Steve Atkins
Chef and Owner, The Kitchen Table Bistro, Vermont
Steve and Lara Atkins opened The Kitchen Table Bistro in February of 2003 after a 5 year stay in the San Francisco Bay area. Steve, the chef and driving force behind the restaurant’s “buy local” menu, grew up in Vermont, and is constantly inspired by a strong sense of place. Steve served on the board of directors for the Vermont Fresh Network, including one year as president, but really relates to VFN far more as a chef and Vermonter than as a board member The strong, years-long relationships with various farmers and producers is very much a point of pride, and each year Steve, Lara and the team at the Kitchen Table Bistro celebrate these connections at their annual “Farmer’s Dinner” where they strive to make the farmers the stars and let the diners make their own personal connection to their food. Steve and Lara have twice been nominated as “Best Chefs” in the Northeast Region by the James Beard Foundation. Along with a team of fellow Vermont chefs, they have cooked at the James Beard House in NYC, and hosted a Friends of James Beard dinner at their restaurant. The Kitchen Table Bistro has been featured in numerous publications, including the New York Times, Food & Wine and USA Today, but Steve and Lara are most proud of their relationships with their farmer friends and with the restaurant’s connections and support of the local cormmunities.
Chris Bailey
CEO, Vermont Smoke and Cure, Vermont
Chris Bailey, Vermont Smoke and Cure CEO, farmed for seven years, including three as Farm Manager and Executive Director of a new agricultural education farm in Maine before starting and too-briefly operating a 90-cow grazing dairy farm in Charlotte, VT. He went back to school at Cornell for an MBA with the goal of working to find ways to help small to medium scale farmers capture more value for their products. There, he and classmates re-started the Net Impact (business schools’ version of VBSR) chapter and led the school’s first Net Impact conference. Chris then led marketing of value-added grapes (wine) for a family winery in the Finger Lakes and then served as interim CEO for a slaughter facility and regional natural beef company before returning to Vermont to work with The Farmers Diner and Vermont Smoke and Cure. He saw the opportunities for Vermont Smoke and Cure to expand both purchases from and services for local farmers by adjusting its business model and creating new branding to grow sales. VSC now processes for over 600 “custom” (not for sale) farmers customers and over 50 USDA inspected product farmers. He has led the company since 2006. Previous to graduating from Dartmouth College, he raced on the national road cycling team for four years and then professionally. Chris currently serves as Vice President on the Board of Directors of the Vermont Fresh Network and lives in Barre Town with his wife.
Sean Buchanan
Vice President of Sales, FarmPlate, New Hampshire
Sean has been involved in the local food system in Vermont by working hand in had with consumers, chefs, growers, and distributors creating awareness and excitement about our increasing sustainable food system. As Executive Chef of the Middlebury Inn Sean wrote and filmed Vermont Public Television’s “Feast in the Making” connecting viewers to their local farmers, producers, and chefs. In 2008 Sean became the Executive Chef of Solstice at Stowe Mountain Lodge, a luxury hotel proving that farm to hotel can be profitable and that high volume is not a constraint to using local foods. After leaving the chef’s life Sean worked with Black River Produce, a local produce and specialty foods distributor, helping chefs integrate sustainable ingredients into their menus. He is the food column contributor for the Stowe Reporter and is focused on growing our economic and agricultural community by rebuilding our food system. “Everyday I hear how hard it is to market a farm, restaurant, or producer that is focused on doing it right. FarmPlate is the missing link that helps bring a community together by creating a network for our lifestyles.”
Mike Colameco
Chef, Author, and Media Personality, Vermont
Mike Colamec’s culinary media work runs the gamut. He is the host and producer of Colameco's Food Show, now in it’s 10th full season and airing weekly on WNET in New York, and has hosted Food Talk and Weekend Food Talk, live call in radio via WOR710AM since September 2006. Mike’s writing has appeared in Guitar Aficionado Magazine, Edible New Jersey, Edible Queens, and Saveur, and in August 2009 John Wiley & Sons published Mike Colamecos' Food Lover's Guide to NYC, the only independent Manhattan food guide to be published in well over a decade. Mike has also been a featured speaker for the last two years at the New Jersey Slow Food Festival.
