2018 Worlds of Flavor Conference

KWAME ONWUACHI ‘14 is executive chef of Kith and Kin. Kwame’s mother first exposed him to cooking in the family’s Bronx apartment, where he helped peel shrimp and fabricate vegetables for her catering company. At age 11, he moved to Nigeria to live with his grandfather, who introduced him to a much different culture and cuisine from that of New York City. After returning to the United States and graduating high school, Kwame moved to Baton Rouge, where he got his first kitchen job cooking for the crews cleaning up the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf Coast. The job allowed him to save enough money to move back to New York City, where he found a job waiting tables at Craft. Wanting to venture out on his own, he sold candy on the subway, raising $20,000 in two months. The funds allowed him to start his own catering company, Coterie Catering. Kwame found his passion for cooking through catering and yearned for formal training, so he enrolled at The Culinary Institute of America in

From an after-school job as a sandwich hand at the tender age of 14, to the Michelin-starred kitchens of New York City, MONIQUE FISO always wanted to be a chef. She completed her studies at the Wellington Institute of Technology and while still still in school talked her way into her first fine dining job working for Chef Martin Bosley at the eponymous Martin Bosley at the Port Nicholson Yacht Club. Working full time while studying paid off and Monique finished top of her class. With a hunger for adventure and a desire for a challenge, she booked a ticket to New York City, home of some of the world’s best restaurants. After dropping her bags at a hostel, Monique headed for Michelin-starred PUBLIC restaurant and was immediately put to work. Over the next seven years, she honed her skills as a sous chef in some of New York City's top kitchens: The Musket Room, PUBLIC Restaurant, A Voce, Saxon+Parole, Double Crown, to name a few. In 2016, she returned to New Zealand full time and began th

MICHAEL HARLAN TURKELL is a photographer and author who has spent over a decade as a journalist in the food media world. He has been nominated for a James Beard Foundation Award in Visual Storytelling, photographed over a dozen cookbooks, co-authored Chris Cosentino's OFFAL GOOD, and wrote and photographed his own, ACID TRIP: Travels in the World of Vinegar. Michael also hosts THE FOOD SEEN on HeritageRadioNetwork.org, a podcast during which he brings together guests working at the intersections of food, art, and design that has twice been a finalist for a Stitcher Award, as well as the special eight-part series MODERNIST BREADCRUMBS, in collaboration with Modernist Cuisine's Modernist Bread book. He also started the Japanese-inspired event series called SUMO STEW, which live streams sumo matches from the grand tournaments in Japan while serving chankonabe, the stew they cook and eat to fortify themselves before wrestling. He lives in Brooklyn, NY, with his wine writing wife, and their

CHRIS KAJIOKA ‘05 is one of Honolulu’s most well-known and beloved chefs. Since childhood, he has never wanted to be anything other than a chef, and he has proven that he knows no bounds in perfecting his craft. Chris, a Honolulu native, received a degree in the culinary arts from the prestigious Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York. After graduation, he went on to work at Ron Siegel’s Dining Room at the Ritz-Carlton in San Francisco and then Thomas Keller’s Per Se in New York. Making his way west yet again, Chris worked his way up to sous chef at Aziza in San Francisco and then continued on to Blaine Wetzel’s Willows Inn on Lummi Island, Washington. Returning to his native Hawaii in 2012, he became the executive chef at Vintage Cave. Chris’ classical culinary training combined with his affinity for his own Japanese heritage results in his own unique style: inventive dishes incorporating techniques from contemporary French cuisine with a distinctly Japanese sensibility.

ANALIESE GREGORY is head chef of Franklin. Originally hailing from New Zealand’s North Island, and also spending a few years of her childhood travelling remote areas of Australia with her parents, Analiese took up cooking at the age of 15 before graduating with a diploma of culinary arts from Auckland University of Technology. Her extensive CV starts with her time at Logan Brown in Wellington, before traipsing across the world to work in Europe’s most prestigious kitchens, including time at two Michelin-starred venues, The Ledbury and Le Meurice, S. Pellegrino’s World’s 50 Best ranked Mugaritz, and the revered three-Michelin-star restaurant of Michel Bras. Back in Sydney, Analiese then spent 5 years alongside Peter Gilmore, heading the team at Quay, including when it joined the S. Pellegrino’s World’s 50 Best list. Following her time at Quay, Analiese then jetted off to the deserts of Morocco in 2014, running a pop-up restaurant out of Numero 7. She then joined the team behind ACME in

