Nick Stellino

Dear Friends

I am excited to announce that in August of this year we are going back in the studio to film a new series: Nick Stellino Cooking with Friends.

Cooking with Friends will air on public television stations across the country starting in late fall 2008 and continuing all through 2009.

This exciting new series of shows will feature some great celebrity chefs who will share with us their fabulous, easy-to-make recipes. And of course there will be a brand-new companion cookbook full of great colour photos and all sorts of fun new things.

Check in with us again in a few weeks for an update on this upcoming series.

Signature

Nick Stellino's Friends

Chef Laurent Manrique

Chef Laurent Manrique has learned, combining simplicity with challenge walks a tightrope between passion for one's craft and a desire to constantly seek new opportunities. One of his career's most significant accomplishments in achieving that balance was introducing his renowned Gascon cooking to contemporary seafood-centric Aqua. "It was a whole new adventure," he says, "but one I was ready for. I needed to take a challenge like this."...

For more, visit this link:
www.aqua-sf.com/aqua/chef/


Chef Kent Rathbun, Abacus/Dallas

After rapidly rising through the ranks of some of the world's finest restaurants, Chef Kent Rathbun has created two of the most talked about restaurant concepts in the nation – Abacus and Jasper's. Rathbun's roots are firmly set in food and at the age of nine, he discovered his passion for culinary creativity and began to live his life learning the skills and techniques needed to become the renowned and impressive chef that he is today...

For more, visit this link:
kentrathbun.com


Chef Michael Cimarusti, Providence/Los Angeles

Michael Cimarusti's passion and curiosity for food was ignited at an early age by his grandmother, Jo Cimarusti. In the great Italian culinary tradition his grandmother, alongside his great-grandmother and aunts, made sure that every Sunday get-together was an event. Cimarusti can trace his reverence for ingredients and proper technique back to those Sunday family meals...

For more, visit this link:
providencela.com


Chef Patricia Williams, District/New York

Patricia Williams is the new chef at District, chef Sam DeMarco's former perch adjacent to The Muse Hotel. Williams is formerly of Morell's Wine Bar & Café, and has worked as a chef in the city for many years at places like Berkley Bar and Grill and at Butterfield 81, way way back...

For more, visit this link:
districtnyc.com


Chef Walter Pisano, Tulio/Seattle

For Chef Walter Pisano, running an Italian restaurant was preordained. As the son of a New York restaurateur, the business runs in his blood; as part of an East Coast Italian family, the food is in his heart. Pisano is a longtime fixture on the Northwest restaurant scene, most notably for opening and operating Tulio Ristorante. Since its inception, Tulio has been a regular on the awards lists, including Seattle's Best Italian Restaurant, Best Business Lunch and Best Kept Secret...

For more, visit this link:
tulio.com/tulchef/


Chef Elise Wiggins, Panzano's/Denver

Panzano's Executive Chef Elise Wiggins knew she wanted to be a chef from an early age, even if she wasn't sure exactly what that meant. She just knew that she wanted to “cook and make people happy,” she says. Now, leading the culinary efforts at Panzano in downtown Denver, Wiggins cooks and makes people happy - locals and visitors alike - with her distinctive contemporary Northern Italian cuisine...

For more, visit this link:
panzano-denver.com/panchef/


Chef Michael Hillyer, The Capital Grille/Seattle

As Executive Chef of The Capital Grille, in Seattle, Michael Hillyer manages a kitchen staff of 25, and is responsible for all menu execution, culinary development and training. Chef Hillyer draws inspiration from Pacific Northwest ingredients to create unique daily specials and seasonal menu features...

For more, visit this link:
http://www.thecapitalgrille.com/


Chef Heather Therune, Atwood Cafe/Chicago

Executive Chef Heather Terhune has been messing and cleaning up kitchens since she was a young girl, but it wasn't until college that she began her formal training. After attending the University of Missouri, where she received a Bachelor of Science degree in Agriculture and Hotel and Restaurant Management, Terhune continued on with her education at the New England Culinary Institute, earning an Associates Degree in the Culinary Arts...

For more, visit this link:
atwoodcafe.com/atwchef/


Chef Neal Fraser, Grace Restaurant/Los Angeles

Neal Fraser began his culinary career in Los Angeles at the age of 20, working as a line cook at Eureka Brewery and Restaurant, one of Wolfgang Puck's earliest restaurants. Inspired by this introduction to the life of a professional chef, Fraser entered the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, in the fall of 1990. During his tenure at the CIA...

For more, visit this link:
gracerestaurant.com/index.php/grace/exec_neal


Chef Daniel Bortnick, Firefly/Washington DC

Firefly's executive chef Daniel Bortnick is no stranger to the DC Metro area. In fact, his roots in the area go deeper then the restaurant's signature decorative tree—almost to the very block on which the restaurant sits today, where Daniel's grandparents owned a neighborhood grocery. His great uncle was a DC restaurateur who was also known as "The Watermelon King," a name he was given because of his penchant for handing out the melon to local children...

For more, visit this link:
firefly-dc.com