Interviews with Our Chefs

• Virginia Willis, Spring 2005
• Shirley Corriher, Fall 2005
• Nathalie Dupree, Winter 2005-2006
• Michael Tuohy, Spring 2006
• Hector Santiago, Fall 2006
• Linton Hopkins, Spring, 2007

Christen Babb

 Christen Babb, founder of NurtureBaby, is not a doctor or nutritionist, but rather a loving mother, avid cook, and healthy-food enthusiast who insists on providing her child with the best start in life.

NurtureBaby, Inc. was founded to inform, encourage, and inspire parents who desire to make homemade baby food.  NurtureBaby provides wholesome, budget friendly, and environmentally conscious solutions for your baby's food, all while promoting a happy and healthy lifestyle.

Prior to founding NurtureBaby, Christen worked in publishing for several lifestyle media outlets.   The NurtureBaby concept developed after hours in her kitchen while making homemade baby food for her daughter. It soon became evident that other busy parents needed a simple method to create delicious and wholesome homemade baby food. That's when she decided to combine her passions and experience to launch the website.

 

Donna Brousseau

Donna Brousseau is a Chef, Wine Instructor, Food Writer, Food Stylist and on air talent who has worked in the culinary world for over fifteen years. She has worked with major companies, Viking Culinary Arts Center, Wholefoods, McCormick's, Old Bay, American Heart Association, CNN Accent Health as well as newspapers and magazines in delivering Culinary related projects. Donna has a genuine passion for Food & Wine and loves spreading the word!

 

Victoria Barayev

 Victoria is a successful private macrobiotic personal chef working with individuals and families in the Atlanta area. She also teaches holistic nutrition courses at the Esani Skin Care Institute in Alpharetta. Victoria holds a degree in Psychology, is a certified Macrobiotics instructor trained at Kushi Institute in Becket Mass. She is currently working on her first cookbook. Victoria believes in promoting a healthy and delicious lifestyle using whole foods and helping people adapt to a natural diet and heal from different ailments.

 

 

Nandita Godbole

 Nanditas passion for cooking and creating healthy, flavorful Indian meals led her to create a fledgling home-business built around the vision: "Atithi devo bhava" - which translates into - A guest, is God. The mission of this venture is to provide a-la-carte', delicious, fresh, home-cooked Indian foods for convenient pick-up in the north Roswell area. (www.freewebs.com/currycravings) Nandita also is a talented landscape artist. Besides her culinary endeavors she enjoys a professional carrier in public spaces, landscape experience, design interpretation, and site-specific art.  Nandita enjoys painting, creative writing, and exploring her culinary heritage...

 

Antonio Matarese

Antonio Matarese began his culinary career at the Carter Presidential Center where he was responsible for early morning breakfasts for President and Mrs. Carter. With a newly discovered zeal for cooking and with encouragement from the Carter's head chef, he moved to San Francisco in 1995 to attend The California Culinary Academy and later apprenticed with Pastry Chef Emily Luccetti & Chef Jeremiah Tower of Stars Restaurant. Upon returning to Atlanta he embarked on a career in catering, managed two households for a retired socialite, and dabbled in fundraising as the Director of Special Events for The UGA Foundation. Antonio joined the team at Whole Foods Market in the Specialty and Wine Department at the West Paces Ferry store in Buckhead and later became an Assistant Team Leader for the Bakery in Duluth-Johns Creek. Joining the team at Salud! as a culinary instructor has allowed him to explore and pursue his passion for superior food, outstanding wine, and great entertaining. "I couldn't have asked for a better job!  I get to do what I love!" He is an avid gardener, enjoys making homemade jams, root beer, and spirits, and is an enthusiastic traveler.

 

Rose Person

 Rose's introduction to the world of baking was hand rolling doughnuts in a small doughnut shop in New Jersey for 6 years. In 1985 she left New Jersey and the doughnut shop, but continued to find work in bakeries. Rose was a natural and felt right at home and excelled in all areas of production, Pies, cakes, pastries' and bread; she realized baking was something she was a natural at.  Quick to learn, Rose was taught how to decorate birthday cakes and quickly moved on to special orders and wedding cakes. Now in her 20^th year decorating, she has found a showcase for her talents here at Whole Foods Market. You will find Rose 5 days a week busy decorating everything from the tiny little cupcakes to birthday cakes. She will sometimes decorate as many as 50 cakes in a day.   Rose has been married for 20years to her husband Jim and has 3 children and 5 grandchildren.

