StarChefs - Profiles

Cassie Piuma

Team StarChefs — Mon, 15 Jul 2024 14:24:00 +0000

Sarma | Cambridge, MA

JULY 2024

After leaving her hometown of Duxbury, Massachusetts to study medicine, Cassie Piuma discovered that lab coats and stethoscopes weren’t really her thing. So, Piuma turned to what she loved most: food. After her first foray into the kitchen at Top of the Hub, she enrolled in culinary school at Johnson & Wales University, where she met her husband and future business partner Matthew Piuma. While still in school, she joined the team at Al Forno in Providence, Rhode Island, learning new skills, gaining experience, and playing with regional Italian cuisines. She graduated with honors before spending a semester at the AtSunrice Global Chef Academy in Singapore.

In 2002, Piuma moved to Boston and dove into French cuisine at Sel de la Terre before taking a job at Butcher Shop, where she worked as a sausage maker. Ready for more, Piuma brought her talents to Rising Stars alum Ana Sortun’s Oleana, where she rose from line cook to sous chef before eventually becoming chef de cuisine. After 11 years of working at Oleana and learning the nuances of Middle Eastern cooking, Piuma and her husband—with help from Sortun—opened their mezze-forward restaurant, Sarma, in 2013. Shortly after, in 2015, she was named a StarChefs Rising Star. Since then, her restaurant has become a Boston institution with guests clamoring over the distinctive, shareable, Mediterranean-focused plates that have earned her a slew of James Beard Award nominations over the past decade. Piuma continues to create an exciting menu and approachable atmosphere at Sarma while inspiring the next generation of chefs in her kitchen.

2015 StarChefs Boston Rising Stars Award Winner
2024 StarChefs Boston Rising Stars Mentor Chef Award Winner

Katie Weismann

Team StarChefs — Mon, 15 Jul 2024 14:22:00 +0000

Spoke | Cambridge, MA

JULY 2024

Bartending since she was 19, Katie Weismann first got a taste of cocktail culture as a server at The Hawthorne, memorizing classics and learning the fundamentals. While pursuing a master’s degree in fine art photography at The University of the Arts London, Weismann worked in a pub and got a sense of the kind of comfort, community, and satisfaction bars can offer their guests. Back in the States and working in art galleries, she hopped back into the bar scene and was hooked on hospitality. When she heard that Spoke was under new ownership, Weismann cold emailed Owner Mary Kurth and came on board as a bartender, finding at the stylish and collaborative restaurant a perfect balance between her artistic sensibility and passion for the industry.

Since joining the team, Weismann has taken over as the bar manager for Spoke, where she has filled the backbar with products and spirits that she and her staff are passionate about sharing. With an exciting list of spirit-forward cocktails that utilize excess ingredients from the kitchen, she's showing off her creativity through cocktails like Lust For Spring with grilled cucumber-infused Singani 63, baijiu, and Alma de Trabanco vermouth. By placing an emphasis on education and training, Weismann is also creating room for others to grow, using her platform to showcase the work of other bartenders, chefs, and artists in the Boston area through a Tuesday night pop-up series and interactive experiences and events for the community at large.

2024 StarChefs Boston Rising Stars Award Winner

Seth Freidus

Team StarChefs — Mon, 15 Jul 2024 14:21:00 +0000

Good Company | Boston

JULY 2024

From a young age, while working in restaurants, Seth Freidus knew bartending was the culmination of everything he enjoyed. It gave him the chance to be creative, work with his hands, and have conversations with interesting people. When he moved to Boston for college, Freidus got a job at Legal Sea Foods, where he learned about systems, big hospitality, and the basics of cocktails. Eager for a life behind the stick, he took a barback position at Eastern Standard. Working under Bar Manager Kevin Martin, Freidus turned his hunger into skill by improving his efficiency, speed, and demeanor as a bartender. When he was 25, he had the opportunity to lead his own program at Alden & Harlow, accepting the job of beverage director and bringing a farm-to-glass approach to the menu.

In 2018, drawn even further towards a mission of sustainability, Freidus left Alden & Harlow after four years to open a bar of his own. In December 2019, he signed a lease and started to work with investors to bring his concept to life, but in March 2020, the pandemic cut those dreams short. Forced to terminate his lease, Freidus took a job in Gloucester, regrouped, focused on consulting, and started to look for something new. When his business partner found a space that fit the bill in Boston’s Hood Park neighborhood, Freidus saw an opportunity to get in on the ground floor in an emerging district. In 2023, Good Company opened to the public with a closed loop cocktail program that dramatically minimizes waste, cuts out single-use products, and sources ingredients sustainably. On top of his mission, Freidus is turning Good Company into a neighborhood spot by hosting outdoor activations, industry collaborations, and special events for the local community.