Marc Druart
Director of Research & Development, Emmi Roth USA, Inc.
Marc Druart is the Director of Research & Development at Emmi Roth USA, one of the leading providers of specialty and artisan cheeses and premium fresh dairy products. Marc received his (Brevet de Technicien Superieur) from the National Dairy School of Poligny (France) in 2000. After graduation, Marc traveled the world working for various cheese and dairy companies in the U.K, New Zealand, and the USA. In 2011, Marc joins Emmi Roth USA dynamic team. Additionally Marc serves as a Board member at the American Cheese Society and he is a Garde et Juré at the Guides Internationale des Fromagers.
Sam Gugino
Chef, Author, Wine Spectator Columnist, Pennsylvania
After graduating from The Restaurant School in Philadelphia, Sam operated two critically successful restaurants. He became restaurant critic for the Philadelphia Daily News in 1986 and in 1988 he moved to California to become food editor at the San Jose Mercury News where his 1993 columns were named best in the nation by the Association of Food Journalists.
Upon moving to New York City in 1994 he wrote a weekly wine column for the Star Ledger of Newark, NJ (which was a runner-up in the AFJ Best Column category in 1999) and co-authored two books, Eat Fresh, Stay Health and Matthew Kenney's Mediterranean Cooking. His first solo book, Cooking to Beat the Clock, was named one of the top ten cookbooks of 1999 by Amazon.com. Low-Fat Cooking to Beat the Clock, was nominated by the International Association of Culinary Professionals for best book in the Health and Special Diet category in 2001.
Sam has written frequently for The New York Times and was nominated for a James Beard Journalism award in 1997 for a Times story. He has written for numerous magazines including Cooks Illustrated, Cigar Aficionado, and Women's Day. His wine column appeared in Specialty Food Magazine from 1998 to 2007. He is Contributing Editor of Wine Spectator magazine where his food column has appeared since 1996. In addition, he now blogs at www.samcooks.com/blog.
In addition to writing, Sam has taught cooking classes at Temple University, The Restaurant School in Philadelphia and numerous other cooking schools.
A member of the National Writers Union, Sam lives in Philadelphia with his wife Mary Lee Keane.
Matt Jennings
Chef and Owner, Farmstead, La Laiterie, and Farmstead Downcity, Rhode Island
"Matt has been in the food service industry for over 15 years. He is a classically trained Chef, and has also worked in gourmet retail & artisan specialty food shops from Cambridge, Massachusetts to San Francisco's Bay Area and back again.
He now owns a gourmet, specialty food shop called Farmstead, which specializees in domestic and in particular—New England artisan cheese. Farmstead also carries a wide selection of cured meats, salumi, pates, oils, vinegars, pastas, pantry essentials, artisan & handmade sandwiches and house baked goods. He has also opened (with help from his lovely wife, Kate) an 'american farmhouse bistro' called La Laiterie (The Dairy), which is adjacent to their specialty shop. La Laiterie serves honest, seasonal, handmade food with a hand selected, fine wine, craft beer and artisan spirit list to accompany the French bistro inspired menu.
Farmstead has been recognized as one of the country's top gourmet retailers. They have been written up in many national publications, including Travel & Leisure, Food & Wine, The New York Times, Yankee Magazine and have even been included in the prestigious Saveur 100.
La Laiterie has also been fortunate to receive many praises as well. The restaurant was chosen as one of Travel & Leisure's top 10 restaurants in the country for 'unusual couplings'—with emphasis on artisan cheese and craft beer pairings, in 2006. Also, we were selected by Bon Appetit magazine as one of their favorite small restaurants in the country in 2007. Matt was named to The Mother Nature Network's listing of the 'Most Sustainable Chefs' of 2010 and in November 2010 he was featured in Food & Wine Magazine as one of 'The 40 Biggest Thinkers Under 40' in the food service industry, who are changing the way Americans eat.
Matt is a proud and very active member of Chefs Collaborative, The American Livestock Breeds Conservancy, The American Cheese Society and The James Beard Foundation.