MANOELLA BUFFARA is a prominent name in contemporary gastronomy. At her restaurant Manu in Curitiba, she cooks and experiments with indigenous Brazilian products, mostly from the region of Paraná. She inherited all of her respect for ingredients from her father, who was a farmer. Selecting products according to their seasonal availability and the objective to be as fresh as possible make for a menu in constant mutation. Manoella was raised in the countryside around goats, cows, vegetable gardens, cornfields… She learned early on to value land and animals, and what they can offer if treated with affection and care. With her grandmother, she learned how important our hands are, to discover temperatures, cooking points, time to make bread, and the love we should have for food. Patience has been a guiding principle as Manoella built her career and Manu: one must know how to wait and let things sometimes develop on their own, without trying to selfishly control them. Each ingredient has its

JEREMY CHAN is head chef/co-owner of Ikoyi. He was born in the UK to a Chinese father and Canadian mother, grew up in Hong Kong, the UK, and the US and spent much of his life living and working around Europe. He received a bachelor’s degree in languages and philosophy from Princeton magna * laude. He then went into renewable energy private equity, a career path that proved ill-suited to his interest, as Jeremy spent all his days off obsessing and thinking about food and read any book he could get his hands on until he convinced himself he would become a chef. He left his job and started working in kitchens about six years ago, asking, questioning, and writing everything down in every kitchen where he worked. Jeremy spent time in Michelin-starred kitchens, including at Hibiscus in London, in the test kitchen at Noma in Copenhagen, and most recently at Dinner by Heston Blumenthal back in London. He left to open Ikoyi with his old friend and business partner Iré Hassan-Odukale. The food

Originally from Chiang Mai, Thailand, HONG THAIMEE is one of the most visible faces of Thai food in the US. As chef/owner of three NYC restaurants, she brings her true Thai flavors to a broad New York audience. She is a chef/entrepreneur, humanitarian activist, inspirational speaker, and ambassador for Thai food. Hong put aside a successful career as a model and business executive in Bangkok to come to New York. With a business degree but little kitchen experience, she talked her way into cooking jobs at Jean-Georges’ Spice Market and Perry Street restaurants, where she mastered classic technique for five years. She left Jean-Georges in 2012 to open Ngam in the East Village and focus on the Thai flavors of her childhood. The place (now known as Thaimee Table) quickly caught on, and was ranked as the Best Thai Food in NYC by The Village Voice in 2013. With her own restaurant as a base, Chef Hong grew substantial catering and education businesses, all driven by her desire to serve people

DIEGO ROSSI is chef-owner of Trippa. A young chef from Verona, after highschool training he nourished his experience in important Michelin-starred kitchens such as Hotel Bauer in Venice with Chef Giovanni Ciresa, the St. Hubertus with Norbert Niederkofler, the Locanda Margon with Alfio Ghezzi, and Delle Antiche Contrade in Cuneo as a resident chef. In 2014 he decided lo leave behind “gourmet cuisine” and its sophistications because he firmly believes in a sustainable cuisine. His dishes are characterized by the research and use of seasonal products only, wild herbs, offal and "poor fish.” He opened Trattoria Trippa (trattoria means “tavern”) with his business partner Pietro Caroli in June 2015, with the aim of serving people excellent ingredients in an informal ambience. Every day the menu is created based on what the market offered, this way it changes daily and the ingredients are always super fresh. (Milan, Italy) Visit for more information ——————————————————————————————————————————

HUGO ORTEGA, winner of Best Chef: Southwest at the prestigious 2017 James Beard Foundation Awards, started with very humble beginnings. He was raised in Mexico City and Puebla, Mexico, and learned his love of cooking from his mother and grandmother, a revered mole maker. At age 17, he left Mexico for Houston and began his career in the restaurant industry as a dishwasher and busboy at Backstreet Cafe, before graduating from culinary school and later becoming its executive chef and owner, along with wife Tracy Vaught. His American dream continued when they opened Hugo’s in 2002, featuring regional Mexican cuisine; Caracol, a Mexican coastal kitchen, in Houston’s Galleria area in 2013; and Xochi, celebrating the flavors of Oaxaca, in early 2017 in the Marriott Marquis Houston Downtown. Hugo has published two cookbooks: Hugo Ortega’s Street Food of Mexico (2012) and Backstreet Kitchen: Seasonal Recipes from Our Neighborhood Café (2013). He was a James Beard Award finalist for six consecut