The Chefs

MARK ROSENSTEIN Chef/owner of Asheville's cornerstone The Market Place and author of the New York Times lauded In Praise of Apples, Mark is a timeless and highly successful innovator. Besides having raised Asheville's standards of restauranteering in the almost 30 years since The Market Place's inception, Mark leads trips to Europe's and the West Coast's top wine regions. An active member of Asheville's Slow Food convivium, he advocates the notion that the best food is that which moves quickly from farm to plate.

LAUREY MASTERTON Laurey's Catering in Asheville (of which Laurey is president and owner) has been an institution since 1987, and has garnered attention both locally and nationally. Recently, 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. Before his arrival in Asheville three years ago, he served as baking judge for the departments of Haute-Vienne, la Creuse and Corrèze, was a member of the Fédération de la Boulangerie, and was part of the bureau de direction in charge of baking apprenticeships. Pierre adds true flair to a week already rich in French atmosphere

WALLY MARIA MAZZUCCO A native of Friuli in northern Italy, Wally found her way to Asheville 20 years ago. In order to share the rich traditions of her part of the world, in addition to the wealth from her garden, she began conducting cooking classes out of her home. A teacher both of Italian language and Italian ways, she propagates seeds from Italy in her garden as well, experimenting with her creations all the way from the ground level to the plate.

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

LAURA POLE President of Eating for a Lifetime founded in 1997, and head chef at Smith Farm Center for Healing & the Arts, Laura is a graduate of the Natural Gourmet Institute, a registered nurse, and a certified Nia fitness instructor. Raised with her hands in Creole and Cajun cuisine, she now combines her passions for food, entertaining and health into a career of nourishing people on all levels, specializing in healing and preventing illnesses through the food she prepares.

DEE DEE 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. A potter as well, one of her specialties is food presentation, including the color and texture of the serving platter.

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.

MICHAEL GENTRY Ten-year owner and operator of a successful catering company in Charleston, SC, Michael currently offers cooking classes both at the Center for the Arts in Black Mountain and on the Warren Wilson campus. His personal warmth supports his motto concerning the sharing of food: the most important ingredient is love.

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. In addition to directing the SSCA, she teaches cooking in her home in the Loiret, south of Paris. Madame Séguret’s approach--elegant simplicity combined with conviviality--embodies the school’s overall philosophy.

CHRIS AQUILINO Chef, culinary educator, and business consultant, Chris is the presently the resident culinary specialist at Asheville’s Earth Fare South. The man behind Picasso’s Plate Cuisine, his driving force is the fusion of art, food, culture, and music on the same plate.

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. She takes us deep into our American roots.

MARC WILLIAMS Having already racked up an impressive list of cooking credits including two stints at the Omega Institute and work in ten other professional kitchens, Marc was an integral part of Warren Wilson’s café and garden for four years. Always ready with a kind word and a helping hand, he is driven by the conviction that good food leads to good spirits.

CYNTHIA PIERCE With over twenty years of professional culinary experience working in restaurants, bakeries and catering in New York City, Cynthia Pierce moved to Swannanoa in 2003 with her husband and daughter. She is currently pastry chef for The Market Place Restaurant in downtown Asheville.

DANIELLE CREEKSONG Since she was ten years old, Danielle has been baking bread, most recently as a professional artisan and chef-instructor teaching gourmet cooking classes that feature local, organic and artisan foods. Known as "The Artisan's Kitchen", her series of personally-tailored artisan bread-baking classes is currently being offered at Greenlife Grocery in Asheville.

DIANA SCHMITT McCALL Passionate about food and its relation to place, Diana was drawn to Western North Carolina by its richness in culinary resources. She is an avid herbalist and skilled pastry chef and has served as a main force behind Warren Wilson’s cooperative alternative food program.

IAN ROBERTSON A native of England, long-time cornerstone of Warren Wilson’s organic garden and college work program, Ian is well-versed in the skills of tea-taking and ale-tasting. His culinary skills were honed while living in Hong Kong, the Philippines and Malta. His quiet wit and charm immediately set an ambiance of relaxed camaraderie.

BRIAN COLE A Master Judge in the Beer Judge Certification Program, Brian loves to share his passion about brewing and beer. A biologist by profession, he has won many brewing awards and medals, including the Ninkasi Award in the National Homebrew Competition, Carolina Brewer of the Year, and Mid South Brewer of the Year.

EBERHARD HEIDE Long a veteran of the wine business, Eberhard opened his own thriving store, The Asheville Wine Market, in 1993. Originally from Germany, he travels the world over bringing the best the vineyards have to offer back to his lucky clients, where each bottle is passed on with passion and enthusiasm.

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