2024 StarChefs Boston Rising Stars Award Winner

Matthew Bullock

Team StarChefs — Mon, 15 Jul 2024 14:20:00 +0000

Southern Pines Diner Car | Somerville, MA

July 2024

In the early 2000s, a young Matthew Bullock was first drawn to the restaurant industry thanks to the Food Network, watching Bobby Flay cook on TV and Iron Chefs battle it out in Kitchen Stadium. He got his first back-of-house job at 21 at Russell House Tavern in Harvard Square, climbing his way up from prep cook to garde manger before working the hot line. After some time at Ashmont Grill, Bullock went to work at Lord Hobo in Cambridge, eventually becoming chef de cuisine during his five-year stint at the brewery. He then spent a summer working on Martha’s Vineyard and, when he returned to Boston, started as a line cook at the progressive and experimental Café ArtScience, where Bullock was taught by Chef Ryan Boya and mentored by Chef Ben Lacy. He went on to open the Italian restaurant Peregrine in Beacon Hill as the chef de cuisine, where he stayed for the next three years.

Bullock then took a step back from leadership roles, working as a line cook at Puritan & Company before joining the team at Forage, where he learned about fermentation, produce-driven cuisine, and restaurant operations from Chef Eric Cooper and Owner Stan Hilbert. With some help from Cooper and Hilbert, Bullock started his pop-up dinner series, Southern Pines Supper Club, filling seats at Forage and turning out his own dishes on the last Sunday of every month. Taking time to tweak the format, recipes, and structure, he started to spread the word and build his brand. Bullock turned the fine dining pop-up into a more casual sandwich concept, Southern Pines Diner Car, which opened at Bow Market in June 2023. Drawing on Bullock’s roots as well as Southern techniques and flavors, the sandwiches at Southern Pines Diner Car are drool-worthy and addictive, and pay homage to Bullock’s historical influences like his Beware of the Rougaroux, which features spiced, roasted chicken thighs, American cheese, coleslaw, Rougaroux Juice mayonnaise, and bread and butter pickles served on Hi-Rise challah.

2024 StarChefs Boston Rising Stars Award Winner

Laurence Louie

Team StarChefs — Mon, 15 Jul 2024 14:20:00 +0000

Rubato | Quincy, MA

JULY 2024

In 2013, after five years as a community organizer, Laurence Louie moved to China to participate in a Chinese language program. While there, he discovered a hand-pulled noodle shop on campus and, in broken Mandarin, asked the chefs to teach him. He became an apprentice there and spent the next year learning Mandarin and hand pulling noodles. When he returned stateside, Louie was inspired to open a restaurant, but realized he needed more experience. He applied to jobs all around Boston, with his slender resume in hand, before landing at Rising Stars alum Ana Sortun’s Oleana, where he worked his way up to junior sous chef. Then, Louie moved to London in 2018, where his now-wife was working towards her master’s degree. With some help from Sortun, he found a job at Selin Kiazim’s Kyseri. Starting as a sous, he eventually became head chef at the restaurant before moving over to Oklava for the next few years.

When the pandemic hit, Louie got a call from his mother, Joyce, who owned and operated Contempo Bakery in Quincy for 22 years and was ready to retire. Figuring out what to do with the space, Louie contemplated building an upscale 25-seat Cantonese tasting menu restaurant, but after returning home and driving around Quincy, he realized that wasn’t what the neighborhood needed. An ode to his experience as a Chinese American kid growing up in Boston, Louie opened his restaurant Rubato—a Hong Kong-style cafe—in 2022. There, he combines his culinary knowledge with his mom’s homestyle recipes, modernizing classic dishes and pushing a new narrative for Chinese American cuisine with dishes like his Rubato Fun Fun with steamed rice rolls, braised brisket tendon, curry fish balls, daikon, hoisin, sesame, sriracha, scallions, and cilantro.

