Denver 2010
July 29 - August 1
- Denver,
- Denver,
Guest Speakers
Troy A. Guard
Raised in both Hawaii and San Diego, Troy Guard spent much of his youth in either the ocean or the kitchen. “I was a fish,” he says, “and when I wasn’t in the water, I was grilling or barbecuing—mostly with my Dad, who cooked kalua pigs at luaus.”
Troy worked his way through college and onto the local culinary scene at San Diego’s La Costa Resort, training at all five of the resort's prestigious restaurants. After college, he returned to his native Hawaii—a path that brought him to the door of legendary fusion chef Roy Yamaguchi...
Within a year, Troy was sous chef at one of Yamaguchi’s most popular restaurants, Roy’s Kahana Bar and Grill in Maui.
“Roy taught me so much,” Troy says of the experience. “I learned how to work with fresh fish like Hamachi and Hawaiian Pink Snapper (opakapaka), and Pacific Rim ingredients like soy, cilantro, ginger, and yuzu ingredients I've grown to love. And with guest chefs stopping by—Nobu, Bradley Ogden, Wolfgang Puck, Michael Mina, Douglas Rodriguez—I learned new things all the time." Troy joined Yamaguchi for his next culinary adventure, the launch of Roy’s New China Max in Hong Kong. By age 25, he was responsible for ten Roy’s outposts throughout Asia.
Troy spent eight years working closely with Yamaguchi before taking the coveted post of Executive Chef at New York City hotspot Tao. Leading a high-volume operation with a large kitchen staff prepared him for his next calling at The Raffles Hotel in Singapore—where, as Chef de Cuisine at the world-renowned Doc Cheng's restaurant, he developed his own unique Pacific Rim style.
It was at Doc Cheng’s that Troy met Richard Sandoval, the visionary behind award-winning “Modern Mexican” concept restaurants across the U.S. Together, Guard and Sandoval hatched the idea of creating Denver’s first Latin-Asian fusion restaurant, Zengo, in the city’s emerging Riverfront area
On the heels of his success at Zengo, Troy joined forces with developer-turned-restaurateur Jim Sullivan to embark upon a new enterprise that would showcase his innovative culinary personality. The resulting restaurant, nine75, serves “comfort food with a rock & roll twist.” Guard and Sullivan followed this success with the opening of Ocean, a Denver eatery dedicated to uniting the freshest seafood with provocative flavors and preparations.
Despite his international past, Troy has fully embraced life in Denver with his wife and step-daughter. In addition to a thriving catering and consulting business, he is active in communities throughout the Rocky Mountain region. Troy is involved in philanthropic efforts for the Mount Saint Vincent Home as well as two annual events for the Colorado Neurological Society: Dancing for a Cause and Costumes for a Cause (for which he recently served as co-chair). He also participates in a variety of local cultural events, including the Cherry Creek Arts Festival and the Telluride Festival of Arts.
Having already been named one of the “Great Regional Chefs of America” by the James Beard Foundation, Troy recently returned to the historic James Beard House in New York for yet another honor. As a member of the Denver FIVE, he was proud to be part of a select group of local tastemakers chosen to represent the Mile High City at an exclusive private dinner.
His latest endeavor, TAG, combines his love for travel with his air for culinary innovation. Serving up a brand-new genre that he calls “continental social food,” TAG is the realization of a lifelong dream for Troy.
Denise Vivaldo
A seasoned food professional with 20 years of experience, Denise Vivaldo has catered more than 10,000 parties and has cooked for such guests as George H.W. Bush, Ronald Reagan, Prince Charles, Bette Midler, Suzanne Somers, Merv Griffin, Cher, Aaron Spelling, Sly Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Maria Shriver. She began her culinary training at the Ritz Escoffier and La Varenne in Paris, and then graduated Chef de Cuisine from the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco.
In 1988, Denise founded Food Fanatics, a catering, recipe-development, and food-styling firm based in Los Angeles, California. Since that time, she has catered for such events as the Academy Awards Governor’s Ball, Sunset Magazine’s Taste of Sunset, and Hollywood wrap parties. She has also catered and styled food for countless local and nationally syndicated television shows such as The Ellen DeGeneres Show, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, NapaStyle with Michael Chiarello, and Inside Dish with Rachael Ray.
Denise is also the author of How to Start a Home-Based Catering Business, which has sold more than 125,000 copies. She teaches catering classes across the country and lives with her husband in Los Angeles.
Website: www.foodfanatics.com
Frank Acuña
Frank R. Acuña is a shareholder of Acuña & Casas, P. C., Business,
Real Estate, and Estate Planning Attorneys, located in Pleasant Hill, California.
His practice is built around the needs of small businesses and professionals and
includes estate planning, elder law, business transactions, and real estate.
Mr. Acuña has taught a variety of business groups, tax
professionals, and financial professionals throughout the United States of
America. He was admitted to the State Bar of California during 1985 and the
State Bar of New York during 1987.
Stephanie Alleyne
Stephanie Alleyne realized at a young age that she was destined for the food business when the only thing she could think to prepare for her second grade bake sale was homemade baklava—the ingredients for which she insisted on sourcing from middle Eastern markets on the outskirts of Boston. Since then, Stephanie has spent the last 20 years working her way up in several of New York city’s best know restaurants before finally owning her own critically acclaimed catering company and restaurant in Manhattan’s Gramercy Park.
