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

Chef Sean Blomgren's passion for food and hospitality began early on, cooking holiday meals for his family in Lowell, Massachusetts. Driven by his passion for creating new dishes and the reaction from his family, at age 21 he enrolled in the famed Le Cordon Bleu. While on externship in Westchester, NY, Blomgren sought opportunities to further develop his own knowledge, taking monthly trips to Manhattan to experience the global food scene.

Blomgren's culinary repertoire flourished after graduating, first at the Five-Diamond Mandarin Oriental in Boston, MA where he was exposed to a vast array of different ingredients, techniques, and cultures. An opportunity arose to move to Colorado and assist in opening Chef's Club by Food & Wine in the St. Regis Aspen. This first-of-its-kind concept incorporated Food & Wine's Best New Chefs together on one menu. There, he also had the chance to work with Michelin-Starred chefs Mathieu Pacaud and Cyril Lignac of Paris, among other world-class chefs from around the country. He then went on to become Chef de Cuisine at the prestigious Kiawah Island Club on Kiawah Island, SC. This move really solidified his commitment to sourcing great products and presenting them with minimal intervention.

In 2015, Blomgren returned to the Mandarin Oriental group as Chef de Cuisine at the brand's iconic property in Washington, D.C. under the watchful eye of Chef Adam Tanner. Reconnecting with this globally-iconic brand allowed him to travel back to Japan and dive deeper into his love with Japanese cuisine.

The allure of the West once again lead Blomgren to accept his first Executive Chef role at the Madeline Hotel & Residences, Telluride, CO, the only Four-Diamond Full-Service resort in one of the most captivating towns in the world.

A true New Englander, Blomgren and wife Casey decided to return to the East Coast, specifically Stowe, Vermont to settle down and raise a family. He is currently the Executive Chef at the Lodge at Spruce Peak's Alpine Hall and Tipsy Trout restaurants. Upon arrival, he re-concepted all menus to focus on locallysourced and farm-driven cuisine, building relationships with local farmers and vendors.

Chef Kevin O’Donnell
iusto | Newport, RI
Featured Guest Chef

Born and raised in North Kingstown, Kevin O’Donnell got his feet wet in hospitality early on. Starting as a cabana boy at Bonnet Shores Beach Club at just 15, he then worked at a variety of mom and pop spots throughout high school, gaining experience from dishwasher to pizza cook. It wasn’t until he graduated, however, that he truly stepped into the restaurant industry. Under the mentorship of Chef Walter Slater at Junction Pizzeria in Wickford, Kevin truly fell in love with cooking and the undeniable adrenaline of the kitchen.

While there, Kevin was inspired to enroll in Johnson & Wales’ Continuing Education program which afforded him the chance to intern in Italy – an exciting opportunity to connect with his heritage and explore its cuisine. After four months, he returned home where he met his next mentor – and now-collaborator/Giusto General Manager – Aaron Edwards, and joined him at his new restaurant, Trattoria del Corso, as Chef de Cuisine. Here, Kevin’s love for Italian food blossomed, but after a year was pulled back to Italy.

For two and a half years, Kevin fully immersed himself in Italian culture and cuisine under Chef Lorenzo Polegri at Ristorante Zeppelin in Orvieto. It’s here that he first experienced the creativity of freestyle, non-traditional Italian cooking, and Kevin credits this time and Polegri’s tutelage with inspiring him to think outside the box while inside the kitchen.

Back in the States, Kevin cooked at the famed Castle Hill Inn in Newport and then the Michelin-starred Del Posto in New York City. Opportunity again came knocking, and he headed back across the pond, this time to Paris. As Executive Chef, Kevin opened L’Office, a tiny bistro that garnered rave reviews and recognition both locally and internationally for its melding of French and Italian cuisine.

In 2012, Kevin joined forces with the owners of The Salty Pig in Boston and developed its pasta and charcuterie programs. Three years later, the team collaborated on a brand new restaurant concept, and in January 2016 opened SRV with co-chef Michael Lombardi. The Venetian-style Bacaro and wine bar was an immediate success, earning a 4-star review from Boston magazine, James Beard Award nomination, and continued critical acclaim since.