2024 StarChefs Boston Rising Stars Award Winner

Katie Hubbard

Team StarChefs — Mon, 15 Jul 2024 14:18:00 +0000

Pammy's | Cambridge, MA

JULY 2024

Since she was 12 years old, watching bottles empty into glasses at Christmas dinner, Katie Hubbard has been enamored by wine. The elegant, sometimes mysterious beverage caught her attention and never let go. When she moved to Boston to study fine art, Hubbard started working at Taberna de Haro in Brookline, where she spent the next six years of her career learning about wine (and how to speak and write about it) from Chef-Owner-Sommelier Deborah Hansen. While building a philosophy of her own, Hubbard was drawn in by the culture of hospitality. She began to see her work at the restaurant as a kind of art form in and of itself, connecting with guests, fostering relationships with winemakers, and crafting unforgettable dining experiences. As Hubbard fell further in love with wine, she left her graphic design job and committed to restaurants full-time.

In 2021, Hubbard took her years of experience to Pammy’s, joining the team as wine director. In her first full wine buying role, she has expanded and diversified the restaurant’s wine list, prioritized wines from small producers made with minimal intervention, and shined a spotlight on less common grape varietals. Through weekly classes at Pammy’s, Hubbard is teaching the front and back of house about wine; guiding them through pairings, blind tastings, and even lessons on grape genealogy. For her, the wine list is always in flux—changing, adapting, and updating like art on the walls of a museum to keep guests coming back for another glass.

2024 StarChefs Boston Rising Stars Award Winner

Stefanos Oungrinis and Demetri Tsolakis

Team StarChefs — Mon, 15 Jul 2024 14:15:00 +0000

Xenia Greek Hospitality | Boston

JULY 2024

In his hometown of Thessaloniki, Greece, Stefanos Oungrinis worked as a nurse, but after four years in hospitals, he turned from one kind of hospitality to another. Looking for a new way to connect and communicate with others, Oungrinis started as a barback and then worked as a bartender, slinging cocktails on the southern islands of Mykonos and Syros. Eager to learn about other cultures and have new experiences, he moved to Boston. While out to dinner one night, he struck up a conversation with the restaurant’s manager, Demetri Tsolakis, and the two became fast friends.

Originally from Connecticut, Tsolakis spent his childhood helping out at his parents’ Greek restaurants. He moved to Boston in 2001 for college and found it difficult to find Greek food that reminded him of home. So, Tsolakis set out to bring more Greek food to Boston. He began working in restaurants on the operational side over the next few years, until finally opening the Seaport Mediterranean spot Committee Ouzeri + Bar in 2015 as managing partner.

Oungrinis joined the opening team at Committee as a bartender, but the duo was looking to open something together. They wanted a restaurant that provided not only authentic Greek food, but also promoted aesthetics that went beyond stereotypical images of the Parthenon. Drawing from the street food of their childhoods, the duo opened their fast-casual gyro concept, Greco Truly Greek, in 2017. Next, came their wine bar, Krasi, in 2020, which boasts the largest list of Greek wine in the country. In 2022, they opened moody cocktail bar Hecate, with a menu inspired by Greek mythology. And, a year later, they opened their sit-down restaurant Bar Vlaha, showcasing the food and culture of the nomadic Vlach people. Now, with five locations of Greco across Boston, a location in Washington D.C. with another one on the way, and a seafood-forward concept in the works, Tsolakis and Oungrinis are steadfast in their goal of sharing honest, approachable Greek food, and unflinching hospitality that makes you feel at home.

2024 StarChefs Boston Rising Stars Award Winners

Luke Fetbroth

Team StarChefs — Mon, 15 Jul 2024 14:13:00 +0000

Tonino | Boston

JULY 2024

Eight miles west of Boston, in Waltham, Massachusetts, Luke Fetbroth dreamed of being a musician. When he wasn’t jamming with his punk band, the young bass player worked in his father’s car shop until his sister got him a job at Stone Hearth Pizza Co. in Belmont. Fetbroth started as a dishwasher and fell in love with the misfit feel of the kitchen, learning to make pizza while saving up money to continue pursuing his music career. After graduating high school, he worked at Acton Jazz Cafe and then Fiorella’s before moving out to Los Angeles, where he took a job at Buca Di Beppo, learning the systems of a corporate restaurant.

At 21, Fetbroth joined the team at Blue Dog Beer Tavern in the San Fernando Valley, where he became chef de cuisine and turned the kitchen around by emphasizing fresh, local ingredients, making more components in-house, and galvanizing his cooks. Wanting to go back to his culinary roots, he took a job at Pitfire Pizza, working with Rising Stars alum Jason Neroni while running the West Hollywood location of the fast-casual restaurant. After opening the Manhattan Beach location, Fetbroth moved back to Boston and landed at Giulia, digging deeper into pasta under Rising Stars alum Michael Pagliarini. He then moved over to Sarma, where he worked all the stations under the guidance of Rising Stars alum Cassie Piuma, before going on to Moody’s Delicatessen and Provisions.

