DAVE MARTIN


www.chefdavemartin.com

It's been a couple of years now since Dave's memorable participation on the inaugural season of Bravo's 'Top Chef' and he has been working hard to keep his name and most importantly his food out there for the public. Since his last restaurant adventure as Executive Chef , 'Crave on 42' and his consulting for Chow Down, Inc. (VYNL Restaurants-UES & Chelsea locations), Dave has been focused on promoting his book and working on lots of exciting projects across the board. He teaches classes at 'The Culinary Loft' in SoHo for Execs from MTV, Oracle, Lloyds of London and more. He works with and trains culinary teams at the University of Illinois (Champaign-Urbana) and has helped them launched one of their new on-campus dining programs. Dave's road into the culinary world was far from traditional. After leaving a successful career and company in the technology industry behind, Dave chose to pursue his real love and passion-cooking and making people smile through his food. He headed back to school and graduated with honors from the Le Cordon Bleu in Pasadena, California. Halfway through the program, he formed his own catering company, 'As You Wish Catering', and took on the Executive Chef role at 'XO Wine Bistro' in Manhattan Beach, California. He soon built a strong local following of customers that enjoyed his multi-regional cuisine that ranged from Southern Barbecue to Southeast Asian and beyond. Dave's unique layering of flavors have continued to keep people interested as his 'Black Truffle Mac 'n' Cheese" remains a top seller at the 'VYNL' Restaurants in the city. Dave enjoys modernizing and revitalizing old school comfort foods, sometimes even with a lighter and healthier approach thanks to his many years of Southern California coastal living.

Dave's first cookbook, 'Flavor Quest' was released in October 2009 and is available via chefdavemartin.com as well as amazon and barnesandnoble.com. Dave is also working on his latest project- a healthy food line for kids along with consulting, catering and doing guest chef/ book promotion events across the country. He is the Host for Ronald McDonald House (NYC) and 4Good Productions Newly launched 'Guess Who's Coming to Dinner' Celebrity Chef Series beginning February 2010. He is working with the Make-a-Wish Foundation and American Heart Association on various charity events and fundraisers across the country. This April catch Dave in Palm Springs for Villagefest and a Special Event at Movie Colony Hotel (http://www.moviecolonyhotel.com). He will be teaching at The French Culinary Institute in NYC (http://www.frenchculinary.com) July of 2010 spearheading the launch of their new American Regional Cuisine Program (for their Recreational Division). Dave's Wine Country- Guest Chef/ Book Tour kicks off in Spring 2010 at Santa Barbara Winery in May (http://www.sbwinery.com ), then later in Sonoma and Carmel Valley, California along with the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books in April (http://events.latimes.com/festivalofbooks ). See him in Oregon Wine Country this Summer with events being organized at Bergstrom, The Four Graces in July & Brooks Winery along with Brookside Inn in June and August (http://brooksideinn-oregon.com) doing additional boutique winemaker dinners. Catch his classes at 'In Good Taste' in Portland in June, July & August ( http://ingoodtastestore.com ). He will be in Washington State in June and August at Desert Wind Winery (http://www.desertwindwinery.com) doing winemaker dinners and cooking demos. This Fall, he will be headlining at Martha's Vineyard Food & Wine Festival (http://www.mvfoodandwine.com ) where he will be doing demos, book signings & more.