+ Matt Ginn - Chef / EVO Kitchen + Bar – Portland, ME

Matt has been interested in food since his first job picking strawberries at Maxwell’s Farm in Cape Elizabeth at the age of 14. For over 10 years he has been cooking professionally in Portland and Boston. In Boston he honed his skills at several award winning restaurants, including Harvest and L'Espalier. He returned to Maine in 2012 as Chef de Cuisine at Five Fifty-Five where he continued his pursuit of excellence while cultivating and maintaining close relationships with local farmers. Most recently, Matt took home the top prize at his 2018 appearance on the Food Network’s “Chopped,” and has since returned to film a “Chopped Champions Throwdown” episode.

+ Chris Gould -Chef and Owner / Central Provisions & Tipo – Portland, ME

Chef Chris Gould began his culinary career at the age of 15 as a summer dishwasher and prep cook at the Bethel Inn in Bethel, ME. When asked to return the following summer, he said “Yes, but only as a cook on the line.” He spent the following summer working sauté and when it came to deciding where to go for college, Chef Steve Stone pointed him toward The Balsams Hotel in Northern New Hampshire. The Balsams, had an accredited American Culinary Foundation apprenticeship program where Chef Gould trained under several Certified Master Chefs and Bakers, including Chef Roland Henin, Chef Phil Learned and Chef Steve James.

Chef Gould went to Houston after graduating in 2005 to work with Chef Charles Carrol at River Oaks Country Club. He worked as a tournant in multiple outlets of the club including banquets and the grill restaurant. In 2006 Chef Chris moved to Boston to work for James Beard best chef northeast winner Chef Ken Oringer at his flagship restaurant Clio. Starting as a Garde Manager cook and within a year he was the Chef Tournant for the whole restaurant including being the Assistant at Uni Sashimi Bar. It was here he met his future business partner and wife Paige Gould. In 2009, he helped Chef Oringer and Chef Jamie Bissonnette open Coppa Enoteca as Sous Chef. Later that year chef Oringer asked Gould to return to Uni Sashimi Bar as Chef de Cuisine; where he spent the next three years creating unique sashimi dishes. The Goulds moved to Portland in 2012 and in 2014 opened Central Provisions, their small plates restaurant to national acclaim including being nominated for James Beard best new restaurant. In 2017 Chef Chris and Paige opened their second restaurant Tipo, featuring Neapolitan pizzas, handmade pastas and Italian themed small plates. Chris is also the proud father of two very strong-willed little girls, Lucille, and Jocelyn.

+ David Seigal - Executive Chef / Cull & Pistol – New York City, NY

Growing up on the South Shore of Long Island, David Seigal always had a deep-rooted appreciation for all things fish, buying fresh flounder, scallops, and cod straight off the boats with his mother.

David’s fine dining experience spans almost two decades and comprises some of the top kitchens in NYC including working under acclaimed Chefs, Charlie Palmer, Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Gray Kunz, and David Bouley. Professional stages abroad at the three-Michelin star Martin Berasategui and El Raco D’en Freixa in Spain, and Hotel Lenkerhof in Switzerland round out David’s unqiue culinary background.

David returned to his roots in 2013 and joined forces with the Lobster Place to open Cull & Pistol Oyster Bar in the heart of New York City. The accessibility to pristine fish that Lobster Place provides and David’s culinary ingenuity benefit the thousands of people who visit Chelsea Market each day. The ever-changing, globally-inspired seafood menu at Cull & Pistol has been recognized each year by the Michelin Guide, as well as local critics and seafood lovers alike.

+ Michael Honig - President / Honig Vineyard & Winery – Rutherford, CA

At the age of 22, Michael took the reins of his struggling family vineyard and winery. With an old meat locker for an office, a shoebox marked "miscellaneous" for an accounting system, and without any formal training, he began canvassing the streets of San Francisco, selling wine and delivering it himself.

