ZinFest Wine & Cooking School

Saturday, May 17, 2008
12 noon - 7 p.m.
Lodi Lake Park
1101 W. Turner Road
Lodi, CA 95242
Tickets are $35 in advance and $45 at the gate.

1:00 - 1:30    Chef Emily Kendall
Kendall's Private Culinary Services
Dried Cherry Stuffed Pork Tenderloin with Zinfandel Barbecue Sauce

1:30 - 2:00    Certified Wine Specialist Margo Treweek
Aroma Wheel with Lodi Rules wines

2:15 - 2:45    Chef Toussaint Potter
The Art Institute of California- Sacramento
Paella

3:00 - 3:45    Wine Expert Randy Caparoso
ZinFest Zins paired with igourmet.com exotic cheeses

4:00 - 4:30    Chef David Boswell
Wine & Roses Restaurant
Pan roasted Alaskan halibut with fregeola sarta, caramelized cardoons, Swiss chard, over roasted tomatoes & parmesan romesco broth.

4:30 - 5:00    Certified Wine Expert Shields Hood
Lodi's Mediterranean Varietals

Bios

Emily Kendall is the executive chef of Kendall's, California's premier private culinary service. Established in 2003 Kendall's Private Culinary Services has been serving the Central Valley from Manteca to Sacramento and points in between such as Lodi, Stockton, and Elk Grove.

Emily graduated from California State University, Long Beach and the California Culinary Academy. During her time at the CCA, she served as Sous Chef at the Weekend at the Academy and the Sur La Table culinary programs. Emily served her two month externship under the tutelage of Chef Todd Fisher at the Stillwater Bar and Grill in The Lodge at Pebble Beach. While on the Central Coast, Emily interned during the 1998 Masters of Food and Wine in Carmel, assisting famous nationally recognized chefs.

Back in Lodi, Emily joined the talented staff of Wine and Roses Country Inn. Working under Sherri Smith, Emily was able to hone her skills in event planning and off site catering. In 2000, she joined Festivities Catering, one of the largest catering firms in California, based in San Diego. Within a few years, she moved back to Lodi to face her next challenge, starting her own business!

Emily shares her passion for food and fine dining by educating others about fine cuisine, sustainable farming, organic and artisan products, as well as supporting local farmers.

Her infatuation with food blends simplicity and sophistication as she serves fresh, cozy satisfying meals prepared in a classic style.

Emily currently resides in Lodi, Ca with her husband Jeff, who joined Kendall's in 2008 and heads up all marketing, sales, and community involvement activities. They are both active members of Horizon Community Church, senior project mentors for Lodi High School and participate in many fund raising projects to support her fellow humans in less fortunate parts of the world.

Margo Treweek is the Wine Education Manager for Trinchero Family Estates. She is a Certified Wine Specialist thru the Society of Wine Educators. Margo will be discussing a handful of Lodi Rules wines and where they fit onto the Aroma Wheel.

Chef Toussaint Potter, aka Chef T., a native of the U.S. Virgin Islands, is a man of many culinary talents and has a very interesting culinary background. Toussaint says, "I was brought up in a traditional West Indian household, no matter where I was."

He graduated from Rutgers University, New Jersey in Biological Sciences. There he met his wife Jean, whose parents are from China. Chinese culture and cuisine, thus became part of his life. Toussaint attended Peter Kump's Cooking School, New York to pursue his culinary dream. Toussaint and Jean took off to France to attend l'Ecole de Cuisine, La Varenne in Paris, where he received his Grand diploma in 1986. He worked in Parisian restaurants for three years. Traveling through Europe and working in several of the best renowned restaurants and hotels in France, Italy, Spain, Germany and Switzerland, Toussaint became internationally trained.

To enrich his continuous search for culinary challenge, Toussaint, his wife and 3 children moved to Las Vegas, Nevada to become a chef in one of the great hotels. Knowing the Las Vegas life style wasn't the ideal climate to raise children in, Toussaint accepted an Executive chef position in California.

Toussaint became Executive Chef at Colusa Casino and then moved to the brand new Cache Creek Casino and opened eight restaurants on that site. During this time, he also pursued his master's degree in Instructional Technology from American Intercontinental University and graduated in June of 2005.

He has worked as the head Culinary Instructor at San Joaquin Delta College and is currently working for the Art Institute of California in Sacramento. In addition to working, Chef T is completing his PhD in Curriculum and Instruction from Capella University. He is always excited to utilize his international cooking experience as a teaching or consulting tool to make cooking fun and exciting for everyone.