Feeling burnt out, Fetbroth moved to New York. He staged at Momofuku Ssam Bar, Momofuku Nishi, and Per Se, before taking a job at Mettā in Fort Greene as sous chef and then chef de cuisine. After the restaurant closed, Fetbroth dreamt up a Mexico City-based raw bar concept, but while working towards opening, the pandemic arrived and his project fell apart. He took a job as the culinary director for Alltown Fresh, expanding their program and locations. In March 2022, Fetbroth signed a lease on his restaurant, Tonino, in Boston's Jamaica Plain neighborhood. From breads and pizzas to pastas and meats, the dishes at Tonino are understated and polished, combining mastery of Italian techniques with high quality ingredients.

2024 StarChefs Boston Rising Stars Award Winner

Alyssa and Teddy Applebaum

Team StarChefs — Mon, 15 Jul 2024 14:13:00 +0000

Elmendorf Baking Supplies | Cambridge, MA

JULY 2024

After graduating from journalism school during the recession, Alyssa and Teddy Applebaum found a way forward in the world of hospitality. Starting out at Formaggio Kitchen, Teddy worked in the back of house, learning to respect ingredients and cook with intention from Chef Eduardo Miranda, while Alyssa managed the front of house before becoming an assistant baker under veteran Head Baker Alice Southcote. While working at the shop, Alyssa and Teddy had their first introduction to the impressive range of quality grains when they were developing a new cornbread recipe for Formaggio Kitchen’s weekly barbecue pop-up. Meeting with farmers and sampling their cornmeal and grain inspired the couple to start their own Liège waffle pop-up out of the shop, before moving it to the The Somerville Flea Market in Davis Square for the next two years.

In 2015, Alyssa and Teddy got married and moved to Provincetown, Massachusetts. Alyssa sharpened her baking skills at Happy Camper, developing their doughnut recipe, and Teddy joined the team at The Canteen as a prep cook, but that’s when they started to think about opening a place of their own. After a trip down south, they returned to Boston, where Alyssa learned bread baking at Clear Flour Bread and Teddy became junior sous chef at Oleana under Rising Stars alum Cara Chigazola Tobin.

Ready to start their business, Alyssa and Teddy found a space in Teddy’s hometown of Cambridge and opened Elmendorf Baking Supplies in 2018. Originally focused on retail, the couple slowly built out the bakery side of the business, amassing better equipment, expanding the staff, and using their culinary backgrounds to make mouthwatering baked goods and sandwiches. The couple has also kept a focus on the quality of the grains, establishing an in-house milling program and incorporating their flour into over 90 percent of items on the menu. With hopes for expansion in the next few years, Alyssa and Teddy are using their shop to showcase grains, support and work with local farmers, and provide comforting treats to their community.

2024 StarChefs Boston Rising Stars Award Winners

Molly Dwyer

Team StarChefs — Mon, 15 Jul 2024 14:12:00 +0000

Bar Volpe | Boston

JULY 2024

At 16, Molly Dwyer got her first industry gig at a retirement home, at a retirement home, where she wore a tuxedo shirt, wheeled around cranberry juice on a cart, and served meals to senior citizens. But, when front-of-house work lost its allure, Dwyer turned to the kitchen. Starting as a dishwasher, she was promoted to prep cook before becoming a full-time PM chef in her senior year of high school. While attending Johnson & Wales University, Dwyer did her externship at Tremont 647 and, after three months, they offered her a full-time position. Dwyer rose through the ranks, moving from line cook to junior sous before eventually becoming sous chef. Under Rising Stars alum Andy Husbands, she learned not only how to cook and work the wood fire grill station, but also how to run a restaurant, manage a kitchen, and lead a team. In 2013, Dwyer was promoted to chef de cuisine.

After almost seven years at Tremont 647, Dwyer took on a seasonal position at The Boarding House on Nantucket and stayed on for the next three seasons, coming back to Boston in the winters to work as a line cook. When she heard that Chef Karen Akunowicz was opening a restaurant of her own, Dwyer DM’d her and joined the opening team at Fox & The Knife as executive sous chef, where she gained experience and knowledge while cooking under Akunowicz. Dwyer was promoted to chef de cuisine a few months later.

