Award Winning Chefs

With a passion for cuisine, appreciation of simplicity and technical skill gained through years of experience, these chefs take great pleasure in showcasing the very best of fresh local ingredients through the most unique and exotic dishes. Try your hand at their Favorite Recipes for an at-home gourmet meal.

Excelsior Inn

Chef Maurizio Paparo Eugene, Oregon In 1993, Maurizio purchased the Excelsior Café and reopened as the Excelsior Inn Ristorante Italiano. Maurizio's culinary career spans 30 years, beginning his culinary education at the young age of 14 apprenticing at a hospitality school in Florence, Italy. With recipes published in Gourmet Magazine among others, Maurizio prepares meals using the freshest of local, organic ingredients, just like he did in Florence. "I have always understood food to be the nourishment of life. Besides preserving the nutritional value, you want to take time to enjoy your meal and find a nice wine to pair with it."

Chef Laura Danieli Occidental, California Chef Danieli was 13 years old when she worked at a bakery; she walked to her job after class in junior high. Her mother and grandmother taught her to bake when she was very young - and Laura still loves baking to this day! Graduating from the Santa Rosa JC Culinary Arts Program in Baking and Pastry Arts, she enjoys working with great flour and seasonal fruits and vegetables. "Keep it simple, neat, clean. Don't complicate the food or cover it up with heavy sauces. Good food can stand alone."

Inn at Occidental

Casa Laguna Inn

Chef Joshua Roberts Laguna Beach, California The philosophy that Chef Joshua Roberts brings to the food he prepares echoes that of the Slow Foods Movement, of which the owners of the Casa Laguna Inn & Spa are members. Chef Roberts imposes the "What grows together, goes together rule" for almost all the ingredients he uses. He states, "Use the abundance of what is grown, caught or harvested nearby and at the same time to ensure the best flavors and food experience."

Chef Mark Linback Upper Lake, California Chef Linback has been working in restuarants since the age of 15, graduating from the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco. Standing here next to the garden planted behind the Blue Wing restaurant, Chef Linback loves to infuse dishes with fresh herbs. Taking inspiration from the Slow Food Movement, he enjoys introducing creative seasonal specialties using local ingredients. "I like the challenge involved in making the familiar exceptional."

Tallman Hotel

The Lodge at Suttle Lake

Chef Michael Valoppi Sisters, Oregon The recipient of several awards, including two ACF Medals, Chef Valoppi's inspiration came from watching his grandmother in the kitchen as she created wonderful things out of simple parts. With the philosophy that food is the only art form where all five human senses are brought into play, he enjoys preparing simple dishes that truly speak for themselves with a splash of wow in the mix. "Every day we are here to throw the best party we can for all those who wish to visit us."

Chef Greg Lutes Groveland Yosemite National Park, California Chef Lutes started his culinary career 25 years ago, attending the Culinary School of Kendall College in Evanston, Illinois. He has been recognized by Country Inns Magazine as one of the best country inn restaurants in the U.S. and was featured on a P.B.S. cooking series, Country Inn Cooking. "I cook from scratch to achieve a balance of simplicity and sometimes unique flavor pairings and profiles, always seeking out small farmers and local foodstuffs."

Groveland Hotel at Yosemite National Park

Campbell House

Chef Jeffrey Parker Eugene, Oregon Chef parker has been with the Campbell House since 2004, graduating from the Culinary Institute of American with honors in 1980.  With a lifelong passion for cuisine, Jeffrey started in the kitchen as a child of 9 years old.  Considering anything fresh as his favorite ingredient, his food philosiphy is to "keep it simple and respect the quality of fresh ingredients. The more pure the ingredient — the better."

Chef Nicholas Heidemann Elk, California Chef Nicholas is versed in global flavors acquired from extensive travel throughout over 30 countries. He enjoys a diverse spectrum of clientele, including celebrities, senators, CEO's, prominent families, wineries, and health practitioners. Rooted in the study of medicinal cuisine, one facet of Nicholas' Fare approaches food for recovery; through techniques and ingredients formulated to maximize vitality and well being. "I am pleased to use these tools to delight the palate and help those to discover the power of food."

Harbor House Inn

The Shelburne Inn

Chef Michael J. Campiche Seaview, Washington Michael Campiche is the son of owner/innkeepers David Campiche and Laurie Anderson. Growing up in the business, Michael specializes in preparing unique and exotic dishes, taking advantage of the bounty of fresh seafood in the Pacific Northwest region. He has been trained in classic French cuisine, Spanish and Italian. Creating meals based upon a simple elegance, his food philosophy espouses the very words painted on an old beam in the Shelburne Inn dining room, "Eat, drink and be merry, of tomorrow take no heed!"

Chef Cathi Fowler Healdsburg, California Chef Cathi Fowler has been featured in National Culinary Review, Sunset Magazine Best of the West and other publications. With her husband Steve in the food service industry for over 25 years, Chef Fowler has had the opportunity to share recipes and learn from many great chefs. Her food philosophy is to keep it simple, and remember that people eat with their eyes. "Make everything you cook look as good as it tastes. I love it when a guest returns after many years looking for that dish they had during their visit. It really is all about the guests!"

Honor Mansion

Willows Inn

Chef Craig Miller Lummi Island, Washington With the Willows Inn since 2004, Chef Craig Miller started in the kitchen at the age of 21 as an assistant to the chef at "Saddlepeak Lodge" in Calabasas, California, while studying theatre at Pepperdine University.  Encouraging local involvement with food, he says he needn't look far for inspiration in the kitchen: "I look out my kitchen window and I see Puget Sound where we catch our own sockeye salmon. If I need leeks, I walk up the street and pull them out of the ground at our own Nettles Farm."

Chef Cory Smith Eureka, California Inspired by the diversity of local seasonal harvest, Chef Cory Smith maintains the belief that where passion lies within, pleasure abounds. He has been influence by Restaurant 301 Master Chefs since he first joined the Inn in 2001. With a "done simple, done right" outlook on cuisine, Chef Smith favours wholesome ingredients including micro-greens, quinoa, barley and lentils.

Carter House