Chef Sean Blomgren
The Lodge at Spruce Peak | Stowe, VT
HOST CHEF

Chef Sean Blomgren's passion for food and hospitality began early, cooking holiday meals for his family in Lowell, Massachusetts. Inspired by the joy of gathering around the table, he enrolled at the famed Le Cordon Bleu at age 21, setting the stage for a career shaped by curiosity, culture, and craftsmanship.

After graduating, Blomgren's skills blossomed at the Five-Diamond Mandarin Oriental in Boston, where he was exposed to a wide array of ingredients, global techniques, and elevated service standards. He later served as Chef de Cuisine at the prestigious Kiawah Island Club in South Carolina, where his commitment to sourcing exceptional ingredients and presenting them with minimal intervention took root. In 2015, he returned to the Mandarin Oriental family as Chef de Cuisine in Washington, D.C., working under Chef Adam Tanner and deepening his appreciation for Japanese cuisine during culinary travel to Japan.

A true New Englander at heart, Blomgren and his wife Casey relocated to Stowe, Vermont, to raise their family. He now serves as Executive Chef at The Lodge at Spruce Peak, overseeing Alpine Hall, Tipsy Trout, Pico Taco, and WhistlePig Pavilion. Since arriving, he has reimagined the resort's culinary identity—rebuilding menus around local farms, seasonal ingredients, and a deep sense of place.

Chef Robert Smith
Starry Night Café | Ferrisburgh, VT
Featured Guest Chef

Chef Robert Smith has been working his way up in kitchens ever since starting as a dishwasher in his teenage years here in Vermont. Those early years were just the beginning, though, because Robert really developed the knowledge, skills, and love of his technique-driven style cooking while living in California and working at some of the most prominent restaurants on the West Coast.

The chefs at Providence, formerly Al's Place, and Sightglass gave him everything he needed to become the head chef at Starry Night Café, when he ultimately decided to move back to his home state. His love of locally sourced, seasonally driven products has found a special home here in Ferrisburgh.

Chef Cara Tobin
Honey Road & The Grey Jay | Burlington, VT
Featured Guest Chef

Cara's culinary journey began when she was in high school. At the age of 17, after relocating from California where she was born and raised, she began working in the kitchen of a pizza shop in New Hampshire. In the years that followed, her desire to attend art school was replaced by a drive to develop her skills as a chef, and toward that end, Cara moved west again to complete her culinary degree in Monterey, Calif. After graduating as valedictorian of her class, Cara had several professional jobs along the West Coast, including Cetrella in Half Moon Bay, The Plumpjack Café in San Francisco, and at the Dream Inn Hotel in Santa Cruz. In 2010, when her husband had the opportunity to attend graduate school in Boston, the couple moved just a few months after their wedding and Cara began looking for a new kitchen to call home. That is when Cara joined the famed kitchen at Oleana in Cambridge, Mass., as Sous Chef before becoming Chef de Cuisine in 2012.

In September of 2016, Cara moved to Vermont with her family and started working on opening a restaurant of her own. In July of 2017, this dream became a reality. She opened Honey Road Restaurant in Downtown Burlington, Vt., with business partner Allison Gibson. Honey Road serves Eastern Mediterranean Mezze while utilizing the many great products found in Vermont. In 2022, she and Allison opened The Grey Jay, a Mediterranean Brunch joint.

Cara has received many award nominations both locally and nationally. She was a Rising Star Chef in 2015 while at Oleana. She was a James Beard Award semifinalist for Best Chef Northeast in 2018, 2019, 2020, 2023 and in 2024 when she became a finalist in the category. Honey Road was also a semifinalist for Best New Restaurant in 2018. In 2025, Cara and Allison are Finalists in the Outstanding Restauranteur category.

The community involved has played a big role in Cara's restaurant philosophy. Honey Road and Grey Jay both support local organizations involved with the arts, LGTBQ+ rights, childhood development and care, animal rights and local food systems. Cara is on Peter Welch's Business Advisory Committee and the Vermont Independent Restaurant Coalition. Along with her husband, Cara helps run Sunday Morning Mushrooms, a small mushroom farm located on their property in Charlotte, Vt. When not cooking for her family she enjoys hanging with her two kids or foraging out in the woods.