After three years at Fox & The Knife, Dwyer helped open Akunowicz’s newer, larger, and Southern Italian-focused restaurant, Bar Volpe. As chef de cuisine, she has built the program from the ground up, collaborating with Akunowicz and bringing her own forward-thinking leadership style to the kitchen. Dwyer is dedicated to supporting her team and creating a community amongst her employees. From knife sharpening classes to lessons on pâte à choux, Dwyer is fostering the next generation of Boston’s chefs while delivering playful takes on Southern Italian dishes to her guests.

2024 StarChefs Boston Rising Stars Award Winner

Thomas Ferté

Team StarChefs — Mon, 15 Jul 2024 14:10:00 +0000

Michette | Boston

JULY 2024

After graduating from law school, French-born Thomas Ferté spent five years working as a corporate lawyer in New York City. When he had enough of the mundane office life, Ferté traded in his briefcase for brioche. He headed back to Europe and enrolled in baking school in Aurillac, France before moving to Paris, where he worked at bakeries big and small. At Ten Belles, Ferté focused on sourdough and baked with fresh ingredients alongside a team of international chefs. Then, he took his experience to Le Boulanger de la Tour, learning to manage his space, stay organized, and bake French classics. After spending time at Farine & O and the bakery inside of Le Bon Marché, where he took advantage of the hands-on training and was exposed to high-volume production, Ferté returned to the States.

In 2022, Ferté founded his bakery, Michette, in Somerville, where he serves freshly baked breads, viennoiserie, and clever pastries, like his spanakopita croissant and guava roll with ricotta and cream cheese, to the community. Since opening, Ferté has expanded the team, started to build relationships and wholesale accounts, and collaborated with small businesses in the area. He’s keeping his customers engaged by running weekly specials and incorporating vegan viennoiserie into the bakery’s repertoire.

2024 StarChefs Boston Rising Stars Award Winner

Nik Mastalerz

Team StarChefs — Mon, 15 Jul 2024 14:06:00 +0000

Oleana | Cambridge, MA

JULY 2024

Nik Mastalerz got his first industry gig at a golf club diner in Rehoboth, Massachusetts, slinging fish and chips to a hungry country club crowd. His aunt ran the kitchen, and it was there working the line where his interest in cooking blossomed. Mastalerz attended Johnson & Wales University while working at the campus bakery at the Rhode Island School of Design, learning the tricks to large-scale production. Over the next two years there, he grew into a leadership role while helping with the bakery’s production schedule. After graduating, he applied for a pastry chef position at the Harbor View Hotel on Martha’s Vineyard under Rising Stars alum Nathan Gould. Mastalerz took full advantage of the island’s seasonal bounty and fresh, quality produce. After two seasons at the hotel, Mastalerz moved across the country to California and picked up bakery jobs across the Bay Area, leaning into European-style baking techniques and naturally leavened bread.

He joined the team at Feel Good Bakery, commuting between Alameda and Oakland to work pastry at the Italian restaurant, Parlour. He then joined the team at Lazy Bear under Rising Stars alum Maya Erickson before moving to Bix, a jazz supper club, one year later. Missing his family, Mastalerz returned to the East Coast and accepted a consulting position at Gould’s O Ya. He then moved to Bianca, the group’s wood fire-driven spot in Chestnut Hill, working on the savory side and making pizzas. In 2022, after a friend let him know the Oleana team was hiring, Mastalerz eagerly applied, ready to transition back to pastry—and he got the job. As pastry chef, he brings his years of baking and production knowledge to the beloved Cambridge institution, making breads and overseeing desserts for Oleana’s catering arm. Mastalerz also shares his own interpretations of classic Mediterranean desserts, like his pistachio baklava with frangipane, smoked black cardamom syrup, and satsuma-labneh ice cream.

2024 StarChefs Boston Rising Stars Award Winner

Kelsey Munger

Team StarChefs — Mon, 15 Jul 2024 14:02:00 +0000

Monumental Market | Jamaica Plain, MA

JULY 2024

For Kelsey Munger, learning to bake came out of necessity. Born with a severe nut allergy, she found it difficult to find nut-free baked goods to satisfy her sweet tooth, so she decided to make her own. At 14, she got her first industry job at a local bakery in her hometown, and when she moved to Connecticut to earn her degree in social work, Munger managed her college’s student-run cafe. She continued to work as a recipe developer and in bakeries and coffee shops, specifically choosing small, locally owned businesses to learn all she could before opening a spot of her own. Unable to go to culinary school due to her allergy, Munger earned her Masters in Gastronomy from Boston University instead and, in 2017, started her own baking business, Lavender Bee.

