Chad Rosenthal Chad Rosenthal, a self-taught chef, got his first taste of cooking at just 5 years old, and he soon became passionate about all things food. As a child, he put on weekly cooking shows for his family and is now looking to make that childhood dream a reality. A father of two, Chad has won several barbecue competitions and eats, breathes, sleeps all things barbecue. Chad competed in the ninth season of Food Network Star in 2013. He previously ran, Rosey’s BBQ, and opened his first restaurant, The Lucky Well, a barbecue/comfort food and whiskey bar in the Philadelphia area in 2013. With comparisons to Guy Fieri, Chad stresses that he’s a cook, not a chef. In his free time, Chad serves on the local advisory committee for The Culinary Arts Institute. Chip Roman Chef Roman is one of Philadelphia’s most talented chefs. Schooled at Drexel University before working in some of the city’s most prestigious kitchens including Le Bec Fin and Vetri, he first set out on his own with Charles Roman Catering, which he in 2004. In the years since, Chef Roman has made his mark on the Philadelphia culinary scene. Blackfish, opened in 2006, holds 3 Bells from the Philadelphia Inquirer and earned the number one spot in Philadelphia magazine’s 2011 “50 Best Restaurants” issue. Mica, opened in March of 2011, also holds 3 Bells from the Philadelphia Inquirer and was named by GQ magazine as one of the “10 Best Restaurants 2012”. His third restaurant, Ela, opened in November of 2011 as a partnership with Chef Jason Cichonski and also received a glowing 3 Bells from the Inquirer’s Craig LaBan. Chef Roman has partnered with Pastry Chef/Chocolatier Fred Ortega to open Tradestone Confections, a line of artisan chocolates and confections available at www.tradestoneconfections.com, as well as Tradestone Café, offering coffee, breakfast, soups, salads and sandwiches, alongside the gourmet chocolate line. Chef Roman’s newest restaurant, The Treemont, has opened 15th and Locust in Center City and is offering snacks, small plates, and entrees, along with a well-appointed bar menu. Chef Roman and his wife Amanda reside just outside of Philadelphia in Conshohocken with their four children. Erin O’Shea Erin O’Shea is the Chef-Owner of Percy Street Barbecue. Named one of Philadelphia’s best chefs by Bon Appetit magazine, Erin is also one of the country’s only female pitmasters, and has been featured on the Food Network’s Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. Prior to opening Percy Street, Erin was the executive chef of Marigold Kitchen from 2008 to 2009, where she earned acclaim for her modern southern cooking, particularly a three-bell review from the Philadelphia Inquirer. Before coming to Philadelphia to join the team at Marigold in 2006, Erin trained in Richmond, VA with legendary Southern chef and restaurateur Jimmy Sneed at The Frog & the Redneck, named one of the country’s best restaurants by Esquire magazine. Josh Lawler With a grandfather who worked as a butcher and a quarter-acre farm in his backyard, Pennsylvania native Josh Lawler’s connection to land and food have always been personal. That connection drew him to the kitchen early. He started cooking at 14, and seven years later, he graduated from Drexel University with a degree in hotel and restaurant management. After working at Philadelphia restaurants, including The Fountain, Buddakan, and Striped Bass, Lawler moved to New York City to work under Laurent Tourondel at BLT Steak and under Bill Telepan as chef de cuisine at Telepan. Lawler’s next step didn’t take him too far from New York City—just 20 miles north of Manhattan—but it brought him back to the roots of his childhood food experiences and, arguably, American cuisine. As chef de cuisine of Dan Barber’s Blue Hill at Stone Barns, Lawler played an instrumental role in the restaurant’s success and in defining the modern farm-to-table movement. In spring 2011, Lawler took his experience and passion for all things local back to his home state, opening Farm and Fishermen with his wife Colleen, whom he met at Drexel. Three years later he opened Farm and Fisherman Tavern, a more casual eatery in Cherry Hill, NJ. At Farm and Fisherman, the chef continues to deepen his relationship with the land and his purveyors—and now his diners— serving as a steward for the future of honest and inspiring local cooking. Marcie Turney As one of Philadelphia’s most prominent and ambitious entrepreneurs, Chef Marcie Turney has worked for over a decade alongside partner Valerie Safran to transform the once-desolate 13th Street neighborhood into what has become known as the trendy Midtown Village. Today, the couple’s four wildly popular restaurants in the neighborhood, Lolita a modern Mexican bar and restaurant, Barbuzzo a Mediterranean kitchen and