Presenter Biographies - Worlds of Flavor

Presenter Biographies

ERIC ADJEPONG is chef at Chef Adjepong LLC. (Washington, DC) @chefericadjepong

BRAD BARNES ‘87, CMC is director of consulting and industry programs at The Culinary
Institute of America (CIA) in Hyde Park, NY. Brad is responsible for the oversight of all
operational consulting, ProChef® certification, and custom professional training. His clients
include Google, U.S. Department of Defense, and Stanford University. Brad is the author of
two books and the creator of food concepts such as Barclay’s Center in Brooklyn and The
Pythian Market in New Orleans. Previously, he served as senior director of culinary education
and senior director of continuing education at the CIA. Before joining the education
administration, he was the president of GigaChef, LLC and chef/owner of B&B Solutions. Brad
is a Certified Master Chef, one of 66 in the United States, a Certified Culinary Administrator,
and an inductee of the American Academy of Chefs, the American Culinary Federation’s honor
society. (Hyde Park, NY)

SCOTT ALVES BARTON, PHD is a faculty fellow in race and resilience in Notre Dame's
Institute of Advanced Studies. Scott's home is in Harlem, where he teaches as
an assistant adjunct professor at New York University and area universities. He holds a
PhD in food studies from NYU. He had a 25-year career as an executive chef, restaurant and
product development consultant, and culinary educator. Scott is on the board of the Association
for the Study of Food and Society, is secretary of the Society for the Anthropology of Food and
Nutrition, is a steering committee member for the James Beard Awards, and co-chair of the
African Diaspora Religions Unit for the American Academy of Religion. Scott has been a public
foodways scholar at Lynden Sculpture Garden, Milwaukee. His research and publications focus
on the intersection of secular and sacred cuisine as a marker of identity politics, cultural
heritage, political resistance, and self-determination in Northeastern Brazil, and the 19th-20th
century U.S.A. (New York, NY) @senhorokra

CAROLINA BAZÁN is chef-owner of Ambrosia and Bistro Ambrosia in Santiago. (Santiago,
Chile) @chinoise

MICHAEL BELTRAN is chef-owner at Ariete. (Miami, FL)

LILLA BERNAL is assistant professor at The Culinary Institute of America in San Antonio,
where she dedicates much of her time to researching ingredients and traditions of the Texas-
Mexico borderlands. (San Antonio, TX)

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RYAN BROSSEAU is executive chef at Dear Margaret. Ryan brings a passion for
preservation and pickling, whole-animal butchery, and bread baking to Dear Margaret. His
menu pays homage to his French-Canadian mémé (grandmother) Margaret, with a nod to the
farmers and purveyors from whom he sources high-quality local ingredients. A self-professed
“old-fashioned cooking dude” who believes food culture is crucial to understanding who we are,
he is dedicated to the details that elevate familiar flavors to accessibly innovative, inherently
satisfying, and nourishing. Originally from Canada—he grew up in Merlin, Ontario, an hour east
of Detroit—Ryan moved to Chicago in 2010 to pursue cooking and devoted time to working in
the kitchens of Perennial Virant, Found, and Table, Donkey and Stick. He served as opening
executive chef for Le Sud, earning city-wide accolades and recognition. Ryan opened Dear
Margaret with owner Lacey Irby in Chicago's Lakeview neighborhood in January
2021. (Chicago, IL)

ERIK BRUNER-YANG is a two-time James Beard Foundation Award nominee, the chef-owner
of Maketto and ABC Pony in Washington, DC, and the founder of Power of 10 Initiative. In
2015, he opened Maketto, a communal marketplace and lifestyle brand combining retail,
restaurant, and café located at 1351 H Street NE. Maketto was selected as one of Eater’s 21
Best New Restaurants in America and is DC’s New Restaurant of the Year by RAMW. Erik and
his restaurants continue to receive rave reviews both locally and nationally from Bon
Appétit, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Eater, and many
more. (Washington, DC)

