Owner of Sparrow Cookshop

Monica began her career at the age of 18 for prestigious Cafe Annie in Houston. She later left Houston for Europe where she spent the next three years working in restaurants in Greece and London.

In 1990, she earned her Chef's title from Prue Leith's School of Food & Wine.She returned to the United States, working first in several innovative San Francisco restaurants (Bix, Edie) then coming back to Houston to work in Marion Tindall's Bistro Cuisine and Tony Vallone's La Griglia.

In 1992, Monica opened The Quilted Toque where she fully demonstrated the infusion of international foods.

In 1994 she moved to open Boulevard Bistrot.

In 1996, Monica was named one of Food & Wine Magazine's Top 10 Best New Chefs.

After 10 years at her Museum District restaurant Boulevard Bistrot, Monica's lease was about to expire; she took this opportunity to start over from scratch--to break out of the bistro box and create a new concept in an up-and-coming part of Houston, South Midtown. Inspired by the location--an industrial red-brick building on 10,000 square feet of land--she has again envisioned and made real a restaurant with simple, good food using as many local and regional ingredients as possible.

TV Personality

Chef Tristen Epps attended and graduated culinary school at the acclaimed Johnson & Wales University. He participated in a culinary master chef program at the historic Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia.

This well versed chef has traveled to 15 countries in persuit of learning as much about global cuisine as possible. He's worked at the well-noted Per Se by Chef Thomas Keller.

His last postition was Sous Chef at The Four Seasons restaurant, Quattro in Houston, Texas. Now he's the Sous Chef for Red Rooster in Harlem, NY.

You must know that this chef is so incredibly down to earth, he's not afraid to admit enjoying the occassional hot dog, chicken nugget, onion rings, salty foods, beer and Asian foods of all sorts. He is deathly opposed to okra and dill pickles and well, dill in general.

owner of Susie’s Custom Catering and Farmer's Daughter 

Susie began her relationship with food picking fruit with her parents, who came to California from Mexico. To pursue her food passion, Susie attended the California Culinary Academy and later worked as manager, line cook, sous chef and executive chef at several restaurants.

She’s now the owner of Susie’s Custom Catering and Farmer's Daughter and participates in events where she teaches students how to cook with a variety of techniques and flavors.

Cookbook Author: Dorothy Huang's Chinese Cooking.

Dorothy Huang was born in Canton (now Guangzhou), China and was raised in Taiwan. She earned her master's degree in Education with a minor in Foods & Nutrition at the University of Houston.

Her work as a dietician and knowledge of Chinese cuisine led to the decision to make teaching Chinese cooking her career. Dorothy has been Houston's premier teacher of Chinese cooking for more than 25 years.

Dorothy returns to Asia frequently and has studied with many outstanding chefs. Her newly published cookbook Chinese Cuisine Made Simple is an excellent successor to her first cookbook Dorothy Huang's Chinese Cooking.

Head Chef & Owner: Carillon

A native Austinite, Josh Watkins quit his Central Texas hometown for schooling at the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco.

While stationed in the Golden State, Watkins worked on several restaurant openings with former high-profile San Franciscan Chef Reed Hearon—one of which, Rose Pistola, earned the James Beard Foundation’s “Best New Restaurant” award.

Inspired by the wealth of seafood and high-quality, local produce San Francisco had to offer, Watkins decided to bring the same elevated, seasonal dining experience back home.

By 23, Watkins had worked his way up to chef de cuisine (even making an appearance on Food Network’s “Iron Chef America” alongside Bull).

And by 2007, with Watkins at the helm as executive chef, The Driskill Grill earned consecutive five-star ratings. Watkins’ passion for farm fresh, ingredient-driven food led him to open Carillon at the AT&T Hotel and Conference Center in June of 2008.

Chef | TV Personality | Chef | Sommelier

Born in Connecticut, Benjamin Burke has always loved food. Real food. Fresh food. Healthy food. Food that came straight from his own mother’s garden.
When Benjamin began cooking with his mother as a young boy, he was always able to use fresh fruits, vegetables, and herbs; he simply fell in love. Endlessly craving to know more, he turned to his mother for culinary guidance. She taught him to never fear creativity in the kitchen. So he didn’t.

After years of practicing alongside his beloved teacher and experimenting with recipes from his own collection of cookbooks, Benjamin began his inevitable, first professional cooking job. In little time, his culinary opportunities began flowing in mercilessly. Benjamin accepted as many offers as he could handle, training on any and all positions, until his journey lead him to his dream -- a Michelin-starred restaurant in southern France.

Benjamin currently resides in Denver, Colorado, where he is a sommelier at Il Posto. He spends his time reminiscing over good food with friends. He fulfills his passion of creating edible masterpieces by scheduling various “Guest Chef” appearances all over the country.

TV Personality | Chef

Eric LeBlanc was born in Isle La Motte, Vermont, where at age 13 he began working in a country club. Fueled by his experience in the hospitality industry Eric attended and graduated from the New England Culinary Institute in 2005. With his degree under his belt Eric sought out experience in the kitchens of Chez Henri, Central Kitchen and Grotto as a line cook. He moved on to Marliave where he was instrumental in the reopening of the restaurant.

LeBlanc wanted to travel the world and subsequently made the move across the country to La Jolla, CA where he worked at Whisk n’ Ladle. While in California Eric developed a passion for sourcing local ingredients and in an effort to feed that passion took a Chef position at Milarepa Hotel and Restaurant in Costa Rica. During his time at Milarepa Eric grew produce on the property and hand selected all ingredients, while changing the menu daily.

LeBlanc made the move back to Boston where he opened Kitchen and served in the role as the chef de cuisine for a year. When he was offered the chef de cuisine position at Stir Eric knew it was the best chef position in Boston. He immediately said yes and joined the Stir team in May of 2013 till September of 2014. When Eric is away from the kitchen he enjoys cooking as a champions pavilion chef for the US Open. Also competed on the Food Networks Cutthroat Kitchen and Rewrapped, winning both. He also placed in the top 4 of Abc's hit show, The Taste.

Chef | Tv Personality

Chef Tarik’s cuisine is inspired by the tastes and flavors of his childhood, growing up in a Muslim family and broader community where ethnic foods were the norm. His culinary creations honor traditions from North Africa and the Mediterranean.

“You might recognize Chef Tarik Abdullah from ABC’s “The Taste,” a competitive cooking show on which he spent six episodes winning Anthony Bourdain’s favor earlier this year. He has earned a reputation as an artist and innovator, and his pop-up brunches in South Seattle have a cult-like following. Abdullah, a Seattle native, has been juxtaposing cook and entertainment for as long as he can remember. He launched the pop-ups after leaving his cooking post at Serafina.”– Seattle Weekly