Over the last 30 years, Michael has surrounded himself with an incredible team and transformed the family business into a thriving success. With his seemingly endless energy, Michael, who is often referred to as "the James Brown of the wine industry," spends 75% of his time out in the world connecting with people and introducing them to Honig wines. A leader in sustainable farming, he chaired the first California initiative to develop a "Code of Sustainable Winegrowing Practices," a voluntary program establishing statewide guidelines for sustainable farming and winemaking. In keeping with his commitment to sustainability, in 2005 Michael took part in an innovative pilot program to help train yellow lab puppies to detect vine mealy bugs in the vineyard, thus, lowering the need for pesticides.

Michael sits on the board of directors of the Napa Valley Vintners Association, whose mission is to promote, protect and enhance the Napa Valley appellation and its wines. He also serves on the boards of several other organizations including: the California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance; California Farm Service Agency State Committee; Napa Crime Stoppers; Tower Road Wine Storage; and is a past board member of the Wine Institute.

He lives on the Honig estate in Rutherford with wife Stephanie, daughters Sophia and Lola, sons Sebastian and Santiago, and their dogs Raisin, Popeye, and Hunter.

+ Justin & Danielle Walker - Chef & Owners / Walkers Maine - Cape Neddick, ME

Chef Justin Walker discovered his love for cooking at an early age while preparing holiday meals with his grandfather, foraging for herbs like lamb's quarters and reindeer moss, and making cheese on his family farm. After spending 15 years in the kitchen at Arrows, James Beard Award-winning chefs Mark and Clark Gaier's Ogunquit, ME restaurant, and then as executive chef of Kennebunkport's Earth at Hidden Pond, Justin is widely known for his approachable and refined cooking style, inspired by his love of Old World practices and techniques. A StarChefs "Rising Star" chef of Coastal New England, Justin creates soulful dishes using a simple presentation style, celebrating the ingredients of his home in Maine and 17-acre family farm in Cape Neddick where he and wife Danielle Walker raise goats and chickens, forage the land and harvest their own crops, yielding everything from reindeer moss to green strawberries and blueberries and hibiscus flowers. In early spring 2018, Justin and Danielle Walker will open Walkers Maine in Cape Neddick. The Walkers menu will revive classic New England dishes with chef Justin’s seasonal, modern perspective, bringing an element of comfort and nostalgia that mixes the old with the new and celebrates a region rich in history and proud of its native ingredients. As longstanding members of the Maine culinary community, Justin and Danielle will foster a local and sustainable mentality through their familial ties with regional farmers and fishermen, and a thoughtful utilization of their own 17-acre farm.

+ Émile Tremblay - Chef and Owner of Faux Bergers - Charlevoix, Quebec

It is in the beautiful region of Charlevoix that chef Émile Tremblay decides to settle. After visiting several places in search of the “perfect” spot, Emile sets his heart on an unoccupied room at Maison d’affinage Maurice Dufour and opens Faux Bergers with his accomplice, Sylvain Dervieux. With the restaurant’s proximity to the local producers, Émile is able to offer a fresh and original cuisine. In fact, cheese, lamb and wine are the three products that he loves to use on a regular basis. How convenient that they happen to be right on the other side of the street! Country life is not new to Émile , who used to spend his summers on the family farm when he was young and developed an early passion for cooking. Émile is truly a rising star in our region.

+ Jordan Rubin - Chef and Owner / Mr. Tuna – Portland, ME

Jordan Rubin is the owner and operator of Mr. Tuna, a pop-up sushi bar & mobile food cart. A New England native, Jordan has been working in kitchens and sushi bars from Providence to Portland over the last 17 years. He has honed his craft at Uni Sashimi Bar in Boston, Central Provisions in Portland, and more recently helped opened Solo Italiano, where he ran the crudo bar for their first year in business. In the summer of 2017, Jordan opened Mr. Tuna, the first ever sushi food cart on the east coast. He personally picks out his fish every day and is constantly looking for new, fresh ingredients.

+ Andrew Taylor - Chef & Owners / Hugo's, Eventide Oyster Co., Honey Paw - Portland, ME

Big Tree Hospitality chef-owner Andrew Taylor’s appreciation for the history of New England’s food grew out of an affinity for fishing and foraging. He is a James Beard Award-winning chef and father of four who has become adept at culinary improvisation, crafting innovative cuisine out of the most seasonal ingredients Maine provides. When he isn’t stomping through the woods searching for matsutake or reviewing the company’s financials, Andrew can be found cooking alongside his team. He is constantly looking toward the future and leading the company in new and exciting directions.