For the next year, Munger popped up around Boston and in farmers markets until she felt ready to move to a brick-and-mortar. In February 2020, she opened Monumental Market, a nut-free bakery, coffee shop, record store, and, most importantly, community gathering space. In addition to selling her comforting, allergy-friendly baked goods, Munger prioritizes highlighting small businesses, showcasing local vendors and products in her store. She meticulously researches every ingredient that goes into her bakes to ensure each is 100% nut-free, and offers a wide range of accessible goods; from her gluten-free chai cake to her vegan scones. With plans to open a second Monumental Market in the future, Munger will continue her mission of advocating for small businesses while providing community-centered spaces and thoughtful, comforting baked goods that anyone, no matter their allergies, can enjoy.

2024 StarChefs Boston Rising Stars Award Winner

Lukas Dow

Team StarChefs — Mon, 15 Jul 2024 14:02:00 +0000

Judy’s Bay | Cambridge, MA

JULY 2024

Lukas Dow was hooking worms, cleaning fish, and wielding a cleaver before he was six years old. Freshwater and ocean fishing with his grandfather, Anthony, around New Bedford, Massachusetts—the largest fishing port in the United States—and cooking in the kitchen with his mother and grandmother, Judy, Dow fell in love with the bounty of the New England coastline. As he got older, he started shore fishing for scup before targeting larger fish, like bluefish and stripers, on his own. Later, Dow joined the non-profit The Food Project, a local farming program for teenagers.

Even though he had worked on the agricultural side, Dow’s first industry job was at his uncle’s restaurant, working the fry station, cooking chicken fingers and spare ribs, and embracing the frenetic flow of the kitchen. After a few months in French fine dining at L’Espalier, he joined the team at Rising Stars alums Irene and Margaret Li's Mei Mei, where he was challenged and taught to work collaboratively at the family-owned establishment.

In 2018, Dow and his wife, Kim, started hosting Asian-inspired barbecue pop-ups, called Judy’s BBQ, in their friends’ backyards, while also cooking in empty restaurant kitchens and planning to open in a commissary space. When the pandemic hit in 2020, they pivoted, and Dow went to work at Movement Ground Farm in Rhode Island, where he foraged for blue crabs and quahogs along the coast. In November 2021, they opened Judy’s Bay. Defined by his childhood on the water, the restaurant embraces the beauty and diversity of local New England seafood, emphasizes whole fish utilization and sustainable fishing practices, and builds off of Dow’s global travels and Asian American upbringing with dishes like his monkfish katsu with yuzu kosho tartar sauce.

2024 StarChefs Boston Rising Stars Award Winner

Tomo Shinoda

Team StarChefs — Mon, 15 Jul 2024 13:58:00 +0000

Yume Ga Arukara | Boston

JULY 2024

In the beginning, there was ramen. When Tomo Shinoda moved from Tokyo to Boston at only three years old, cooking was one of the few ways he stayed connected to his Japanese culture, but his path to noodles didn’t begin until college. At 18, while studying at Seattle University, Shinoda returned home to Boston and went with his family to eat at Yume Wo Katare in Cambridge. After inhaling his heaping bowl of ramen (and the rest of his sister’s), the owner—Chef Tsuyoshi Nishioka—asked Shinoda if he wanted to work at the restaurant. Although he was still in college, Shinoda started working in the ramen shop during school breaks. When he graduated, he went full-time, learning the craft of ramen making from Nishioka and developing a passion for handmade Japanese noodles.

And then came udon. In 2017, Nishioka opened Yume Ga Arukara in Porter Square. After managing the kitchen at Yume Wo Katare for about two years, Shinoda moved to the new restaurant and was retrained in a whole new style of noodle, udon. A month later, Nishioka moved back to Japan and left the shop in Shinoda’s hands. After almost three years there, he felt ready to learn something new, so Shinoda set his sights on soba.

He returned to Seattle and, for the next two and a half years, trained in the delicate art of soba making at Kamonegi, learning from Rising Stars alum Mutsuko Soma. When owner Juan Carlos Vidal decided to open a second location of Yume Ga Arukara at the Seaport in Boston, he asked Shinoda to run the restaurant. At the new location, which opened in February 2024, Shinoda is developing and expanding the already adored udon menu with tempura dishes, specials inspired by his time in Seattle and Japan, and the addition of beer, wine, and sake. As head chef, Shinoda is focused on perfecting his craft and becoming a teacher in his own right by sharing his noodle knowledge with his staff.

