Chef Bruce Kalman is the co-owner of Knead & Co. Pasta Bar + Market in Los Angeles. He has been recognized as a Rising Star Chef by the James Beard Foundation. He was awarded a championship title on Food Network’s Chopped, won on Bobby Flay and Esquire Network’s Knife Fight and appeared as a contestant on season 15 of Bravo’s Top Chef.

B.J. Smith, Top Chef  Season 14 contestant, is the Owner and Executive Chef of Delores in nearby Portland, Oregon. Smith brings more than two decades of culinary experience to his role, applying both classic and modern cooking techniques to high quality ingredients. Smith conceived a Smokehouse concept in 2010 as a way to apply all he had learned in his fine dining cooking career, but deliver an approachable menu where guests can get their hands dirty and reminisce over food as though at a good friend’s BBQ.

Born and raised in Philadelphia, PA, Chef Brian Duffy had his first experiences in the kitchen as a young child with his big Irish-Italian Family. Those experiences introduced him to culinary life and led him to study at Philadelphia’s The Restaurant School at Walnut Hill College. Culinary school may have taught him technique, but it was those Sunday nights cooking with his family where he developed his passion.

After graduation, Chef Duffy worked under James Beard Award  winning Chef Jean Marie LaCroix at The Four Seasons in Philadelphia. Following his successful tenure with Dave Magrogan Group, Duffy joined forces with Seafood American as a consultant and Executive Chef, where he developed fresh and frozen products for grocery chains across the world.

Duffy is perhaps most recognized from his abundant television appearances on the wildly popular Spike TV series Bar Rescue, where he tours the country (sometimes on his Harley Davidson) reforming failing bars and restaurants with his “tell it like it is” style. He made his on-camera debut on the Food Network series Date Plate and has appeared on countless segments on the DIY Network, HGTV, NBC, and Fine Living Network. Chef Duffy is also a regular to judge the Food Network  series Beat Bobby Flay and has appeared on The Today Show since 2006 for the St. Patrick’s Day Irish cook-off. 

Mutsuko Soma plays around with her Kamonegi Burger during Li’l Woody’s Burger Month earlier this year.

Mutsuko Soma Is One of Food and Wine’s Best New Chefs of 2019 The knife-wielding, sharp-skilled soba master and chef just keeps getting national acclaim. And we are here for it.

Kamonegi, helmed by Mutsuko Soma and guided by her vision of Edo-style cuisine with a slight whimsical bent, was Seattle Met’s 2018 restaurant of the year. Earlier this year Soma landed on the list of James Beard Award  semifinalists for the second year in a row. And now, the masterful chef has received even more national acclaim. Food and Wine Magazine  announced its annual declaration of Best New Chefs 2019 and of the 10 rising stars Seattle’s Mutsuko Soma was named among the talented constellation of chefs.

“My grandma taught me about countryside cooking. She would forage for mushrooms and other vegetables for tempura, and she grew her own buckwheat grain. She made everything that way. She passed away the same day my daughter was born, so I’m thinking I have to teach soba noodle making to my daughter too.” —Mutsuko Soma in F&W.

Nick Liberato has been working as a Chef/Restaurateur for the past 28 years. He got his start working behind his family’s produce stands as a kid at the Italian Market in Philadelphia. Nick has always been inspired and intrigued by the restaurant business. At the ripe age of 19, he discovered the key ingredients to his life were cooking and surfing. By combining his love for both, Nick traveled to Los Angeles in 1998 to further his culinary knowledge and has called the Southern California coast his home ever since. Nick has spent that time perfecting his craft in kitchens all over Los Angeles for some of the finest chefs in California and beyond. Nick’s skills span beyond the kitchen and into the bar where he has become excited to create chef inspired libations. This all eventually set Nick up to create a catering business called “Calidelphia” which worked events for A list celebrities not only throughout California but internationally as well. In 2009, Nick made his debut as a chef on Bravo TV’s hit show “Top Chef Masters”, and moved on to shoot multiple episodes on Spike TV’s “Bar Rescue” including other shows on the Food Network. Nick spent a considerable amount of time cooking and dining all over the world to further his knowledge culturally in the business. In 2014, he took over the Venice Whaler in Venice Beach, CA as the Executive chef/owner to turn a failing beachfront bar/restaurant into a success. Therefore, taking it from a 3 million dollar business to a 10 million business. Nick is now the Executive Chef/Partner of the Venice Restaurant Group overseeing The Venice Whaler, Cartolina and The Pier House which are all in Venice Beach. When Nick is not working in the restaurant or traveling around the world, he enjoys spending time with his wife and three daughters.