Awards/Accolades
Rising Star Chef presented by Star Chefs 2015
James Beard Semifinalist Best Chef NE: 2018, 2019, 2020, 2023, 2024
James Beard Finalist Best Chef NE 2025
James Beard Best New Restaurant, Honey Road 2018
James Beard Outstanding Restauranteur Finalist 2025
Yankee Magazine Editors Choice - Best New Restaurant 2023 - The Grey Jay

Chef Justin Dain
Oakes & Evelyn | Montpelier, VT
Featured Guest Chef

Most recently, Chef Justin Dain could be found crafting extraordinary Regional American cuisine as the Executive Chef at the Hanover Inn in Hanover, N.H. With an emphasis on creating clean, simple food of the highest quality using the freshest, locally sourced products whenever possible, he is known for his ability to create signature culinary creations that are savored by the palate as well as the eye. Chef Dain strives to add great imagination and depth to each menu in order to further heighten the fine dining experience.

In July 2011, and again in November 2017, Chef Dain was invited to the renowned James Beard House in New York, where he prepared and presented creative dinners featuring New England farms to a sold-out dining room.

Prior to The Hanover Inn, Chef Dain was the Executive Chef at the award-winning Reluctant Panther Inn, a small luxury hotel in Manchester, Vt., from 2007-2010, where he received regional and national recognition for his fine dining menu and exemplary service. Earlier in his culinary career Chef Dain worked at the nationally acclaimed Boston Harbor Hotel in Boston. While at the Boston Harbor Hotel, Chef Dain worked in a variety of capacities, including Restaurant Chef of Meritage, a Mobil 4-Star and AAA 4-Diamond Rated restaurant where he was responsible for all aspects of the culinary department.

Chef Dain received his training at the prestigious Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in Hyde Park, N.Y., where he earned an A.O.S. in Culinary Arts in 2000 and then continued his studies at the New England Culinary Institute in Montpelier, Vt., earning a B.A. in Food and Beverage Management in 2002.

He and his wife reside in New Hampshire with their son, daughter, and two dogs.

Chef Damon Sawyer
29 Markle Ct | Bridgeport, CT
Featured Guest Chef

Chef/Owner Damon "Daye" Sawyer brings an exciting and innovative approach to smoked cooking, seamlessly blending fine dining, soul food, handmade pastas, and seasonal, locally sourced vegetables. A self-taught chef and Norwalk, Conn., native, he carries forward a legacy of passion, ingenuity, and creativity. His restaurant, 29 Markle Ct, has made a significant impact on the community, earning the title of "Best New Restaurant" in 2023 and a nomination for "Chef of the Year" at the 2024 Connecticut Restaurant Association's CRAZIES Awards.

Chef Evan Hennessey
Stages at One Washington | Dover, NH
Featured Guest Chef

Chef Evan Hennessey, 48 years of age, lives in South Berwick, Maine, with his wife Michelle, and is the Chef and Owner of Stages at One Washington restaurant, The Living Room, and Finding Thyme — a culinary travel company in Dover. Chef Hennessey is an award-winning chef that graduated from Le Cordon Bleu at the Atlantic Culinary Academy in 2001. He has since cooked alongside some of the best chefs in the country, including Chef Charlie Palmer at New York City's Aureole, Chef Grant Achatz at Trio in Chicago, Andrew Carmellini at Cafe Boulud, Thomas Rice and Ken Oringer at Clio, and Eli Kaimeh and Thomas Keller at Per Se.

Chef Hennessey has worked as the Executive Chef of 43 Degrees North, and The Dunaway Restaurant, as well as Chef de Partie of the 100 Club, all in Portsmouth, N.H. Chef Hennessey is trained in classical French techniques and methods and now serves what he calls Progressive New England Cuisine, utilizing locally farmed and foraged foods to create artistically inspired dishes. In January 2019, Hennessey was featured in edition #129 of the international publication Art Culinaire. In May of 2018, Hennessey won Food Network's Chopped. In October 2018, he won the semi-final round of Chopped Champions. In August of 2020, he became a three-time Chopped Champion by winning the semi-final round of the Chopped: Beat Bobby Flay tournament. In 2018, he was named to New Hampshire Magazine's "It List" (the most influential people in N.H. that year). In the fall of 2015, Hennessey was named as one of 30 "Chefs to Watch" nationally by Plate Magazine. In the spring of 2014, Hennessey was named a semi-finalist for the James Beard Awards in the category of Best Chef Northeast. In October of 2013, Chef Hennessey traveled to New York City and won the StarChefs.com VitaMix Challenge, a national competition that included a field of several hundreds of chefs, honed down to six finalists, and completed at the International Chefs Congress in Manhattan. Chef Hennessey is also a 2014 StarChefs.com Rising Star Chef Winner for Coastal New England.

Stages at One Washington has gained such accolades as #1 Hottest New Restaurant in N.H. (New Hampshire Magazine), 15/20 score from Gayot.com (highest rating given in N.H.), the Award of Excellence from the Chaine des Rotisseurs for outstanding food & service, and named to the 100 Best Restaurants in North America by Opinionated About Dining eight years in a row.