+ Harding Smith -Chef and Owner; Sean Doherety- Chef / The Front Room Restaurant & Bar, The Grill Room & Bar, The Corner Room Kitchen & Bar and The Boone’s Room – Portland, ME

Harding Lee Smith (chef and owner of The Front Room Restaurant & Bar, The Grill Room & Bar, The Corner Room Kitchen & Bar and The Boone’s Room ) is a Mainer by birth. Once he graduated from Portland’s Deering High School, Harding left Maine to experience the rest of the world. After earning a Bachelor of Science degree from Boston University, he moved to the San Francisco Bay area and attended the Culinary Institute of America’s West Coast campus in Napa Valley. After an apprenticeship in Venice, Italy, Chef Smith relocated to Maui, Hawaii where he was the chef of several well-known restaurants. After six years on the island, family and the Red Sox were calling and he returned to Maine in the fall of 2003. After spending the winter of 2005 at the venerable Back Bay Grill in Portland, Harding embarked on his dream, the opening of a casual neighborhood restaurant and bar.

+ Heidi Parent & the ProStart Team

Chef Heidi Parent is enjoying her 3rd year teaching at Capital Area Technical Center in Augusta. As a Lewiston Regional Technical Center high school graduate, she went on to earn her associates degree in culinary arts at Southern Maine Community College. Chef Heidi Parent worked in various foodservice establishments in Maine and New Hampshire for the next 13 years. Her claim to fame was in 2016 when she was the first Maine chef to make it on Chef Gordon Ramsay's reality cooking competition show "Hell's Kitchen". She finished second runner-up but not without impressing Chef Ramsay before she left. Chef Ramsay was quoted as saying "Heidi is a very talented chef with a bright future." Chef Parent is using her real world experience and ProStart curriculum to prepare her students to have successful careers in the foodservice industry.

The TEAM Members- Alysia Cyr, a second year senior from Maranacook; Alisa Bonenfant, a first year senior from Hall-Dale; Trae Muzima, a first year senior from Hall-Dale; Jacob Meunier, a first year junior from Winthrop; Mireya Dos Santos, a returning team member from last year and second year senior from Erskine. This team has been developing a menu that highlights native Maine ingredients such as oysters, venison, potatoes, blueberry, and lobster. This team has been chosen to go to Washington D.C. in May to represent the state of Maine in the 2019 National ProStart Invitational Culinary cooking competition.

+ Ilma Lopez - Pastry Chef and Owner / Piccolo & Chaval - Portland, ME

A native of Venezuela, Ilma Lopez grew up in the kitchen alongside her grandmother. After getting her start at Malabar in Caracas, she was accepted to the pastry program at Stratford University in Virginia. Today, Lopez is the Pastry Chef and co-owner of Piccolo and Chaval here in Portland, Maine. She is a veteran of some of the most demanding and rewarding kitchens in the industry, such as DB Bistro, Corton, Tailor, El Bulli, Café Boulud, and Le Bernardin. With a mastery of colors, flavors, textures, and spices—and a seasoned ability to work under pressure—Lopez makes classic dishes her own, with attention to micro-detail and thoughtful twists. For her work, Lopez earned a 2014 StarChefs Coastal New England Rising Star Pastry Chef Award. In 2018, she was chosen as a James Beard Outstanding Pastry Chef semi-finalist for the second year in a row. Recently, she has been featured in the children’s book Kalamata’s Kitchen and the Bon Appetite article as “one of the most talented pastry chefs in town.”

+ Damian Sansonetti - Chef & Owner / Piccolo & Chaval - Portland, ME

”Not where we thought we would be” Damian claims with a smile. “The less we planned, the more things fell into place”. Gowning up in Pittsburgh, Damian remembers making pasta with his Italian grandmothers, and seeing cured meats, and making wine with his grandfather in the cellar. Also assisting his father, the chef, in the family kitchen and learning about food from a young age. Damian’s first restaurant job landed him at the dishwashing sink of a local diner, until he worked his way up to man the stoves. After completing a year of college, Damian felt the draw of the kitchen in more of a professional sense. He enrolled in The Culinary program at Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Culinary. Upon graduation in 1997, he spent two summers on Nantucket island at the Brant Point Grill with The Myriad Restaurant Group. In 1998 he was asked to move to New York City to assist with the opening of the first W hotel and the restaurant heartbeat with the Myriad Restaurant Group and Chef Michel Nischan. What started out as a 6 month project set him on a career path that would unfold over the next many years.

Damian was the executive chef at Shallots, a refined Mediterranean restaurant in Midtown Manhattan, that was also Glatt Kosher. It was while he was the Chef here that he met chef/restaurateur Daniel Boulud. In early 2001 he called restaurant Daniel to make a reservation for himself and the GM. As fate would have it, Daniel himself answered the phone. Remembering Damian from a recent newspaper article, Daniel warmly greeted him, made the reservation, and met and talked on the night of the dinner. The Discipline, care for customers, and all the attention to detail inspired Damian. When Damian Left Shallots in 2003, he took a position under Executive Chef Olivier Muller at db Bistro Moderne, Daniels midtown bistro. There he learned as much about Alsatian cuisine as he did classic French. The energy of the kitchen and the simple creativity fueled a new direction for Damian. After over 2 years as the sous chef he left to go to the flagship Restaurant Daniel as the Banquet Chef. Now learning under Executive Chef jean-Francois Bruel and Chef de Cuisine Eddy Leroux. Learning precise techniques, and refinements, combined with simplicity, and boldness of flavor. Soon after becoming the Sous Chef for the main dinning room and work with Daniel on the line as well. He was asked to become the Chef of Daniels next restaurant Bar Boulud.

The undertaking of a new large restaurant, steeped in classic French cuisine, and a focus on regional Burgundian cooking and a large charcuterie/pate program. Working with Daniel and Charcuterie Chef Giles Verot, and Traveling to Paris to work with Gilles. The restaurant won much acclaim, and Damian began to work with the wine department and FOH to make a great dinning experience for the guests in a busy French bistro. Utilizing a lot of locally grown products and teaching his cooks respect for them. Also Implementing a “Nose to Tail” menu for every evening using locally whey fed pigs, goats, lambs, and beef from NY State.

Piccolo came when Damian and Ilma where looking to open their vision of an Italian restaurant, the kind you might find off on a side street in Southern Italy. With an inviting interior, warm attentive, and knowledgeable service, fine wines, and excellent food. Damian believes in using local products when best and available, and combining them with the finest imported ingredients to give the menu that Italian feel. Damians sound technical foundation, knowledge, with his family’s heritage, and passion for cooking have come together for the menu and experience at Piccolo.

In the summer of 2016, Damian along with his business partner and wife Ilma, purchased a restaurant in the West End of Portland Maine. In 2017 they did a gut renovation and launched Chaval. The restaurant has Spanish & French inspired seasonal cuisine, craft cocktails and well chosen wine list with a neighborhood atmosphere. Here you can indulge in New England Quail Stuffed with gruyere cheese and house made ham and fried golden, or Squid Ink fideos with Maine sea urchin aioli. Or a Grilled Prime Strip Steak with house made fries. The Restaurant has received many accolades so far including Best New Maine Restaurant as awarded by the Portland Press Herald. Best Vegetarian Dish, and Best European Restaurant by The Pheonix.

+ Phil Tees - Chef de Cuisine / 1888 Chophouse, Fairmont Banf Springs - Bannff, Alberta

Phil Tees, Chef de cuisine in the signature restaurant ‘’1888’’ of the illustrious Fairmont Banff Springs, is a Chef and creator from Montreal. He has worked in this industry for over fifteen years, working in kitchens in Alberta, Quebec, Nunavut, North west territories and Newfoundland. Phil is passionate about his country’s culinary heritage and the process each ingredient goes through from seed to plate. He splits his time as a chef between gardening, creating new and inventive dishes and foraging the Canadian rockies in an attempt to learn as much as possible about the ingredients the land is providing him.