Pete Blohme AKA “Panini Pete”
With a restaurant career spanning over 40 years and a degree from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY, Pete has become a force in hospitality/food industry in the south. After many gigs in kitchens, hotels and cruise ships, being a chef/owner finally became a reality and Panini Pete’s Café opened in February of 2006 in The Fairhope French Quarter. In a few short years Panini Pete’s has become a local favorite due to his commitment to “Put Real Food in his Food” and his never met a stranger approach to hospitality. Panini Pete’s handcrafted Chef driven sandwiches and burgers have made his brand one to watch. Recently voted the Number 1 sandwich shop Alabama, the beignets have also launched this concept to new heights, garnering a host of positive media attention and rave reviews. Not to mention a regular on the Food Network over the past 10 years. Panini Pete’s has been featured on Diners Drive-ins & Dives, the “Best Of” Diners Drive-ins & Dives, Guy’s Big Bite, Guys Grocery Games. Pete was a guest judge on Food Truck Wars with Tyler Florence and has also performed in over 25 live food shows while touring with the Guy Fieri Road Show. 

Rick is a renowned barbecue pit master, chef, journalist, photojournalist, author, and TV cooking show host, who has traveled the world on assignment for consumer, travel, news and airline magazines. He currently bringing Barbeque Monthly, an online international barbeque and grilling magazine, to life, and is the instructor on cavetools.com’s Grill Master University online cooking course.

Rick conceived of, created and was the Editor-in-Chief of Barbecue America Magazine, the nation’s first and only national magazine devoted to barbecue, grilling, outdoor cooking, barbecue competitions and the barbecue industry. He has been a spokesman for many of the nation’s largest grill companies, as well as fulfilling that role for many of the companies noted below.

He was also the creator, host, and executive producer of public television's popular Barbecue America TV series (described as the first cooking and travelogue series highlighting America’s and the world’s outdoor bbq & grilling culinary landscape), which, in its seventh season, was aired on more than 230 public TV stations nationwide. He has also conceived, co-produced and hosted two seasons of the Outdoor Channel’s cooking and travel 

Ronnie Lee aka Lil’ Ronnie is the chef and Pitmaster and owner of Lil’ Ronnie’s Beachside BBQ restaurant group in beautiful Tofino BC. Lil’ Ronnie has mastered the art of cooking primal cuts over full log wood fire. His food and personality can best be described as fun & unique!

Rose Lawrence is a master of all things artisanal. Initially gaining recognition for her handmade, wild yeast bread, Rose quickly found herself on LA’s ‘best of’ lists for her bagels, pies, pastries, and brunch. Sourcing only local, organic ingredients, Rose stays true to her passion for health and sustainability. All of the waste created in Rose’s kitchen is composted and used as soil in Red Bread’s garden, the food packaging is biodegradable, and 5% of all earnings are given to the LA Food Bank. 
A lawyer by trade, Rose fights for food justice on the side, emphasizing food access issues that she herself aims to influence through Red Bread’s food delivery, food instruction, food education, and farmer’s market services. Refer to the Red Bread website to keep up with cafe movie nights, classes and demos, and how to get your hands on Rose’s famous Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookie.