Welcome to Vintage Affaire

2010 Guest Chefs

Vintage Affaire Recipe Archives: Your reference for recipes to past delectable amuse-bouche offered by our chefs in past years.

Each year, several outstanding local chefs contribute their talents to Vintage Affaire with special food and wine pairings to be featured during the silent auction. All are on hand to talk about the hors d'oeuvres they serve and the wines that best compliment their creations.

We are pleased to welcome the following chefs to this year’s event:

Executive Chef Xavier Salomon
The Ritz-Carlton, Half Moon Bay
One Miramontes Point Road, Half Moon Bay
(650) 712-7000

SERVING CHILLED SUMMER CORN SOUP WITH LOBSTER “LOLLIPOP” AND FRESH THAI BASIL OIL

Fourth in his family and second in The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company to earn the title Maître Cuisinier de France (French Master Chef), and a fifth generation restaurateur, Xavier Salomon’s passion for food began at his family’s kitchen table in Savoie, France. His European tenure includes training under Jo Rostang at his Michelin three-star restaurant La Bonne Auberge in Antibes, France. Chef Salomon continued his education at Le Bateau Ivre in Courcheval and graduated from Thonon les Bains Culinary Academy. In 1991 he joined The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company as the executive chef at The Ritz-Carlton, Aspen and in 1996, he moved to Atlanta as executive chef at The Ritz-Carlton, Buckhead.

Chef Salomon joined The Ritz-Carlton, Half Moon Bay in July 2001, where he oversees all dining experiences at the resort including the signature restaurant Navio, The Conservatory Lounge, The Library, and 17,000-square-feet of banquet and wedding suites and ballrooms.

EXECUTIVE CHEF PETER RUDOLPH
Madera, Rosewood Sand Hill
2825 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park
(650) 561-1540

SERVING MARINATED LAUGHING BIRD SHRIMP WITH CORN CUSTARD, ENGLISH PEA PUREE AND CHORIZO

Peter Rudolph is the Executive Chef of Madera, the signature restaurant at Rosewood Sand Hill in Menlo Park. Chef Rudolph comes to Madera following two years as Executive Chef at famed Campton Place in San Francisco, where he was named one of StarChef.com's Rising Star Chefs in San Francisco.

Chef Rudolph became interested in cooking while growing up in Martinez, where he was surrounded by fresh produce that grew in his grandparents’ garden. Spending time in his grandmother's kitchen eventually led him to the California Culinary Academy. Thereafter, he began his culinary career as a pastry chef at San Francisco's Brasserie Savoy.

Chef Rudolph refocused on savory cooking by making his way into the kitchens of fine hotels, spending 10 years with The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company. His career with the luxury hotel brand began at the award-winning Dining Room at The Ritz-Carlton, Buckhead in suburban Atlanta. He eventually returned to the West Coast as Sous Chef at Jer-Ne in The Ritz-Carlton, Marina del Rey, and as Chef de Cuisine for Navio at The Ritz-Carlton, Half Moon Bay.

At Madera, Chef Rudolph says he is coming back to cooking the cuisine he is most comfortable with – refined yet approachable food that honors the many culinary traditions of the Western US. The well-crafted, market-driven cuisine with bold flavors is centered on a wood-fire grill. Chef Rudolph highlights his menus with sustainably harvested and produced seafood and meats that are paired with the bountiful harvest of the surrounding farming communities.

EXECUTIVE CHEF DONATO SCOTTI
Donato Enoteca, Redwood City
1041 Middlefield Rd
Redwood City, CA 94063
(650) 701-1000

SERVING BACCALA MANTECETO E CARTA MUSICA, INSALATA DI QUAGLIE E ORZO, AND PANZANELLA TOSCANA

Growing up in the small town of Bergamo, near Lake Como, Italy, Donato Scotti’s roots were planted from a young age for his future career as a chef. Fine cooking, homemade products and a personal touch were a part of the culture and daily life, where he delivered bread by bicycle to local residents as a child. Hailing from a family of avid rural gastronomes, he grew up accustomed to fresh rabbits and chickens raised by his father, and homegrown, seasonal vegetables from the family garden, living from farm to table every day.

Now the executive chef of his own eponymous Donato Enoteca in Redwood City, CA, Scotti’s dream of opening his own restaurant with true and honest modern Italian cuisine has become a reality. It is a place where he creates a weekly-changing menu reminiscent of his childhood days, filled with artisanal ingredients, seasonal California farmer’s market produce and authentic Italian hospitality. Scotti’s approach consists of keeping dishes simple, yet delectable, and allowing the ingredients to speak for themselves, always attune to maintaining a balance in flavor. Dishes from his native Lombardia region are exhibited on the menu, such as Risotto Milanese and Ossobuco, but updated with a modern twist.

Scotti’s path to Donato Enoteca began in high school, when he worked at the Michelin starred Ristorante Del l'Angelo in Italy, a regional destination for serious food lovers. He studied formally at the Instituto Alberghiero di San Pellegrino culinary school. He moved to Los Angeles where the opportunity to work at the legendary Valentino restaurant and the bounty of California’s fresh and local ingredients was unsurpassable. He later worked at Primi and Posto. In 2000 he joined Il Fornaio. In 2004, Scotti designed the concept and opened La Strada in Palo Alto with his friend and business partner who appreciated his vision for a modern ristorante that combined fine food with an elegant yet rustically friendly ambience. Building upon his excellent reputation in the Peninsula for fine cuisine, he focused his menu at La Strada primarily on the Northern Italian regions and set the stage for where he is today. Now, branching out on his own, Scotti brings the authentic flavors of Italy to Northern California on the palate of a beautifully-designed modern restaurant with rustic accents at Donato Enoteca.