Randy Caparoso is a prolific wine journalist and consultant who has devoted himself to a multi-award winning career managing, judging, speaking, producing and writing about wine since 1978. To Caparoso, wine is a food like a rose is a rose, and every word of his Culinary Wine & Food Adventures brings clarity to the concept in a delicious way. He currently serves as a restaurant consultant, specializing in wine, Mission construction, FOH management, nuts-to-bolts staff training, and special events planning.

Caparoso is perhaps best known as a Founding Partner and the former Corporate Wine Director of the James Beard Award winning Roy's restaurant group, started in Honolulu in 1988. Before retiring from Roy's in 2001 to pursue his own winemaking business, Caparoso personally helped transplant twenty six more of these acclaimed restaurants in places as far flung as Maui and New York, Chicago and Bonita Springs, Florida; each location doing close to or over $1 million in yearly wine sales alone.

In recent years Caparoso has expanded on his specialty, serving as opening consultant and GM of a wine-focused restaurant in Memphis, Tennessee called Circa by John Bragg, as well as presiding as Chef Sommelier of the Five Star/Five Diamond Sea Island resort on the coast of Georgia. Venturing into retail merchandising, he has also managed the largest enomatic wine bar/retail store in the world as Vice President of Operations of The Wine Room in Winter Park, Florida.

Caparoso was sole proprietor of Caparoso Wines LLC, an alternative label specializing in internationally sourced wines ideally priced for fine restaurant wine by the glass programs, and crafted specifically for contemporary style foods. Three vintages of Caparoso wines (2000 case average yearly production) were marketed in twelve states (primarily Hawaii, California, New York, Florida and Georgia) between 2001 and 2005.

Among the major awards earned by Caparoso during his career:

· Santé "Wine & Spirits Professional of the Year" (1998 - the magazine's first ever)
· Restaurant Wine "Marketer of the Year" (1993)
· Restaurant Wine "Wine Marketing Concept of the Year" (1998 - For Roy's "Upscale Private Label Program")

In addition, Caparoso has served as wine list judge for Sante's Annual Grand Awards and numerous times for wine judgings such as the L.A. County Fair, New World Wine Competition and Lodi Winegrape Commission 12 Zins of Lodi. He has spoken and led panels on many subjects for the Society of Wine Educators, Sante Restaurant Symposium, Unified Wine & Grape Symposium, Aspen Wine & Food Festival, Hospice du Rhone, Lodi ZinFest and Epcot International Food & Wine Festival.

Many of his thoughts on food and wine can be gleaned on his FohBoh.com industry page as well as on Robin Garr's Wine Lover's Page. In 1997 he was commended by the Academy of Wine Communications for Excellence in Wine Writing and Encouragement of Higher Industry Standards.
See more of Randy's commentary at:
Culinary home page: www.randycaparoso.blogspot.com
Industry page: www.fohboh.com/profile/RandyCaparoso
For a good time: www.wineloverspage.com/randysworld

Chef David Boswell commands the kitchen at Wine & Roses as Executive Chef where his culinary headship is found not only in the renowned restaurant, but also in banquets, catering menus, and in the state-of-art spa where Boswell lends his talent in crafting the finest spa cuisine this region has to offer.

Graduating with honors in 1996 from the Scottsdale Culinary Institute in Scottsdale, Arizona, Chef Boswell climbed the ranks and earned his gourmet stripes at acclaimed restaurants throughout the United States, many of them James Beard award-winning kitchens. Formally with Formaggio in Sacramento, Chef Boswell received rave reviews and regional recognition from Sacramento Magazine and food critic Mike Dunn of the Sacramento Bee. He also worked at Calistoga Ranch in Calistoga, and Tra Vigne in St. Helena. In 2003, as Executive Chef of Sacramento's historic Delta King Hotel, Chef Boswell not only established himself as an area favorite, but he also co-founded the restaurant's wine school.

Chef Boswell's cuisine is an artistic blend of American Contemporary with French influence. He is a dedicated advocate of utilizing fresh and organic ingredients, and sustainable harvest from local and regional farms to create an innovative menu. Chef Boswell's culinary philosophy is modest and enriching: utilize the finest ingredients, treat them simply with flawless technique to draw out the natural and abundant flavor.

Shields Hood is a Certified Wine Expert, a former Wine Wizard Winner, the Editor of Wine Notes, Sales Manager of Cornerstone Vineyards and a former President of the Society of Wine Educations. He has help positions as a Sommelier, retail owner, and a fine wine distributor. When it comes to wine- Shields is the guy your mother warned you about!