, the 1997 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, was critically acclaimed, winning the Vinalies D’Argent in Paris in the year 2000. Fast forward 10 years and the Napa Valley Reserve Cabernets are consistently winning Double Gold Medals from major international wine competitions. The legacy of R&B’s Napa Valley Cabernets continue! “We think our best is yet to come!”

High-Quality Wines That Are Value Oriented:
Today, R&B Cellars has expanded to include many new varietals. Seeing a need in the marketplace for high quality wines that are value-oriented, R&B Cellars is now also known for producing finely crafted, beautifully balanced wines, several of them under $18, and all of them garnering great critical acclaim, awards and accolades. The winery now produces 15,000 cases annually. They are fifteen wines strong across nine varietals.

Guest Chef is briefly rising from the dead!  When we decided to close our doors and sell the restaurant, there were several chefs who still really, really wanted to come and cook.  They asked if we would be willing to reopen for their appearances while we were on the market.  And we thought “what the heck – why not?”.  Our model has always been pretty fluid and seems like we should go out the same way.  So we will be reopening on June 4^th through the 16^th with Chefs Mike Wilson and Jackie Marie Colyer Kirschner.  Then we will be open Friday through Sunday  July 5^th, 6^th, and 7^th and July 12^th, 13^th, and 14^th  with Chef Adam Zappa.  We hope you will be as enthusiastic as they are and come in for our Back From the Dead Dinners – and we promise not to serve brains!

La Cadrega, Milanese dialect for a simple chair, is the name of our conceptual restaurant with the hope that in the future it will become reality. The name and idea were coined by Adam Zappa who lived in the north of Italy between Milan and Como. He quickly ate his way through the northern regions of Italy and learned from experts how to emulate the hearty dishes cooked in the mountainous regions. Adam has one simple goal of teaching the United States the magic of alpine cooking. His team includes Jessica Korich, a food lover in her own right and a genius when it comes to baking and desserts, and Cristina Telazzi, a native of Lombardia and an expert of northern Italian cuisine, with over thirty years of cooking experience under her belt.

The food at La Cadrega Ristorante is Italian, yet borrows flavors from Germany, Switzerland, France and Austria. While living in Italy, Adam was not only inspired by the food of these high regions, but also by how it is served in northern cantinas, bringing strangers together over what we in America would call “comfort food” with a refined touch. It is our hope to bring you not only a delicious meal, but an experience that you can share with those around you.

Pull up a “cadrega,” take a seat, and enjoy!

Carlos Moreira (born June 13th, 1978),  emigrated eight years ago from his hometown, Callao, Peru,  to work for the Calvo Perez family’s  second location of their famed restaurant “Fresca”.  This was  awarded “Best Ceviche” and “Best Peruvian”  restaurant after he joined the team by S.F Gate’s – The Best of the Bay for two years in a row (2003 and 2004).  In addition, he also contributed in the opening of the third new sister restaurant in Noe Valley.

Carlos then worked in several restaurants  around the Bay Area, including  ”Jardiniere”,  ’The Fifth Floor” and the opening of George  Morrone’s “Boca Steak”,  where he met the Humphrey Brothers, and developed a greater knowledge and understanding of the California Restaurant scene.  Later he would join forces with Ian Begg to revive the “Café Majestic”,  earning 3 stars from the San Francisco Chronicle and also achieved the accolade of being noted as one of the Top Ten New Restaurants in the United States by  Squire Magazine .

Together with his family, he moved back to Marin County where he obtained a position at the famed “Sand Dollar Restaurant” which was voted by The Marin I.J. – Best Restaurant in West  Marin .

Carlos’ new project, Allpa Culinaria, continues his passion for ingredients, procedures and his love of fine food through private fine dining, thematic cooking classes and his underground dinner party series “The Random Supper Club”, which evolves in an atypical locations, enabling the design and creation of custom made dinner parties.

Carlos currently lives in Marin County with his wife Lissette and his two children, Matias, an up and coming drummer, and young Tiago.

