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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.

For the past 15 years, Chef Tyler Florence (www.tylerflorence.com) has delighted the masses by sharing the sights, sounds and flavors of his unique culinary vision with fans around the world. After graduating from the prestigious culinary program at Johnson & Wales University, Florence tackled the Big Apple where he helmed multiple acclaimed restaurants and established himself as one of New York City’s finest young stars. In New York, he honed his culinary skills under the tutelage of some of the city's premier chefs, including Charlie Palmer at Aureole, Marta Pulini at Mad 61 and Rick Laakonen, ultimately becoming executive chef at Cafeteria. As the buzz about the charismatic young chef’s food picked up steam, a fresh new television network took notice; the rest is history. After more than 14 years as a Food Network star, Florence has taken his food and his wit across the globe, finely tuning what is regarded as one of America’s most important culinary voices. He has starred in such series as How to Boil Water, his cooking show for novices; Food 911, his hugely popular "recipe rescue" show; as well as his signature series, Tyler's Ultimate. Florence has also hosted numerous other Food Network shows and specials, including Planet Food, All American Festivals and My Country, My Kitchen. Tyler is also a regular guest on The Today Show, CNN, The View, The Tonight Show, Oprah, Access Hollywood, Extra, Good Morning America, and more. In July 2008, Tyler opened his first kitchen retail shop, The Tyler Florence Shop, in Mill Valley, Calif. Outposts will also be opening soon at San Francisco International Airport and in Napa. Adjacent to the Napa shop will be Tyler's new restaurant concept, Tyler Florence Rotisserie & Wine. Tyler also released two best-selling cookbooks in October 2008: Stirring the Pot and Dinner at My Place (Meredith Books). He also has three previously released books: Tyler’s Ultimate, Eat This Book and Real Kitchen (Clarkson Potter). In January 2009, Tyler launched his signature lines of steel-clad cookware and titanium cutlery on Home Shopping Network and at major retailers across the United States, including Macy’s, where Tyler is a member of the prestigious Macy’s Culinary Council. Also in 2009, Tyler opened his first signature restaurant, The Empire Plush Room, at the new Hotel Vertigo in San Francisco. In June 2010, Tyler opened his first signature restaurant, Wayfare Tavern, in San Francisco's Financial District and later opened the historic El Paseo in Mill Valley in fall 2010. Tyler lives in Mill Valley, Calif., with his wife, Tolan, and has three children: sons, Miles and Hayden, and daughter, Dorothy.

Hugh Acheson is the chef/owner of 5&10 and The National located in Athens, GA, Empire State South and Spiller Park Coffee in Atlanta, GA, and The Florence in Savannah, GA. Born and raised in Ottawa, Canada he started cooking at a young age and decided to make it his career after taking a very long time to realize that academics weren’t his thing. At age 15, he began working in restaurants after school and learning as much as possible. Today, Acheson's experience includes working under Chef Rob MacDonald where he learned stylized French cuisine, wine and etiquette at the renowned Henri Burger restaurant in Ottawa, and in San Francisco as the chef de cuisine with Chef Mike Fennelly at Mecca, and later as opening sous chef with famed Chef Gary Danko at his namesake restaurant, where he found a love of the simple, pure, and disciplined.Taking these experiences, Hugh developed a style of his own forging together the beauty of the South with the flavors of Europe and opening the critically acclaimed Athens, GA restaurant 5&10 in March of 2000. In 2007, Acheson opened The National with fellow chef Peter Dale. Adding to his list of dining establishments, Hugh opened Atlanta based restaurant, Empire State South in the summer of 2010. Hugh’s most recent endeavor is The Florence, which opened in June of 2014.Hugh's cookbook titled A New Turn in the South: Southern Flavors Reinvented for Your Kitchen, published by Clarkson Potter, hit the bookshelves in October 2011 and won the award for Best Cookbook in the field of “American Cooking” by the James Beard Foundation in 2012. In A New Turn in the South, you’ll find libations, seasonal vegetables that take a prominent role, salads and soups, Hugh's prized sides, and fish and meats, turning Southern food on its head every step of the way. Hugh’s pickling swatch book, Pick a Pickle, also by Clarkson Potter, was published in the spring of 2014 and is a handy kitchen go-to for canning and preserving. In May of 2015, Hugh’s newest cookbook, The Broad Fork: Recipes for the Wide World of Vegetables and Fruit, was released. The book brings fresh produce to the center of the plate and offers knowledge and the inspiration to consider new directions for how we eat and support our communities through the wonderful world of agriculture.This fresh approach to Southern food has earned Hugh a great deal of recognition, including Food & Wine’s Best New Chef (2002), the Atlanta Journal Constitution Restaurant of the Year (2007), five James Beard nominations, and 2012 Best Chef Southeast.In 2010 Hugh competed on Bravo’s Top Chef Masters: Season 3. He returned to the hit show as a judge on Top Chef: Seasons 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13 as well as Top Chef: Duels. He also hosted Bravo’s online complement to Top Chef Masters Season 5, called Battle of the Sous Chefs. But all of that is to everyone outside of Athens. To Athens, he is the guy who owns those restaurants, has one eyebrow, a wife far better looking than he is and two daughters who are the apple of his eye. Hugh's Restaurants:Empire State South (Atlanta, GA)The Florence (Savannah, GA) The National (Athens, GA) Spiller Park Coffee (Atlanta, GA) 5&10 (Athens, GA)Hugh's Books:A New Turn in the South (2011) Pick a Pickle (2014) The Broad Fork (2015)