In 2020, he opened his first solo restaurant, Giusto, in Newport, RI, serving “freestyle Italian” as an homage to Italian cookery through the lens of New England. In summer 2023, he opened his second restaurant, Mother Pizzeria, also in Newport, with partners Lauren Schaefer and Kyle Stamps.  Giusto has earned a James Beard nomination for Outstanding Service and Kevin has earned James Beard nomination for Best Chef Northeast.

Kevin lives in Rhode Island with his wife, Sarah, and their son, Ray. He serves on the Board of Directors for the RI Hospitality Education Foundation and is a core instructor at Boston University in the Culinary Arts Program founded by Chef Jacques Pepin.

Accolades: 
James Beard Foundation
2026 Best Chef Northeast nomination 

James Beard Foundation
2024 Outstanding Hospitality nomination (Giusto)

Rhode Island Monthly Magazine
2024 Best New Pizza Restaurant (Mother Pizzeria) Award Winner

Rhode Island Hospitality Association
2023 Restaurateur of the Year – Fine Dining Award Winner

Rhode Island Monthly Magazine
2021 Best New Italian (Giusto) Award Winner

Chef Reneé Touponce
Oyster Club, The Port of Call | Mystic, CT
Featured Guest Chef

With a passionate focus on local ingredients and a serious position on equality in the kitchen, Reneé Touponce, Chef/Partner of Oyster Club and The Port of Call, continues to push the culinary conversation forward in Mystic, CT and throughout New England.

Reneé’s multicultural background influences both her cuisine and view of the world. Her upbringing is a blend of Italian and Puerto Rican, with memories of rice and beans on the stove, a lasagna in the oven, and food bringing her family together. Her inventive, locally-sourced, sustainable cuisine, pays homage to the rich, coastal heritage of New England, investigating the ingredients of her region of Mystic and surrounding communities while recreating the flavors of her youth.

Renee has been nationally recognized by her industry peers, in 2024 she was a James Beard Award Finalist for Outstanding Chef, and in 2023, a James Beard Award finalist for Best Chef Northeast. Regionally, she has been named Chef of the Year at the Connecticut Restaurant Association’s 2022 Crazies Awards.

Chef George Mendes
Agosto | Boston, MA
Featured Guest Chef

Born to Portuguese immigrants in Danbury, Connecticut, Chef Mendes has spent more than three decades shaping and elevating contemporary Portuguese cuisine in America. Upon graduating from the Culinary Institute of America, he began his professional journey with Chef Ed Brown at Tropica in New York City. In 1994, he joined his longtime mentor David Bouley at Bouley in Tribeca, an experience that profoundly influenced his craft.

Mendes’ pursuit of classical training then led him to Paris, where he apprenticed at Alain Passard’s three-Michelin-starred Arpège. In the late 1990s, he continued refining his technique in the South of France under legendary chefs Roger Vergé and Alain Ducasse. After returning to New York for several formative years—including serving as Chef de Cuisine at Tocqueville—he expanded his European perspective with stages in Spain, first with Martín Berasategui and later at the iconic El Bulli on the Costa Brava.

In 2009, Mendes opened his first signature restaurant, Aldea, in New York City. Aldea earned immediate acclaim, receiving two-star reviews from The New York Times and New York Magazine, named one of Food and Wine’s Best New Chefs, and was awarded a Michelin star in 2011, which Mendes maintained through 2020.

In 2023, Mendes, together with his family, moved to Boston, where he opened Amar at Raffles Boston. Today, he is building his next chapter in the city’s South End, debuting the tasting menu–driven restaurant Agosto and the café-bakery Baby Sister later this year, continuing his lifelong commitment to craftsmanship, heritage, and a modern expression of Portuguese cuisine.