GREG DRESCHER is vice president of strategic initiatives and industry leadership at The
Culinary Institute of America (CIA). He oversees the college’s leadership initiatives for the
foodservice industry, including academic and other strategic partnerships, conferences,
invitational leadership retreats, digital media, and other global initiatives. He is the creator of
the college’s Worlds of Flavor International Conference & Festival (now in its 23rd year), as
well as a portfolio of health and sustainability leadership initiatives including Menus of Change
and Healthy Kitchens, Healthy Lives, jointly presented by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of
Public Health; the Menus of Change University Research Collaborative, co-led by the CIA and
Stanford University in association with more than 50-plus leading colleges and universities; and
the annual Global Plant-Forward Culinary Summit and Plant-Forward Kitchen digital media
platform. Co-developer of the CIA’s new partnership with the University of Barcelona—
the Torribera Mediterranean Center, with its focus on the healthy, traditional Mediterranean
Diet and regional food studies—and a strategic advisor to the European-based EAT
Foundation, Greg works internationally to advance innovation at the intersection of health,
sustainability, culture, and culinary insight. In 2005, Greg was inducted into the James Beard
Foundation’s Who’s Who of Food & Beverage in America, and in 2007 and 2009 he shared a
second and third James Beard Award for his team’s work in developing the CIA’s Savoring the
Best of World Flavors digital media series, filmed on location around the world. He served on
the National Academy of Medicine’s Committee on Strategies to Reduce Sodium Intake in the
United States (final report 2010). In 2011, he was inducted as a member of the
Accademia dei Georgofili, Europe’s oldest agricultural academy based in Florence. In
2017, Foodservice Director included Greg in its “20 People Shaping American Foodservice
Today.” Before joining the CIA, he jointly spearheaded a collaboration of some of the world’s
leading health experts and organizations—including the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public
Health and WHO—in authoring The Mediterranean Diet Pyramid: A Cultural Model for Healthy
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Eating. The cumulative results of this research were published in a special edition of
the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (1995), creating an evidence-based foundation for
much of the academic, policy, and media interest in the Mediterranean Diet that followed.
(Sacramento, CA)

DOMINIQUE DUFOUR is chef at Gray Jay Hospitality. Dominique was born north-east of
Montréal, Quebec. Immersed in French Canadian food culture, she grew up curious. Upon
entering her culinary career, she travelled extensively to cook in the UK, Spain and all
across Canada. She found a burning passion for culinary history and the Canadian identity. In
2019 she opened her first restaurant, Gray Jay, where she decided to explore those themes
further. Today she is still at the helm of the kitchen, spending her time foraging for new dishes
and reclaiming old techniques long forgotten. (Ottawa, Canada)

SAMANTHA FORE is a first-generation Sri Lankan-American chef from Lexington, Kentucky.
She started her pop-up restaurant in 2016, after traditional Sri Lankan brunches in her home
outgrew her dining room. Tuk Tuk Sri Lankan Bites menus reflect Sam’s Sri Lankan upbringing
in the American South. Her work has been featured in multiple national publications (including
the cover of Food & Wine magazine) and she can be seen on PBS’s Somewhere South. She
was named one of Plate’s 2018 Chefs to Watch and was selected as one of Southern Living’s
2020 Cooks of the Year. (Lexington, KY)

NELSON GERMAN is chef-owner of Alamar. (Oakland, CA)

ELENA HERNANDEZ holds a Grand Diplôme in Culinary and Pastry Arts from Le Cordon
Bleu, Paris, and for 15 years worked her way through hotel and restaurant kitchens while
teaching culinary arts in Panama and South America. In 2002, she founded the Academia de
Artes Culinarias, the first private cooking school in Panama. Elena has consulted as corporate
chef for Copa Airlines, the Panamanian national airline; helped create and starred as head
judge on Quiero Ser Chef, a cooking reality show on Televisora Nacional; has appeared as
guest chef on Top Chef Panama, and writes regularly about food. Her articles have been
published in La Prensa, the leading national newspaper, and several local food magazines. La
Prensa named her one of the five most important chefs in Panama of the last 25 years for her
contributions to culinary education, while Chilean magazine Blank named her Pioneer of
Culinary Education in her country. She served on the board of directors of the International
Association of Culinary Professionals between 2007 and 2011. In 2016 she opened St. Francis
Café, a restaurant focusing on local, fresh ingredients serving brunch every day of the week.
(Panama City, Panama)