CHEF DE CUISINE EDWARD HIGGINS
Quattro Restaurant and Bar
Four Seasons Hotel Silicon Valley
2050 University Avenue, East Palo Alto
(650) 470-2889

SERVING BRAISED SNAKE RIVER FARMS PORK CHEEK WITH PEACH & PICKLED RED ONION SALMORIGANO

Edward joined Quattro after spending several years at top restaurants in New York City and Tokyo. While in New York, Higgins was part of the culinary team at Tom Collicchio’s Craft, which quickly became an overnight restaurant sensation and won the James Beard Awards “Best New Restaurant” in 2001. He also spent time cooking at Hearth, where he honed his skills in the art of contemporary Italian cuisine. Most recently, Higgins was part of the opening team as Chef de Cuisine for the highly acclaimed restaurant, Insieme, where he played a pivotal role in developing the restaurant’s stellar reputation, which received top food rankings and accolades in the New York Times, Travel & Leisure and Town & Country during his tenure.

Higgins made the move to Tokyo, Japan, where he made his home for five years and joined the team at Four Seasons Hotel Tokyo at Marunouchi, eventually earning the role of Executive Chef. Higgins learned the delicate skills needed to excel in exquisite Japanese cuisine. He explored native Japanese ingredients such as Uni Cream Sauce and Japanese Fava Beans to create remarkable dishes highlighting premier cuts of meat and fresh seafood with international appeal.

“I cook from the heart. For me, the enjoyment is coming up with the idea, executing it and then watching guests eat and appreciate the dishes I prepare,” said Edward Higgins, Sous Chef. “Life happens over meals while enjoying time with people; it’s wonderful to see people savoring a brief moment in their lives.”

CHEF DMITRY ELPERIN
Village Pub
2967 Woodside Road, Woodside
(650) 851-9888

SERVING WHITE CORN FRITTER WITH REMOULADE SAUCE

At his childhood home in Minsk, the capital of Belarus in Russia, Dmitry's family always kept a garden. Dmitry's grandfather, who did most of the cooking, would use the fresh vegetables to make the family's meals. "The garden was really my first introduction to cooking," Dmitry says. When his family moved to Madison, Wisconsin when Dmitry was nine years old, they continued the family tradition by planting a garden. Dmitry would often help his mother with the cooking, learning his way around the kitchen.

After working in restaurant kitchens in his teens and graduating from the prestigious Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, Dmitry began his career by working at Red Sage in Washington D.C. for Mark Miller, the pioneering chef who brought Southwestern cuisine to prominence. After four years in D.C., Dmitry headed west to California, where he expanded his repertoire to include classical French cuisine at Sans Souci (Carmel) and Asian fusion at Hawthorne Lane (San Francisco). He returned to the East Coast specifically to work for Daniel Boulud, a chef he greatly admires, but decided to return to the West Coast. "I got spoiled in San Francisco, and I came back to the city I love," he says.

Dmitry has worked in celebrated San Francisco restaurants with such talented chefs as Adrian Hoffman at One Market Restaurant, Daniel Humm at Campton Place, and Laurent Manrique at Aqua. A chance meeting with The Village Pub's executive chef Mark Sullivan in New York City led to their teaming up in the spring of 2007 to run the beloved restaurant in Woodside, California. "I'm proud to be part of a program that uses local ingredients," says Chef Elperin.

CHEF DOUGLAS DEGEETER
Cetrella Restaurant
845 Main Street
Half Moon Bay, California 94019
Phone: 650-726-4090

SERVING KONBU CURED SPANISH MACKEREL WITH VEGETABLE JARDINIÈRE, RANIER CHERRY SHISO DASHI & PASTA CHIP

Chef DeGeeter formerly performed as Sous Chef to Executive Chef Bruno Chemel at 1-star Michelin rated Chez TJ in Mountain View. Chef DeGeeter completed his culinary arts training honored with a National Merit Scholarship at The Art Institute of Houston, and has eleven years of professional expertise gained at high-level resorts, hotels and fine dining restaurants in Texas, Tokyo, Washington, Florida, and most recently in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Douglas DeGeeter performed progressive culinary training with fish at Café Annie of the Schiller del Grande Restaurant Group, which Zagat praised as “Houston’s Most Popular Fine Dining Restaurant,” and as banquet cook with Quattro’s award-winning chefs at the Four Seasons Hotel in Houston. DeGeeter then spent a year at Restaurante Museo in Tokyo as second chef, where he specialized in menu development and offered cooking classes in Italian fine cuisine. From 2001-2004, he served as Chef de Cuisine and Chef Tournant at The Salish Lodge and Spa in Snoqualmie, Washington. He next joined the opening culinary team for the Setai, in Miami Beach, as Chef de Partie, followed by a tour as Executive Sous Chef at the Club at Mediterra in Naples, Florida. In 2007, Doug relocated to the Bay Area, where he served as Sous Chef at the acclaimed Michael Mina in San Francisco, also staging at 1-star Michelin rated Quince in San Francisco, and at 2-star Michelin rated Cyrus Restaurant in Healdsburg.