This is a listing of our guest chefs over the
last few years. We are always looking for chefs who are willing to
share their cuisine with us and enjoy an evening with a group of
talented men who want to learn more. These chefs have become friends
and mentors and they universally enjoy the time they spend with Les
Marmitons.
Chef Jeffrey Galan - started his career as a server for Cattleman's restaurant in Netcong, NJ. After 2 ½ years there, and finishing by working in the kitchen, he went to the Marketplace in Flanders, NJ. Later, he enrolled and completed the culinary program at the Institute of Culinary Education in NYC, where he also had an externship with Lidia Bastianich.
After finishing the externship he worked for Jody Williams at Giorgioni on Spring Street in SoHo. After a few years there he returned to the Marketplace as a catering Sous Chef for 9 years.
Following the Marketplace, he went to work for Chef and Restaurant Owner Andre DeWaal for 4 1/2 years as Chef de Cuisine.
Upon leaving Andre's, he opened up The Oakley in Nutley, NJ as Executive Chef and then on to Fitzgerald's 1928 as Executive Chef.
Jeffrey is currently Executive Sous Chef and Game Changer Food Truck Chef for Fossil Farms in Boonton, NJ.
Along with his station at Fossil Farms, he joined forces with Chef John Sauchelli to grow a side project called STREETS, where they arrange and execute unique pop ups cooking street food from around the world.
Chef John Sauchelli - has been a pastry chef for more than half his life, and has a passion for creating decadence using natural ingredients. A multi-award-winning hot sauce maker and co-owner of Jersey Barnfire Hot Sauce, John has worked in many fine dining restaurants in New Jersey, New York, and abroad, including Maritime Parc in Jersey City, Grand Cascades Lodge at Crystal Springs in Hamburg, NJ, Gramercy Tavern in New York City, and Hotel Nassauer Hof in Wiesbaden, Germany. Most recently, John was the Executive Pastry Chef at Fiddler’s Elbow Country Club in Bedminster, NJ and is currently a pastry and baking instructor at Sussex County Community College’s Culinary Institute in Newton, NJ.
John believes that food can be aesthetically beautiful and pleasing to the eyes without having to be fancy. A fervent gardener, John is seasonally inspired, and the Garden State serves as a muse for his fresh, local, ingredient-driven desserts.
John currently lives in Hackettstown, New Jersey with his wife Leigh Anne, and in addition to spending time with his children, Lily and Chriss, also enjoys hiking, photography, and growing his business, which he has been doing with his longtime friend, Austin D’Almeida, for nearly 10 years.
Chef Anthony LoPintois
a classically trained Chef who has been behind the stoves for 32
years. A graduate of The Culinary Institute of America for Culinary
Arts and B.C.C. for Hotel and Restaurant Management.While at the
C.I.A., Chef Lo Pinto had many opportunities to taste and understand
the harmony of pairing wines with food. Since 1991, the challenge of
pairing seasonal foods with wines from around the world has been a
journey filled with passionate learning.Throughout his career, Chef
Lo Pinto has received the honor of being reviewed by the New
York Times, published Art Culinare Issue #59, The N.J The N.J. Native
Peoples Magazine Hudson Valley Green Chef/Locavore of 2011 and written many recipes for
The Biodynamic Journal.You can view his work on vizeo.com: You will find him in Jersey City at his Third
and Vine Restaurant in Jersey City, NJ
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Chef Anthony Bucco-
Chef Bucco was formerly the Owner and Executive Chef at restaurant, Felina, In Ridgewood, NJ. He is now a private consultant. He was Executive Chef at Latour at the Crystal Springs Resort in Hamburg,
NJ. In 2012, Anthony was instrumental in reopening the storied Ryland Inn, garnering the first four star review New Jersey Monthly had given in a nearly a decade, with Eric Levin noting Bucco was a gifted chef whose time has come.
Among other accolades, Bucco has received The New York Times highest rating (Excellent), coveted Four Diamond Award, and four stars from The Star- Ledger for his work at each of the following restaurants: Stage Left, Uproot and the Ryland Inn. Under Chef Bucco's guidance, Restaurant Latour remains one of NJ Monthly's Top 25 Best
Restaurants in New Jersey and one of Wine Enthusiast America's 100 Best Wine Restaurants in 2015. - See
more at: Click Here to Visit Latour.He graduated from the NY Restaurant School and has built a reputation for creating inventive American cuisine.
You can find him at Felinahere.
Chef Jason Ramos - Jason
Ramos began his culinary career at 19, in his hometown of Clinton.
After working as a prep cook in a local pub, he enrolled in the
Culinary Institute of America and commuted home each weekend to work
under chef Stanley Novak of the Harvest Moon Inn in Ringoes. Ramos
completed his externship at the Park Avenue Cafe; in
Manhattan under chefs Neil Murphy and David Burke. After graduating
he spent three years as sous chef of the Harvest Moon. He later
served as chef de cuisine of Stage Left in New Brunswick under
executive chef Anthony Bucco and helped open its sister restaurant,
Catherine Lombardi. Ramos, as sous chef, then helped chef/owner
Andrew Lattanzio open Artisan Kitchen in Lebanon. Ramos later spent
three years as executive sous chef of the Pluckemin Inn in Bedminster
under Michelin-starred chef Juan Jose Cuevas. Ramos left the
Pluckemin to be chef de cuisine of the Bernards Inn and then opening
executive chef of the Dog & Cask Gastropub in Rochelle Park
before returning to the Pluckemin to reunite with Lattanzio, who had
become executive chef after Cuevas departed. He joined the Peacock
Inn in Princeton in October 2015.
