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Sebastien Rouxel recently joined Stephen Starr Restaurant Group as corporate pastry chef to oversee current properties as well as new ones in the works. Prior to this, Sebastien served as executive pastry chef for the Thomas Keller Restaurant Group for 15 years, overseeing all aspects of the pastry department for the group’s 11 establishments: The French Laundry, Per Se and Ad Hoc, as well as the Bouchon Bistros and Bouchon Bakery outposts in Yountville, Las Vegas, New York City and Los Angeles. Rouxel joined the organization in 1999 as pastry chef at The French Laundry in Yountville, California, where he quickly became known for creating dessert menus with unusual flavor combinations designed to perfectly complement Keller’s distinctive cuisine. Rouxel relocated to New York City for the opening of Per Se in 2004, and was tapped once again for the opening of Bouchon Bakeries New York city in 2006 and 2011. Rouxel grew up in the Loire Valley of France, and began his culinary education at a very early age. At the young age of 16, he was in training as a savory cook at Les Jardins de la Forge a Michelin one-star in Champtoceaux.(France). Realizing that patisserie was his true interest, Rouxel took an internship at Le Peché Mignon in Nantes, where he experienced an intensive training, and earned his Mastery Diploma.By age 20, Rouxel, for his military duty, was appointed pastry chef at the Palais de L'Elysée, the house of the President of France. Afterwards, went on to become pastry chef at the Michelin two-star restaurant Le Grand Véfour inside the Palais Royal in Paris. In 1996, Rouxel came to the United States and worked at L'Orangerie Restaurant in Los Angeles and at Lutèce in New York before beginning his long-standing culinary relationship with Thomas Keller.In 2005, he was named a “Rising Starchef” by Star Chef Magazine.In 2006 and again in 2008, Pastry Art and Design Magazine declared him one of the “Top Ten Best Pastry Chefs in America.” Sebastien is the co-author of Bouchon Bakery, a #1 New York Times Bestseller. Sebastien's Book:Bouchon Bakery (2012)

Inspired by a life full of cattle ranching and working his way up through the restaurant ranks, meat-loving chef Rahm Fama follows his carnivorous curiosity across the country, searching out the choicest cuts and obsessing over mouth-watering meat on his Food Network show, Meat & Potatoes. Rahm is fascinated by the story behind food, especially meat, and he appreciates the time, effort, dedication and passion required to get it to the plate.Rahm’s love of food and respect for all-things meat stem from growing up in Santa Fe, N.M., and working on his mother’s cattle ranch. He began his culinary career at age 15 when he secured a prep cook position at a local restaurant, Mark Miller’s Coyote Café. He spent two years there, and he knew for sure that the kitchen was his calling. Rahm instantly fell in love with the excitement, atmosphere, and fast-paced action of the restaurant, and his curiosity pushed him to discover food through travel and firsthand experience. He traveled to many kitchens, cooking his way through locales including Austin, Phoenix/Scottsdale, New York, Colorado Springs, Vail, and St. Lucia.After learning the restaurant ropes locally, he moved to Austin to work as a line cook at Westbank Fishcamp for a year then returned to Santa Fe where he worked as a cook at Quail Run. Next, Rahm traveled to Phoenix/Scottsdale to work as a lead line cook at Scottsdale Phoenician. Rahm was offered a chef de cuisine position at age 22 in The Broadmoor, a five-star hotel in Colorado Springs, Colo. He accepted his first executive chef position working with Serge Raoul at Raoul’s in New York when he was 26. Rahm discovered that the hotel culinary world was an extraordinary place to experiment with food and learn about cooking from a business perspective after two unique experiences in New Mexico: He built up the Sierra Grande Lodge & Spa in New Mexico from scratch, and then he spent more than four years as executive chef of La Posada de Santa Fe Resort & Spa transforming the award-winning Fuego restaurant into a world-class destination. Then, in 2006, he took a job as the executive chef for the Lodge at Vail in Colorado, overseeing all culinary operations including the signature AAA Four Diamond Award winning restaurant, The Wildflower, and the Tuscan-style dining venue, Cucina Rustica. In addition to his restaurant experience, Rahm also worked as a private chef and has cooked at the prestigious James Beard House in 2006 and 2008.Quite the adventurer, Rahm spent time on the Caribbean island of St. Lucia, exploring remote townships and learning indigenous recipes from village matriarchs while opening a new restaurant for RockResorts. While in Vail, Rahm lived in a mountain cabin without a kitchen; he taught himself to cook everything from bread to main course meals over a wood-burning fire.Rahm loves to fish, boat and explore new food venues on a non-stop quest for unique recipes and new ingredients that will ultimately inspire his own cooking. He has three children (Delani, Kali, and Recce) all of whom he’s eagerly teaching to cook. Rahm currently lives in Los Angeles.