2024 StarChefs Boston Rising Stars Award Winner

Shanita Nicholas and Amanda-Jane Thomas

Team StarChefs — Tue, 30 Apr 2024 14:36:00 +0000

Sip & Sonder | Los Angeles

April 2024

Growing up an army brat and traveling around the world, Shanita Nicholas always longed for a third space; a place where anyone could belong. She went on to study chemical engineering in college and found herself drawn to agricultural systems and, more importantly, the social responsibility that comes with them. Nicholas attended Columbia Law School, focusing on private equity and entrepreneurship. While working at a law firm, she met friend and future business partner, Amanda-Jane Thomas. The two often chatted about their ideas, hopes, and the challenges they faced, especially those that come with being among the few Black women in a white-male-dominated field.

Amanda-Jane Thomas never thought she would find herself in the food and beverage industry. With a degree in Sociology from Harvard College and a law degree from Harvard Law School, Thomas was eager to make a difference while working at an international law firm. However, she felt that her career as an attorney did not fulfill her desire to be an agent of social change. Thomas’ time with Nicholas, along with a community of fellow Black women in law, became a safe space for her, and even when the two parted ways, they continued to stay in touch. Their conversations turned towards social change, shared environments, and, of course, coffee. Thomas and Nicholas founded Sonder Impact soon after; a non-profit committed to empowering Black communities by supporting professional and personal development.

In 2016, Nicholas and Thomas continued to zero in on coffee, specifically as a medium to share their experiences. Thomas’ mission to create accessible public gathering spaces that could transform communities, coupled with Nicholas’s rising interest in coffee and roasting, led to the creation of their coffee shop, Sip & Sonder, in 2017. With their first location in Inglewood, an outpost at The Music Center, and wholesale accounts across the country, Sip & Sonder offers not only sustainable, thoughtfully roasted coffee sourced from global communities of color, but also an inviting meeting space for all members of the community.

2024 StarChefs Los Angeles Rising Stars Award Winners

Alisa Vannah

Team StarChefs — Tue, 30 Apr 2024 14:35:00 +0000

Mr. T | Los Angeles

April 2024

Alisa Vannah spent a lot of time with her mother growing up. Luckily, her mom was a very good cook, and the two of them would talk about their day while watching The Food Network. Vannah was mesmerized by images of chefs cooking food and plating dishes. Years later, she landed a job at Osteria Mozza on the pastry team with Chef Dahlia Narvaez and then went on to open Chi Spacca under Chef Chad Colby, where she switched to savory and learned to butcher meat. A year later, Vannah left to work for Rising Stars alum Walter Manzke at République, where she started as a line cook and was motivated by the passion, intensity, and support she found at the restaurant. She spent four years at République, rising through the ranks, going from line cook to sous to executive sous, fostering her creativity and leadership skills along the way.

Vannah went to work on the opening team at Tsubaki for a little over a year and a half before returning to République. After over seven cumulative years at the restaurant, Vannah felt it was time for something new. With some help from Manzke, she connected with the opening team at Mr. T and joined as executive chef. Since then, she has built a menu that reflects her Los Angeles upbringing, her Thai background, and her culinary influences while staying true to the French-and-street-food-inspired restaurant through dishes like her vadouvan curry branzino with miso-yuzu sabayon, crispy shallot, almond, and lemon marmalade.

2024 StarChefs Los Angeles Rising Stars Award Winner

Jennifer Yee

Team StarChefs — Tue, 30 Apr 2024 14:34:00 +0000

Bakers Bench | Los Angeles

April 2024

When Jennifer Yee told her parents she wanted to go to culinary school, they said no. So, she doubled down and did it anyway, graduating from the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone’s baking and pastry program. In New York City, she worked at Gilt and then at Jean Georges under Pastry Chef Joe Murphy, where her dedication to the industry was enshrined and her love of pastry was fostered. After three years in New York, Yee moved to the Bay Area to work at Craftsmen and Wolves. She then headed to Bouchon Bakery for a six-month stint, where she learned to bake bread from Baker Emily O’Toole before moving to The French Laundry. Under Pastry Chef Elwyn Boyles, Yee learned to foster teamwork and to conceptualize and execute dishes with dynamic textures, colors, and flavors.