Chef Bryan
Greggis a graduate of the
Pennsylvania Institute of Culinary Arts where he found the initial
building blocks to harness his passion for the kitchen and turned it
into a finely honed craft. While attending school he earned the
opportunity to intern and work at some of the most prestigious and
highly regarded restaurants in the city of Pittsburgh, among which
were the famed Steelhead Grill at the Marriott and The Big Burrito
Group. After school, Chef Gregg traveled east to the Tri-State Area
where he sought to sharpen his already vast kitchen repertoire in the
culinary mecca of the Northeast, New York City. For the next twelve
years his ventures would lead him to dive back and forth between
kitchens and farms with some of the most highly regarded restaurants
and chefs in the New York and New Jersey areas. To this he discovered
and developed his focus for farm to fork methods, cooking techniques,
and the associated ideology to which his passion truly lies. During
this time period, Chef Gregg also had the chance to “stageâ€ン
overseas
at multiple Michelin-starred restaurants in both France and England.
This experience only served to further his intrigue for what
beautiful bounties can come from the country side. These experiences
also lead him to solidify his commitment to the farm to fork mindset
and his feelings towards head to tail cooking while still maintaining
respect for the food he was given to work with. In the most recent
years, he became the Executive Chef at the newly renovated Ho-Ho-Kus
Inn. There his ever changing farm to fork menu and style had become
one of the most talked about restaurants in Bergen County and
throughout Northern New Jersey. At Michael Anthonys
on the water front in Jersey City, New Jersey, Chef Greggs
extreme eye for detail along with his untraditional
cooking techniquesset
a dominant tone for the Newport Waterfront and brought him national
recognition from the 2013 Best Chefs America. At Escape, Chef
Greggs new journey will culminate in the opening
of multiple gastro locations in and around New Jersey in the coming
years. With Zone 7 as his back bone for local goods and his true to
form innovative style these gastro locations will focus on the areas
seasonal local bounty and his desire to serve cutting edge food to
the Jersey community at large. Chef Gregg has been the Featured Chef
at the prestigious James Beard House. He was recently named the Best
Jersey Seafood Chef at the 2015 Jersey Seafood Challenge and as a
result, represented the Garden State at the 2015 Great American
Seafood Cook Off in New Orleans where he won the Seafood Showdown.
Chef Claude
Solliard - Chef Claude has come
up through the ranks from the traditional farm setting of Switzerland
to a top chef in New York City. He was the primary chef for our very
successful Darren Cardinal memorial Reef Benefit Dinner in 2010 and
we were thrilled to have him join us in January 2013, 2014, 2015 and
2016. Chef Claude is now happily ensconsed as Executive Chef at Chez
Josephine on 42nd Street in NYC. Click
Here to Visit Chez Josephine.
Chef David
Drake- New Jersey's premier
chef. David has been our guest twice and enjoyed himself immensely
each time. He is presently Executive Chef at Stonehouse at Sterling Ridge Click
Here to Visit Stonehouse at Sterling Ridge.
Chef Jesse
Jones- New Jersey's TOP chef.
Chef Jesse won the NJ Ultimate Chef competition in March 2010. He is
presently catering for special events and does not yet have a
website. Chef
Jesse Jones wins Ultimate Chef Competition.
Chef Dan
Richer- Chef Dan has been a
repeat guest with Les Marmitons and keeps coming back for more. His
inventive approach to artisanal techniques has made his restaurant in
Maplewood, NJ a Saturday Night Special Destination. Read
about Arturo's Osteria.
Chef Maria
Lynn- Maria owns and operates
Restaurant Runa in Red Bank, NJ. She also runs Catering by Maria in
the New York/New Jersey area and her husband has a food truck
specializing in empanadas that can usually bnr found in Asbury Park.
She was born in Peru and trained at the Institute of Culinary
Education in NYC. She has worked at Jean George, The Bernards Inn and
other 4 star restaurants. She offers a wide array of catering
specialties with a Peruvian flair. Read about her at Maritas
Peruvian Cooking.
Chef Victor Cabezas - Victor was an owner of the now closed
restaurant MiSavi in the Ironbound section of Newark.
Chef Christine E. Nunn - Christine owned and operated the now
closed Picnic - The Restaurant, in Fair Lawn, NJ
Brooklyn-born
Latin chef Daisy Martinez returns
to the NJ Chapter in January 2012. You can learn about some of the
meals she ate on family trips to Spain and Peru on her Boriqua Blog.
But to find out what she ate this week, read Martinez's New York
Diet.
Daisy Martinez on the Food Network.
Chef Jim Langille - Jim comes to us from the Thon-e-lea Golf
Club in Brookline, MA. March 2013 was his fourth time as our guest
chef.
Chef Grace
Castenatto, Executive Chef at
Lola's of Metuchen. Chef Grace is a graduate of Perth Amboy High
School and trained at the N.Y. Culinary School. Lola's
Metuchen.
Chef Carl Ruiz, owner of Marie's Italian,
Specialties Read about Maria's Deli Here.
is the youngest Cuban executive chef honored with three New York Times Stars in NYC.
His culinary career has taken him around the world, cooking in Europe with Joel Robuchon to working with Eric Ripert at Le Bernadin. He has
opened countless restaurants around the world and he is the "secret weapon" to many culinary stars success. He owns an amazing
restaurant in Chatham, NJ with his wife, called "Marie's Italian Specialties" that has been featured on The Food Network show, Diners, Drive-ins and Dives."