bar, Jamonera a Spanish wine bar & restaurant, Little Nonna’s an Italian-American eatery, as well as their gourmet prepared food market, Grocery (101 South 13th Street, 215-922-5252), and two lifestyle boutiques, Open House (107 South 13th Street, 215-922-1415) and Verde (108 South 13th Street, 215-546-8700), are thriving. In the spring of 2015, the couple plans to open a fifth restaurant in Midtown Village called Bud & Marilyn’s, named after Chef Turney’s grandparents who owned a popular restaurant in Wisconsin. Here, they’ll serve updated American comfort food. Chef Turney’s globe-trotting culinary style modernizes and elevates traditional ethnic fare. She focuses on full-flavored dishes that allow the often-unusual ingredients of foreign culinary styles to shine. Her menus bring regional specialties to the forefront, incorporating artisanal local ingredients into both classic and innovative preparations, with results that have critics across Philadelphia, and the country, taking note, most recently being named a 2014 semi- finalist for ‘Outstanding Restaurateur’ by the James Beard Foundation. Peter Woolsey Peter, as an adolescent, started cooking breakfast foods and pasta sauces by his father’s side. On a whim he decided to attend Johnson and Wales for the culinary arts and immediately fell in love with cooking as a profession. In the late 90’s he began his professional career cooking at the Sun Valley Resort and New York’s Waldorf=Astoria. In 2000 he moved to France to study pastry at Le Cordon Bleu. In Paris, Peter worked for the world famous three-star Michelin restaurant, Lucas Carton, under Alain Senderens and Frederic Robert. In 2002 he moved back to Philadelphia working at George Perrier’s Le Mas Perrier and the Striped Bass under Alfred Portale and Chris Lee. In 2004 he married French native Peggy Baud-Woolsey. In 2008 he opened Bistrot La Minette only five months after the birth of his son Jules. Six years and many accolades later Bistrot La Minette has flourished. In August 2014, only one and a half months after the birth of his daughter, he opened La Peg, exactly six years to the day after opening Bistrot La Minette. Scott Schroeder Cooking in Philadelphia for almost 20 years, 39-year-old Detroit native Scott Schroeder started out working under some of Philadelphia best chefs and restaurateurs such as George Perrier, Steven Starr and Guillermo Pernot, which eventually lead him to his home at the South Philadelphia Taproom. After 6 years and many accolades, he is now also residing over the kitchen at the American Sardine Bar in Point Breeze, Philadelphia. He currently lives in South Philadelphia and in his free time enjoys long walks on the beach, free lance writing and hanging out with his 15 year old son Luke. Enjoy his food and comedy at @foodsyoucaneat on Twitter and Instagram. Sylva Senat Currently Chef Sylva Senat is in the process of starting a Partnership for a Restaurant Consulting Group where he plans to unveil two new restaurants, Maison 208 & Dos Tacos. Chef Sylva Senat gained his illustrious rise to success at Buddakan in New York and Philadelphia. A French-speaking Haitian native with Manhattan fine-dining sensibilities, Senat is a kitchen-trained, educated chef who learned from some of the absolute best. Chef Senat is both an ambitious and an inherently humble sophisticate who presents a striking appearance with his chiseled jaw and long dreads. His culinary journey started at The Sign of The Dove where he got his early training with the talented Chef Andrew D’Amico. When the restaurant closed in 1998, Richard Grausman founder of C-CAP Foundation introduced him to Marcus Samuelsson at Aquavit where he worked for three years. It was while working with Marcus that Sylva exposed his palate to exotic flavors and ingredients. It was also at this time that he met Sandra, the woman who would eventually become his wife and mother of their two-year-old daughter Isabelle Yuki. It’s with Sandra that he first visited Japan, and another new passion and cuisine was introduced to him. Having learned all he could at Aquavit, Marcus introduced Sylva to Jean-Georges at the Trump Hotel Central Park where he worked for three years before becoming Jean-Georges’ Sous Chef. He then moved on to being co-chef de cuisine at Jean-Georges’ 66 Leonard Street and Mercer Kitchen. A year at the trendy Stephen Starr restaurant, Buddakan in New York, taught Sylva new Asian techniques and flavors. That same year, Sylva entered the Daniel Boulud /C-CAP scholarship competition and won an all-expenses-paid trip to France and the opportunity to study at the famed Paul Bocu Institute in Lyon. From France, Sylva was engaged to open the Koco Restaurant in the El San Juan Resort & Casino, where he stayed for two years learning how to run a kitchen of his own.