After working every station, she returned to Los Angeles and joined the team at Konbi. During her time there, the pandemic struck, but Yee found a way to make the most of the situation. She used the time—and space—to mix, laminate, proof, and bake pastries, gaining confidence, experimenting with recipes, and learning the nuances of baking. Since graduating culinary school, Yee always knew she wanted to own a bakery, and in 2021, with some help from her once reluctant parents, opened Bakers Bench as a kiosk at Far East Plaza in Chinatown. The vegan bakery is nimble, but packs a powerful punch, with pastries like her coffee cake with white sesame and roasted apricot. More of her creative baked goods are on the way at her new brick-and-mortar, which is set to open spring 2024.

2024 StarChefs Los Angeles Rising Stars Award Winner

Emily Bielagus and Mara Herbkersman

Team StarChefs — Tue, 30 Apr 2024 14:34:00 +0000

The Ruby Fruit | Los Angeles

April 2024

Mara Herbkersman joined the hospitality industry at age 16, but had dreams of pursuing a career in the movie industry. In 2004, she moved to Los Angeles to study theater at the California Institute of the Arts. Still feeling drawn to restaurants, Herbkersman committed to hospitality instead, working in both kitchens and front of house. In 2014, she joined the team at Cascabel, built the wine list and bar menu for the modern Mexican concept, and went on to open three more restaurants for the group. When she heard that her friends, Rising Stars alum Spencer Bezaire and partner Sabrina, were opening a restaurant of their own, Eszett, she saw her next move and joined the team in 2019. During the pandemic, Herbkersman moved to Highly Likely as general manager—while also running her own private catering business—and returned to the Eszett family in 2021 as general manager and wine director.

A longtime New Yorker, Emily Bielagus spent 15 years in and out of the hospitality industry while pursuing her music career. Ready for a change of scenery, Bielagus relocated to Los Angeles in 2020 and joined the team at Kismet before moving to Tilda Wine Bar, and then finally to Eszett, working as a server and bartender. Bielagus and Herbkersman became fast friends, and, one day, while eating family meal over a trash can, they set their sights on opening their own lesbian bar.

On the hunt for potential locations, the duo started hosting Sapphic nights at Eszett (called "Leszett") and running pop-ups around town out of Herbkersman's 1984 Volkswagen Westfalia. In late 2022, the Bezaires approached them and let them know they were selling the restaurant. Bielagus and Herbkersman jumped at the opportunity to take over the space. They flipped the restaurant in two weeks and opened The Ruby Fruit in February 2023. With a vegan-friendly menu and a wine list that exclusively features female and queer-led producers and vineyards, the cozy wine bar places an emphasis on community. From lesbian bingo nights, to book clubs, to “Queereoke,” Bielagus and Herbkersman have created a welcoming space for the LGBTQ+ community and beyond.

2024 StarChefs Los Angeles Rising Stars Award Winners

Rachael Davis

Team StarChefs — Tue, 30 Apr 2024 14:33:00 +0000

Dunsmoor | Los Angeles

April 2024

A student of art and music, Rachael Davis always worked in restaurants as a way to make some money. When she moved to New York City after graduating college, she got a job at Lowlife, where she began her love affair with wine, met producers, and learned from Owner Hugh Crickmore before the restaurant's closure. After working at Roberta’s, Davis moved to Dallas and started serving at FT33, taking a more active role in wine selling and helping Wine Director Jeffrey Gregory with pairings. In 2017, she moved to Los Angeles and went to work at Gjelina as a server before being promoted to sommelier, where she was exposed to a wide range of wines by Sommelier Henry Beylin. After the pandemic, drawn to the restaurant’s food and beverage program, Davis took a serving job at Rising Stars alum Ori Menashe’s Bavel until a sommelier position opened up.

After two years at Bavel, Davis was put in contact with Rising Stars alum Taylor Parsons, after he purchased the last case of a bottle she was hoping to get her hands on. An hour later, she had accepted the wine director position at Dunsmoor, which opened in 2022. At the restaurant, Davis buys as much American wine as she can and, when it comes to the labels on her list, is dogmatic about farming practices. Stepping into this larger role, she is focused on providing education and support to her staff—bringing her sommeliers to tastings with reps, inviting servers to try different wines, and encouraging outside-the-restaurant learning opportunities—while widening the scope of her own knowledge as well, embarking on trips abroad to different wine regions and experimenting with longer cellaring.

2024 StarChefs Los Angeles Rising Stars Award Winner