*more information coming soon!*

April 30th-May 5th

Raised in the heartland, Betsy Nevins has been close to the ingredients of good cooking since very early in life.  As a young girl growing up in Indiana, she developed her love of cooking and experience from watching and helping her mother, grandmothers and aunts prepare delicious family meals.  From her days of planting the family garden with her grandfather to the harvesting and canning of the bountiful produce with her grandmother, she has firsthand experience of farm-to-table cooking and knows the importance of naturally grown, fresh, local ingredients.  All this was just the beginning of her obvious calling to the kitchen and to great cooking.

Today, after honing her skills as a longtime resident of the San Francisco Bay Area, Betsy’s passion has been to develop, prepare and entertain her friends and clients with the creation of menus rich with the freshest ingredients and influenced by the many diverse cultures found in the food mecca of the Bay Area.  She loves a beautifully set table and every aspect of the preparation of a meal – start to finish.  She’s at home in the kitchen and loves the opportunity to inspire the ambiance that manifests when we come together as family, friends and even strangers to eat fabulous food and drink wonderful wines.  By the accolades of those who have sat at her table, she’s a rising star.

Betsy is currently a freelance caterer available for private parties, weddings, business functions and intimate dinners.

Chef Nevins will be donating all of the proceeds from her one week run at Guest Chef to the Oakland Crisis Response Support Network, Catholic Charities of the East Bay.

The Oakland Crisis Response Support Network (OCRSN) provides immediate and sustained support to the family and friends of homicide victims in Oakland, as part of the Measure Y Violence Prevention Initiative of the City of Oakland.

OCRSN is responsible for:

• Responding within 24 hours either at the scene or at the homes of family members
• Emotional first-aid
• Intense and “hands-on” help with funeral arrangements
• Intensive crisis support services including VOC applications and help with funeral arrangements and emergency financial assistance
• Home-visiting grief and trauma counseling
• Intensive case management
• Emergency Financial Assistance to help with death and safety related needs not covered by Victims of Crime funds
• Linkages to parenting and survivor support activities
• Circles of Support for grief, healing, and conflict resolution
• Social Support Activities

Rock Wall Wine Company, one of the East Bay’s most prolific wineries, has organized a Wine Maker’s dinner featuring the culinary stylings of one of Guest Chef’s most popular chefs. Chef Paul Skrentny is back and he’s bringing a unique menu inspired by the newest offerings at Rock Wall Wine Company. For these two weeks, Chef Skrentny is teaming up with Rock Wall and offering diners a delicious 6-course prix fixe menu with, or without, wine pairings. Come on out and support a great local wine company, local chef, and local restaurant.

NEW MENU!:

The Rock Wall Wine Company represents a new chapter in the East Bay, urban winemaking scene, offering wine lovers one of the most unique experiences in the wine world. The winery was established in 2008 by father/daughter winemaking team Kent and Shauna Rosenblum.  Shauna, at just 29 years of age, has expanded the family winemaking business with the same love and commitment to not only Zinfandel but to a slew of international varietals such as Tannat, Teroldego and Montepulciano that appeal to the new wave of “millennial” wine drinkers and wine enthusiasts looking for a new experience.

Ideally situated along with waterfront in Alameda, California, the winery boasts spectacular views of the San Francisco skyline from across the bay.

Housed in a converted 40,000 square-foot airplane hangar, the Rock Wall Wine Company is located on what was once a Naval Air Base. Also known as “Building 24,” the hangar is due north of a defensive rock wall, which made up the perimeter of the base. Taking their name from this protective wall, the Rock Wall winery building has been retrofitted with state-of-the-art winemaking equipment. In May 2011 Rock Wall was proud to unveil its new tasting room, an extension next to the original hangar, welcoming visitors with luxurious bamboo flooring, a granite counter top bar and an outdoor deck, perfectly situated for taking in city skyline views. Adjacent to the tasting room is a full-service chef’s kitchen and a 3,000 square foot “VIP Dome,” capable of hosting medium-scale events up to 180 people. The Rock Wall Wine Company is all about continuing the legacy of urban winemaking as well as providing an environment whereby making, tasting and learning about wine is fun!

For more information on the Rock Wall Wine Company please visit www.rockwallwines.com.

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