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SSCA CHEFS & MASTERS 2008

MARK ROSENSTEIN Chef/owner of Asheville's cornerstone The Market Place and author of the New York Times lauded In Praise of Apples, Mark also leads trips to Europe's and the West Coast's top wine regions and is a timeless and highly successful innovator.

LAUREY MASTERTON President and owner of Laurey's Catering in Asheville author of Elsie’s Biscuits, Laurey has been peppered with prizes, including Small Business Person of the Year for the State of North Carolina, Small Business Leader of the year for Asheville, the Blue Chip Enterprise Initiative Award and the Athena Award.

PIERRE LESTIEUX Presently owner of The Paris Bakery, Pierre is a native of Limoges, France. He has also served as baking judge for the departments of Haute-Vienne, la Creuse and Corrèze, as a chef on cruise liners, and as head of a catering company in Charleston.

TRES HUNDERTMARK Executive chef for Asheville’s The Lobster Trap since its opening in 2005, Très has also served as executive chef for The Derby Café and Clements Catering in Louisville, KY, and executive sous chef at the Beau Rivage Casino & Resort in Biloxi, Mississippi.

PERRY HENDRIX Current executive chef at The Market Place Restaurant, following on the heels of a stint as executive chef at Richmond Hill Inn’s Gabrielle’s, Perry’s energy and vision are transformative.

HIRANTH JAYASINGHE Executive Chef and co-owner of BlueEarth Caterers in New York City, Hiranth has worked with several renowned chefs, taught at the Natural Gourmet Cookery Institute for Food and Healing, and appears frequently as a guest chef in spas up and down the East Coast.

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.

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.

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 Italian language and Italian ways.

CHRIS AQUILINO Chef, culinary educator, and business consultant, Chris is the presently the resident culinary specialist at Asheville’s Earth Fare South

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

MARGE PORTER A graduate of the New England Culinary Institute, Marge has an extensive background in the food business as cooking instructor, personal chef and caterer. She has worked at the James Beard House in New York, and currently teaches at the Chef's Gallery in Stillwater, Minnesota.

MARC WILLIAMS Having racked up an impressive list of cooking credits including two stints at the Omega Institute and work in ten other professional kitchens, Marc has served as an integral part of Warren Wilson’s café and garden, and is an expert in Sustainable Agriculture.

CYNTHIA PIERCE With over twenty years of professional culinary experience working in restaurants, bakeries and catering in New York City, Cynthia has served as pastry chef for The Market Place Restaurant in downtown Asheville, and now runs her own food service business.

DIANA SCHMITT McCALL Passionate about food and its relation to place, Diana is an avid herbalist and skilled pastry chef. She has served as a main force behind Warren Wilson’s cooperative alternative food program, and currently coordinates community gardens in Black Mountain.

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 and an expert in tea-taking and ale-tasting.

EVE DAVIS Head of Asheville’s Slow Food Convivium, Eve also runs Hawk & Ivy Bed & Breakfast in Barnardsville, where she cultivates a tremendous garden and conducts natural foods cooking classes.

LAURA BOOSINGER Currently writing a cookbook of southern recipes inspired by the musical Smather’s Family, Laura is also a songstress and entertainer par excellence.

ELIZABETH McGRAW Irish by origin, Indonesian by marriage, New Yorker by address, Elizabeth joins her husband Hiranth to add an extra element to an already rich week.

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

EBERHARD HEIDE Long a veteran of the wine business, Eberhard, originally from Germany, opened his own thriving store, The Asheville Wine Market, in 1993

TOM MICHAELS A PhD in plant pathology from Oregon State University, Tom planted his first truffle orchard in 2000, and now cultivates over 20 acres, supplying restaurants such as Blackberry Farm, and recognized by chefs Thomas Keller and Daniel Boulud as a prime source for the elusive Perigord (now Tennessee) Truffle.

KATIE GREEN Administrator par excellence, Katie carries out many of the unseen tasks that make a project come together. Her constant smile and attention to detail bring warmth to all she touches.

PETER & POLLY GOTT Homesteaders in 1960, before the back-to-the-land movement became recognized as such, Peter & Polly have made a life of growing everything they eat, as simply as possible. Their 300-acre farm in Madison County has long been a Mecca for aspiring homesteaders, artists and musicians from all over the country.

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. Founder and director of the SSCA, she is passionate about taste and how it extends from our palate into our daily lives.