Awards & Accolades
One Star Michelin Guide 2011 - 2020
Food & Wine Best New Chef
Bravo Top Chef Masters
Cookbook Author, My Portugal: Recipes & Stories
New York Times Two Star Review

Chef Nicole Nocella
Stalk | Dover, NH
Featured Guest Chef

Nicole Nocella is a Chef based in Downtown Dover, on the New Hampshire Seacoast. With a passion for locally grown, innovative dishes pulling from cuisines all over the globe. She has dedicated her career to the Culinary World working at several restaurants in the seacoast area & now owning her own establishment, Stalk restaurant, on Central Ave in Dover, NH.

Born & raised in New England, Nicole developed a fascination for working in professional kitchens at a young age. This early curiosity led her to pursue her education in Culinary Arts, where she excelled quickly & took on running kitchens only at the age 23. Throughout her career, Nicole has demonstrated a commitment to food & service quality, striving to maintain a high level of guest experience for the restaurants she managed. She believes in structure & balance of the menu & is passionate about serving all types of dietary guests.

Stalk is a highly-rated farm-to-table restaurant located at 286 Central Ave in Dover, NH known for its creative New American cuisine & welcoming yet refined atmosphere. Stalk blends casual fine dining with a cozy, intimate setting—perfect for date nights, special occasions or simply a memorable dinner in downtown Dover. The restaurant’s philosophy centers around fresh, locally sourced ingredients & thoughtful preparation that highlights seasonal produce, meats & seafood.

Accolades
Nominee for Best Chef in NH 2025
James Beard Semi-Finalist 2025

Chef Keith Sarasin
Aatma At Widowmaker | Boston, MA
Featured Guest Chef

Keith Sarasin is the chef and owner of Aatma Curry House At Widowmaker in Boston, MA, and the author of The Soul of Spice (HarperCollins, 2025). Drawing on over a decade of studying India’s regional cuisines, he works alongside scholars and chefs across the subcontinent to explore the history, migration, and memory of flavor. Through Aatma, Keith redefines Indian cuisine in New England, bold, rooted in respect, and unafraid to challenge convention.

Awards & Accolades
2023 - Andrew M Felker Award 
2023 - American Culinary Federation 
Presidential Medallion 
2024 Cecile Dubois Community MVP winners

Chef Cara Tobin
Honey Road Restaurant and 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, California.

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, California.

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, MA 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. Then 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. Now in 2025 Cara, and her business partner Allison Gibson, are Finalists in the Outstanding Restauranteur category.

Community involved has played a big role in Cara’s restaurant philosophy. Honey Road and Grey Jay both support local organizations that 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.

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 Avery Buck
May Day | Burlington, VT
Featured Guest Chef

Avery Buck is a chef based in Burlington, Vermont, known for his thoughtful, seasonal cooking and leadership in the city’s dynamic restaurant scene. He began his culinary career as a dishwasher in his teens and worked his way up through kitchens including Silver Fork, Hen of the Wood, and Doc Ponds, later contributing to opening teams at Burlington Beer and the Grey Jay. Buck became chef at May Day in Burlington’s Old North End, where he reset the menu with creative, ingredient-forward dishes that earned him recognition as a James Beard Award finalist for Best Chef: Northeast in the 2025 awards.

Accolades
2025 James Beard Best Chef Northeast Finalist

Chef Tiara Adorno
The Crooked Ram | Manchester, VT
Featured Guest Chef

Executive Chef Tiara Adorno brings over 17 years of culinary mastery, honed in the demanding kitchens of San Francisco and New York City. Seeking a slower, nature-inspired life, Chef Tiara found solace in Vermont. Drawing inspiration from her life's travels and upbringing, she aims to create transformative dining experiences at The Crooked Ram. This local-first focused wine bar has evolved into a multi-concept project. The menu is deeply rooted in the Green Mountain State, driven by the seasonality and quality provided by Vermont’s artisans and local farmers. Alongside her role at the Crooked Ram, she launched her pop-up concept, Blue Fern Commons. This venture primarily focuses on private catering and showcases her heritage, offering the community fun, lighthearted fare inspired by Puerto Rico.

Most recently recognized as a semi-finalist by the James Beard Foundation for: Best Chef, Northeast 2026.