 

Thomas Schoborg

Chef Thomas Schoborg of Rosa Mexicano in Atlanta, GA channels the rich tradition of Mexican cuisine by incorporating vivid regional ingredients and techniques. A graduate of the French Culinary Institute in New York City, Schoborg first became interested in cooking during his college years at Vanderbilt University when he started cooking meals twice a day for his sixty fraternity brothers in the fraternity house kitchen. His favorite dish to prepare at Rosa Mexicano is the Pescado Guijillo (a pan-seared sea bass with pineapple and a jalapenos potato gratin) because of its subtle complexities. Schoborg enjoys working with dishes that create layers of fresh ingredients. A native Atlantan, Schoborg currently lives Inman Park. In his spare time, he enjoys sports, especially golf, and fishing.

 

Hector Santiago
Pura Vida Tapas Executive Chef/Owner

Hector Santiago is a native of Puerto Rico whose interest in cooking began while he was in college at the University of Puerto Rico. After graduating with a business degree he moved to the United States to attend the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in Hyde Park. 
While attending CIA, Hector externed at the Greenbrier Hotel in West Virginia, one of the few Five Diamond Hotels in the United States. After graduating from CIA in 1993, Hector worked in New York City at the Manhattan Ocean Club before being recruited to the Stony Hill Inn, a four-star restaurant in New Jersey by a former CIA instructor, Chef Sam Hazen. 
In 1995, Hector moved to Atlanta, and worked for the Peasant Restaurant Group for nearly four years and cooked for many special events, including a James Beard Dinner.  After Peasant Restaurants was sold, Hector worked at Murphy's Restaurant and then at Duex Plex. 
His passion for international cuisine had risen over the years, and his desire to introduce Atlanta to the Latino ingredients he loved inspired him to open his own restaurant.  He shared with his wife a desire to open a restaurant of their own, and it wasn't long before Pura Vida was born.  "Pura Vida" literally translates to mean "pure life," and is a saying used in Costa Rica to express "life is great" or "that's life."  The restaurant has been a huge success, most recently boasting awards such as a listing in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Top 50 Restaurants & Restaurant of the Year 2005, the Best Tapas Restaurant by Creative Loafing and CitySearch.com, the Sunday Paper and Jezebel Magazine, and Atlanta Magazine's "Best of Atlanta". Chef Santiago was named "Rising Star Chef" for Atlanta in 2007, by StarChefs.com, and was a long-list nominee for "Best Chef of the Southeast" by the James Beard Foundation for 2008.  Most recently, Hector's brunch menu was named "Best New Brunch" by Atlanta Magazine's "Best of Atlanta".
Hector likes to keep things fresh, and keep learning.  He does "stages" at least once a year, and has recently done them with José Andres at Café Atlantico, Jaleo & Zatinya in Washington DC, with Wylie Dufres at WD~50 in Manhattan, and at Mugaritz in Spain.  These "Stages" are a way for him to see what others are doing, learn about new techniques and ingredients. Chef Hector has also traveled to Costa Rica, Venezuela, Peru, Mexico, Chile, Argentina, and Nicaragua to explore the food cultures of these countries.

 

John Wilson

John Wilson is a certified chef and graduate of the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY.  After working for more than two decades in the restaurant business, Chef Wilson started Culinary Vacations, Inc., a cooking school vacation in Europe, which has grown to five locations in France, Spain, and Italy. In 2009, he will add another location in Sicily. With more than 15 years of teaching experience, it's a pleasure to learn from this well-traveled and seasoned chef. Chef Wilson has appeared on ABC, CBS, and CNN as a guest chef. He writes for local newspapers and periodicals, has self-published a book, and is currently working on two cookbooks.

Scott Yaegle

Scott has worked in the restaurant and catering fields for over 25 years before joining Salud! at Whole Foods Market in Duluth-Johns Creek. He particularly enjoys cooking and learning about ethnic cuisines; especially Latin flavors. Scott is a kids and teens instructor at Salud! Duluth and hopes to pass along to the students not only some great recipes and kitchen skills, but how much fun it is discovering and learning about different cultures through their food.