MAURICIO ABREU  Originally from Mexico City, Chef Mo has made his mark on Asheville with his home-based restaurant and cooking classes, now transformed into an upscale restaurant & bar on Hendersonville Road.

NATE ALLEN Finalist in the 2011 WNC Chefs Challenge series, graduate of Johnson & Wales in Providence, on the opening team for Beard Award winning chef Suzanne Goin in LA, Nate has been at the helm of the Knife & Fork in Spruce Pine, NC since 2009.

CHRIS AQUILINO Chef owner of Picasso’s Plate Cuisine, Chris has previously served as Chef de Cuisine at the Gideon Putnam Resort and Spa in Saratoga Springs, NY, and currently hosts monthly five-course beer and wine pairing dinners at Earth Fare Market and Café.

DAPHNE ARTHUR Formally trained at Peter Kump’s New York Cooking School, Dee Dee has served as Michael Douglas’s private chef, as a chef on a yacht in the Bahamas, and as head of a catering company called 3d Gourmet

MARK BRENNER A lauded biologist holding a doctorate in environmental engineering and specializing in aquatic ecology and field history, Mark’s contagious love of wild food brings a special dimension to the table.

TERRELL BRUNET A native of Louisiana, Terrell found his gift in the kitchen of the legendary Antoine’s of New Orleans. Former chef instructor at the Culinary Institute of America and Manager of the Left Bank Restaurant and Elite Café in the San Francisco Bay area, he currently serves as a culinary consultant in Sonoma County, California.  Terrell will be hosting the Sonoma classes to be offered from December 1-5.

BRIAN CANIPELLI A graduate of Johnson & Wales in Charlotte, winner of the 2009 Truffle risotto competition, host to the 2011 WNC Chefs Challenge, Brian’s Cucina 24, on Wall Street, is one of Asheville’s top restaurants.

ANTHONY CERATTO  Chef /owner of Fiores in downtown Asheville, Anthony describes his Tuscan-inspired menu, as fresh, local, and seasonal products that are prepared simply and artfully.

BRIAN COLE Master beer judge and brewer, Brian is a founding member of MALT, and a winner the Ninkasi award. A biologist in addition to brewer, he has been heralded as North Carolina Brewer of the Year.

MARY COLLINS-SHEPARD. A culinary expert and Techniques Class instructor for Williams-Sonoma, Mary enjoys not only creating and sharing fresh, healthy dishes but teaching others to do so as well, feeding both passions simultaneously.

MICHAEL GENTRY Ten year owner and operator of a catering company in Charleston, SC, and exhibitor at the Organic Growers’ School, Michael offers year-round weekly cooking classes (Everyone Cooks) on the Warren Wilson campus.

ADAM HAYES  Executive chef of the culinary team at the Grand Bohemian’s Red Stag Grill (host to the annual North American Truffle Fest), Adam is known for integrating local ingredients and flavor into his creations.

EBERHARD HEIDE Long a veteran of the wine business, Eberhard, originally from Germany, opened his own thriving store, The Asheville Wine Market, in 1993. His expert pairing of each ingredient with a complementary bottle turns an ordinary dish into a divine experience.

SAMANTHA IZZO Chef owner of Simply Red Bistro at Sheldrake Point Vineyard on the shores of Lake Cayuga, South African native Chef Izzo (otherwise known as Mama Red) presents a special menu that focuses on comfort food. Sam will be our host chef for October’s Ithaca session.

BILL KLEIN  Executive Chef at Fig’s Bistro in Biltmore, NC, Bill has worked as a progégé of Madeline Kamman, as well as in such noted French establishments as L’Hotel de Lion d’Or in Romorantin, Le Jardin des Sens in Montpellier, and Michelin 3 star Le Beurhiesel in Strasbourg.  Chef Klein applies his wealth of French cooking technique to a cuisine that exemplifies the essence of food—simple, essential, rich and true.

GENEVIEVE LENAIN Chef and owner of Les Deux Gourmets in Paris, Geneviève is an energetic wonder-woman who has made a bold niche in the world of sharing French cuisine.  She will be hosting our Paris 2011 sessions in her stellar demonstration kitchen, in the 12th arrondissement near Bastille.

WALLY MARIA MAZZUCCO A native of Friuli in northern Italy, Wally conducts cooking classes out of her home in Weaverville, where she also passes on the joys of Italian language and Italian ways.

DEBBY MAUGANS  Blogger, author of  Small Batch Baking and Beyond the Bowl: A Cereal Lover’s Ultimate Cookbook, Debby has over 25 years of food-writing experience.  You will be charmed by her lively manner and put at ease by her simplicity.

ALAN MUSKAT  Epicure of the obscure, a Princeton graduate with a degree in Deep Ecology, and author of Wild Mushrooms: A Taste of Enchantment, Alan has been featured in The New Yorker, Country Living, PBS Folkways, Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern, and Voice of America, urging the masses to sample rather than trample the toadstools.

IAN ROBERTSON A native of England, the force behind the creation of Warren Wilson’s organic garden, and current Dean of Work for the college, Ian is a cornerstone of the SSCA. His guided morning walks around campus bring the notion of service and environmental stewardship to reality, demystifying the steps that bring ingredients from ethereal to material.

MARK ROSENSTEIN  Retired chef owner of Asheville’s cornerstone The Market Place and author of the New York Times lauded In Praise of Apples, Mark leads trips to Europe’s and the West Coast’s top wine regions and is a timeless and highly successful innovator.  His newest project is a series of offerings called Lessons from an Appalachian Table.

SUSI GOTT SEGURET A resident of the French hexagon for almost twenty years, Susi has studied at the Cordon Bleu and with several of France’s top chefs, and holds a diploma in gastronomy from the Université de Reims. Founder and director of the SSCA, she is passionate about taste and how it extends from our palate into our daily lives.

BARBARA SWELL Author of eight cookbooks including Old-Time Farmhouse Cooking and The Lost Art of Piemaking, Barbara has offered instruction on a wide variety of traditional cooking skills, both at the John C. Campbell School in Brasstown and at her own Log Cabin Cooking Classes.

JENNIFER THOMAS A graduate of A-B Tech's Culinary Program with a degree in Baking and Pastry Arts, Jen has a background in fine and graphic arts and has just opened a The Montford Walk-In Bakery, offering delectables and classes out of her home space.

THIRZA VALLOIS A Post-graduate of the Sorbonne, Thirza Vallois has lived in Paris for over thirty years and knows the city stone by stone.  Author of the invaluable Around and About Paris series of guidebooks, she will lead us on a gastronome's tour of undiscovered quarters during our May 2011 session.