CATHY NASH HOLLEY has been publisher and editor-in-chief of Flavor & The Menu since it
began nearly 20 years ago. With its annual Top 10 Trends issue, Flavor & The Menu is a
valuable resource for the foodservice industry, serving as a source of flavor and menu trends,
strategies and innovation. In addition to overseeing the magazine, Cathy gives presentations
on flavor trends at industry events, and is immediate past-president of the International
Foodservice Editorial Council. She lives in Maine with her teenage twins. (Portland, ME)

MELISSA M. MARTIN grew up on the Louisiana coast and has lived in New Orleans for 25
years. After graduating from Loyola University in New Orleans, she worked as an adult literacy
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teacher then headed to California post Hurricane Katrina. She in the Napa Valley at White Rock
Vineyards and Inglenook, California is where she honed her self-taught culinary skills to a
professional level. Martin returned to New Orleans and opened Satsuma Café, a casual farm-
to-table restaurant, and worked at Café Hope, a nonprofit restaurant, teaching at-risk youth to
cook seasonal food. In 2014, she opened Mosquito Supper Club a Cajun restaurant created to
celebrate the bounty of shrimpers, oyster, crabbers, fin and crawfish fishermen and farmers
that define Bayou cuisine. In 2020 she published Mosquito Supper Club Recipes form a
Disappearing Bayou. It was long listed for the Art of Eating Prize and named a best new
cookbook by Bon Appetit, Food & Wine, NPR, the Splendid Table, Eater, Epicurious, and more.
(New Orleans, LA) @mosquitosupperclub

ADÁN MEDRANO ‘10 is a food author and chef, specializing in the indigenous foods of Texas
and the Americas. His cookbook, Truly Texas Mexican: A Native Culinary Heritage in Recipes,
received the Finalist, Book Of The Year award from Foreword Reviews. His recent
cookbook, Don’t Count the Tortillas: The Art Of Texas Mexican Cooking, describes cooking as
an artistic practice, with over 100 recipes illustrating dishes of Texas borderlands. The New
York Times featured Adán’s Texas borderlands cooking as the food cover story: "Don't Call It
Tex-Mex!” He is the executive producer and writer of the 2021 food documentary, “Truly Texas
Mexican,” which won Best Documentary at the New York Independent Cinema Awards. It was
Official Selection at the Sonoma International Film Festival and is streaming internationally in
English and Spanish. (Houston, TX) @AdanMMedrano

JOHN MICHAEL ‘05 is director for culinary and hospitality education at the National Institute
for Culinary and Hospitality Education. With 20 years of front and back of house experience in
London, New York, and California and almost a decade in educational leadership, John was
recently recruited to found the National Institute for Culinary and Hospitality Education (NICHE)
in Wichita, Kansas. The NICHE, founded on the principles of innovation, sustainability, and
accessibility, will bring a new level of sophistication and appreciation to the Great Plains,
honoring its traditions while raising the bar. (Wichita, KS)

LEXI MICHAEL ’03 is the executive chef and chair of the National Institute of Culinary
Education (NICHE) in her hometown of Wichita, Kansas. A hospitality and culinary industry
veteran who has worked in fine dining, lodging and the wine industry, she returned to the Great
Plains in part to teach culinary arts but also to advocate for a more sustainable food system in
the nation’s Bread Basket. Her Mennonite heritage has inspired her to research Volga German
Mennonite culinary traditions and teach them to the next generation of foodservice
professionals in her region. (Wichita, KS)