Chef Hennessey is also very active in the local food industry, giving many demonstrations and talks at various local schools, farmers markets, and conferences. He is also a proud member of the Heirloom Harvest Project, a non-profit organization aimed at bringing farmers and chefs together in order to revive heirloom vegetables, heritage meats, and dairy, as well as spread the education of sustainable agriculture and food sourcing. He focuses on supporting local farms through use of their products in his cooking. He also has been on the planning board for such events as Passport Beer and Food Festival and the Wentworth Douglas Hospital Seacoast Culinary Challenge.

Chef Ben Sukle
Oberlin & Gift Horse | Providence, RI
Featured Guest Chef

Born and raised in Central Pennsylvania, Ben Sukle got his start in the industry as a dishwasher and bun loader at Red Robin. In 2004, he enrolled at Johnson & Wales University in Providence, R.I., cooking at La Laiterie in his spare time while spending summers working in kitchens in Savannah, Ga, and Washington, D.C. In his senior year at Johnson & Wales, he was appointed La Laiterie's executive chef. Looking to expand his skills, Sukle made his way to Noma in Copenhagen, staging at the acclaimed restaurant, but he knew that Rhode Island was where he wanted to settle. He returned to the Ocean State and joined the opening team of The Dorrance, earning himself a spot on James Beard's list for Best New Chef.

In 2012, Sukle opened his first restaurant, Birch, an intimate chef's counter serving modern American fare, and two years later was named a StarChefs Rising Star. In 2016, Sukle opened Oberlin, showcasing seasonally driven small plates with a focus on Narragansett Bay seafood and handmade pastas and breads. A Providence staple, Oberlin has not only made its mark on the city's restaurant community, but it has also served as a training ground for emerging chefs. In 2023, Sukle opened his latest venture, Gift Horse, featuring a seafood-driven menu, a Rhode Island raw bar, and an extensive beverage program. Across all of his restaurants, Sukle has worked to share his experiences and knowledge as a chef and restaurateur with young chefs, passing along his passion and dedication to the Providence and wider Coastal New England restaurant community.

Awards:
2023 StarChefs Coastal New England Mentor Chef Winner
2013 StarChefs Coastal New England Rising Stars Chef Award Winner

Chef Colin Lynch
Bar Mezzana, Shore Leave, No Relation & Black Lamb | Boston
Featured Guest Chef

A lifelong New Englander, Colin grew up in Newburyport, Mass., receiving his Bachelor's Degree in Professional Studies at the Culinary Institute of America before moving to Boston. While at the CIA, he completed an internship with Chef Barbra Lynch at her flagship restaurant No. 9 Park and returned to work with her after graduation, eventually becoming Executive Chef for Gruppo.

In June of 2016, Colin opened his first restaurant, Bar Mezzana, featuring inspired crudo and handmade pastas in Boston's South End. Since then, Colin and his partners at Traveler Street Hospitality have opened three more concepts: Shore Leave, a subterranean tropical bar; No Relation, a nine-seat Omakase hidden in the back of Shore Leave; and Black Lamb, a neighborhood bistro open for both lunch and dinner.

Colin is currently on the board of Spoonful, whose mission is the recovery and distribution of healthy food to organizations in the greater Boston community. He lives in Boston with his wife and business partner, Heather Lynch, and dog Max.

Chef Ilma Lopez
Chaval & Ugly Duckling | Portland, ME
Featured Guest Chef

Chef Ilma Lopez has worked in some of the most demanding and rewarding kitchens in the industry, such as DB Bistro, Corton, Tailor, El Bulli, Café Boulud, and Le Bernardin. When she left New York City to the quieter reaches of Maine, Lopez found a new terrain she couldn't resist. Arriving with a mastery of colors, flavors, textures, and spices — and a seasoned ability to work under pressure — Lopez makes classic dishes her own, with attention to micro-detail and thoughtful twists. For her work, Lopez earned a 2014 StarChefs Coastal New England Rising Star Pastry Chef Award, has twice been a semi-finalist James Beard "Best Pastry Chef" (national award), and you may have seen her name in an issue of Bon Appétit magazine, highlighting her incredible talents when naming Portland, Maine, as their pick for Restaurant City of The Year. Currently she co-owns Piccolo Pasta Company, Chaval Restaurant and The Ugly Duckling Luncheonette.

Accolades:
James Beard Foundation, Outstanding Pastry Chef Semifinalist - 2017, 2018
StarChefs
Bon Appetit
Eater