Weary from the demands of restaurant cooking, she returned home to Boston where she started a popular private chefs business, cooking for many busy, hungry, families—many of whom had dietary restrictions or a family member who was critically ill. Following that, she worked for 3 years at her “dream job” as test cook/writer for America’s Test Kitchen, home to the award-winning Cook’s Illustrated magazine, Cook’s Country magazine, and the celebrated PBS television series America’s Test Kitchen, where her naturally analytical mind was opened to a whole new way of cooking, writing about and thinking about food and it’s history.
Presently, Stephanie is a freelance food writer, culinary product and recipe developer, and restaurant consultant. Her work has appeared in Cook’s Country magazine, Cookie, O magazine, to name a few, and has worked for and appeared on The Food Network and the Rosie O’Donnell Show. Originally hired by Americraft merely to write a cookbook to support the launch of the 360 line of cookware she was instantly captivated by the unique 360 cooking experience and signed on as the Consulting Executive Chef for the company. Stephanie regularly conducts 360 cooking demos and private class around the country. She is working toward certification as Certified Development Chef .
Stephanie lives in Brooklyn, New York with her husband and two sons.
Roger Main
Roger has been involved in the Toastmasters organization over the last nineteen years and has been a member, at various times, of four different clubs. He has completed the Certified Toastmaster award twice and the Advanced Toastmaster award and has served as Club President four times over two clubs, Vice President of Education and twice as Area Governor both in the United States and Australia. As President of Public Relations for his current club Lodo Toastmasters, Roger also designed, created and maintains the club website.
Professionally, Roger enjoys twenty years of professional software development experience and over twelve years specializing in Internet and Intranet applications, Over the past few years Roger has been branching out into the fields of graphics and video, He has also written numerous articles for Internet.AU magazine, the Professionals In Pajamas website and for the monthly newsletter of his own company, Widget Incorporated. He lives in Denver Colorado with his wife and two children
Dave Zino
Dave Zino ~ Executive Chef National Cattlemen’s Beef Association
As Executive Chef for the leading food authority on beef and veal, Dave Zino is the culinary spokesperson for the organization. He is responsible for concept development, ideation and recipe development; working closely with the Checkoff-funded Culinary Services program. While developing concepts and recipes for both the retail and foodservice industries, Dave also works very closely with the Checkoff-funded Beef Innovations Group in evaluating and developing new beef products.
In his role as Executive Chef, Dave wears many hats that run the gamut from industry expert, to public speaker, to writer and television personality. As the culinary authority on beef, Dave helped launch Beef U: A Foodservice Guide to Beef – a comprehensive, in-depth and customizable “train the trainer” program designed to provide the foodservice industry with the latest beef product information and knowledge. Dave also assisted in revising the award winning publication Creating Crave; A Professionals Guide to Flavor, He also contributed to the recently published Healthy Beef Cookbook. In November 2007, Drovers – America’s beef business source – featured Dave as the “Dean of Beef University.”
An excellent public speaker and dynamic on-camera personality, Dave is frequently quoted on television and in print. In May 2007, he appeared on the popular Food Network program “Unwrapped” as part of their “On The Grill” episode on making the perfect burger. In 2009 he appeared on Healthy Flavor of America program, a public television cooking show. In addition, Dave travels the country giving presentations on beef to universities, professional organizations, culinary schools and industry groups.
Dave’s writing has been published in Food Product Design and also appears in “An Integrated Approach to New Food Product Development.” He wrote the chapter entitled, “The Right Preparation Technique,” which focuses on meeting consumers’ needs with fully tested products and recipes that really work. In 2004, Culinology magazine chose Dave as their “Featured Chef.” In 2008 Beef, Meat & Deli Retailer and Progressive Grocer magazines featured articles on Dave and the Culinary Services team.
Dave holds a Bachelors of Science Degree from Illinois State University and has earned three culinary certifications from Kendall College. He is a member of the Research Chef’s Association and the International Association of Culinary Professionals.
Tara Lindsay
Chief Instructor: United Studios of Self Defense, Denver, CO
1st Degree Black Belt
Tara Lindsay is a martial arts black belt and leads a highly talented team of martial arts instructors in Denver, CO at the United Studios of Self Defense. The Academy is taught by Senior Instructors that have been training in martial arts and managing studios for over ten years. All instructors must constantly refine their teaching and organizational skills to maintain their instructor status. Tara teaches and provides confidence in the physical principles of self-defense and mental awareness needed to recognize and avoid potentially dangerous situations.
Gail Kenagy
For the past 24 years, Chef Gail has built her career as a gourmet chef, working for private clients, special events and donating her services to charities in the San Francisco Bay Area and throughout California.
In March, 2008, Gail took her Personal Chef business to a whole new level by becoming the President of the United States Personal Chef Association and CEO of the Culinary Business Academy.
To further her passion for "changing the way America eats" and assisting her fellow personal chefs in developing their businesses, Gail has moved from providing daily meals for a variety of clients in the San Francisco Bay Area, to guiding and energizing the Personal Chef industry and developing new and innovative training materials for existing personal chefs, as well as those interested in becoming a Personal Chef.