DIEGO OKA is executive chef at La Mar. He was born and raised in Lima, Peru, one of the
worlds’ most diverse and eclectic culinary destinations. Blending personal experiences and a
background of Japanese descent into his cuisine, he draws on influences ranging from his
grandmother’s cooking to the food he discovered while living in Mexico and Colombia. As
executive chef of Mandarin Oriental, Miami’s new restaurant, La Mar by Gaston Acurio, Diego
focuses on iconic Peruvian cuisine such as cebiche, in addition to a number of lesser-known
plates that showcase the multi-culturalism and biodiversity of the country. He received his
degree in culinary studies from the Universidad San Ignacio de Loyola in 2001. While attending
courses,      Diego     accepted      an     internship    at    celebrity    chef     Gaston
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Acurio’s Astrid&Gaston restaurant, a world-class establishment located in Lima that is ranked
on the San Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurants list. This opportunity blossomed into a long-
term professional relationship with Acurio Restaurantes continuing to present day. Before
joining La Mar in Miami, Diego served as executive chef at other La Mar locations, starting with
the original Lima restaurant in 2005 and followed by Mexico, Colombia, and San Francisco.
Now at the helm of Mandarin Oriental’s La Mar, Diego is dedicated to sharing the flavors and
culture of Peru with Miami, serving authentic Peruvian dishes. (Miami, FL) @diegooka

CHANDRA RAM ‘99 is the editor of Plate, an award-winning food magazine read by chefs all
over the country. Chandra is a James Beard and IACP nominated cookbook author who worked
in restaurants for years before turning to food writing and editing Plate. She holds degrees in
journalism and culinary arts and is the vice chair of the James Beard Foundation journalism
award committee. She is a member of IACP, Les Dames d’Escoffier and Southern Foodways
Alliance. (Chicago, IL) @chandrasplate

GABRIELA RUIZ is chef-owner of Carmela & Sal in Mexico City.(Mexico City, Mexico)

PARNASS SAVANG ‘11 is chef-owner of Talat Market. He is a first-generation Thai American,
and uses his family background and southern ingredients to influence his style of cooking:
Georgian Thai. (Atlanta, GA) @talatmarketatl

LUCAS SIN, chef-owner of Junzi Kitchen and Nice Day, opened his first restaurant when he
was 16, in an abandoned newspaper factory in his hometown of Hong Kong. Despite spending
his Yale undergraduate years in the cognitive science and English departments, Lucas spent
his weekends running restaurants out of his dorm, known as Y Pop-up. Prior to joining junzi’s
founding team and opening junzi kitchen and Nice Day, Lucas cooked at Modernist Cuisine in
Seattle, Kikunoi Honten in Kyoto, and Michelin-starred kitchens in Hong Kong and New York.
Lucas has been named a Star Chef Rising Star, an Eater Young Gun, and Forbes 30 under
30. Beyond junzi and Nice Day’s daily menu, Lucas curates a collaborative tasting menu
exploring the narrative of Chinese culinary history in relation to other cultures of the world,
which became a project known as Distance Dining during the COVID-19 pandemic. With Eric
Sze, the chef of Taiwanese restaurant 886, Lucas co-founded SHY*BOYZCLUB, an introverted
Asian pop-up collective. (New York, NY) @lucas.sin

CATHY WHIMS is chef-owner at Nostrana. A channeler of the soul, psyche, and techniques of
Italy, Cathy is a master of inventive regional Italian Cuisine. Her many personal relationships
with farmers and ranchers in the Pacific Northwest give her access to top quality ingredients,
allowing her food to reflect the best of both the region, and the season, in the true Italian spirit.
At all three of her Portland, Oregon restaurants—the flagship Nostrana, urban pizza and
cocktail spot Oven & Shaker, and her modern wine bar Enoteca Nostrana—Cathy's elemental
regional Italian cooking has earned her six nominations for James Beard Best Chef
Northwest. (Portland, OR)

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                       © 2021The Culinary Institute of America. All rights reserved.