David Eselgroth
Manager, Coqueta, San Francisco
Dave
Eselgroth likes being surrounded by like-minded people with a tremendous
passion for food, beverage and service. His culinary experience showcases that
fact.
After graduating
from the University of Nevada (Las Vegas) and Indiana university (Pennsylvania)
with a concentration in restaurant management and minors in both architecture
and political science, he began his career at merge & district in
New York city as service manager and lead bartender.
He
participated in all developments with the opening of Sam DeMarco’s new
restaurants, which led him to the role of general manager of first, chef
Sam DeMarco’s original restaurant, featuring new American cuisine in New York
city.
While
at first, Dave was in charge of the creation and implementation of several
successful weekly, monthly and quarterly events — including cigar dinners, wine
and beer tastings and promotional nights and brunches.
also while
at first, he had a cocktail recipe published in cocktails in New
York – a book about hip trendsetting bars in the city.
In 2003, Dave
began his role as beverage manager, service director and assistant general
manager at Amuse, a contemporary American bistro located in the Chelsea
neighborhood of New York city.
More
recently, he consulted to the millennium Broadway
hotel and Movida nightclub before serving as the assistant
sommelier and captain at Charlie palmer’s flagship restaurant, aureole.
In 2007, Dave
became second in command at Dante Boccuzzi’s restaurant Dante in
valley view, Ohio. He serves not only as Dante’s right-hand man, but also as
director of operations and sommelier. Respected fine dining magazine food & wine named his wine list one if the best new wine lists of 2008.
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| Photo - Andy Berry |
Scott Lewis
An Irishman
in Napa
For such a
small country, Ireland has penetrated the world like no other country. It seems that countless people around the
globe boast they have a little Irish in them, whether as an excuse to party
extra hard on St Patrick’s Day, or because it’s actually true.
One Irishman
who clings strongly to his roots, though now an American citizen, and owner of
a fabulous wine cellar in Yountville, Napa Valley, is Scott Lewis. Born in Limerick, to a chef father who once
graced the kitchens of Ashford Castle, Scott lived and breathed Irish
hospitality.
As a young
boy Scott remembers squeezing fresh orange juice at his Dad’s hotel in
Limerick, then gradually working his way through all aspects of the hotel
– dish washer, busser, bellman, and
porter. Soon hotel life was pulsing through his veins, and it became inevitable
that he would go on to train as a chef.
After
graduating Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology in Galway, Ireland; Scott began
an illustrious career in some of Europe’s finest hotels, such as the
Dorchester, Lanesborough and Grosvenor in London, while continuing to further
his hospitality studies at Ealing, in London, and Cornell University in Ithaca,
New York.
As fortune
would have it, Scott was the winner in a Green Card lottery to the US 25 years
ago. And the rest is history.
He first
landed in Texas at the Crescent Court, and The Mansion on Turtle Creek, before
going on to the Arizona Biltmore, several more 5 star properties and finally
ending in Yountville at Villagio Inn and Spa in Yountville as Director of Food
and Beverage.
Ready for a different
pace of life, and loving his new home, the time came when Scott decided that he
had done all he wanted in the hotel world and was ready to start his own
business where his passions lay – the world of wine. He has since created one of the Napa Valley’s
finest wine stores and bars, the V Wine Cellar, voted “2012 Best Wine Shop” in
Napa Valley by Best of Napa Sonoma Valley and 7 X 7 Magazine.
V Wine Cellar
(www.vwinecellar.com) boasts a lounge, tasting space, private dining, and
outdoor patio, and is known as one of the Valley’s leading venues for exclusive
wine tasting events and blending seminars, with more than 2,000 varietals of
wine and beers that are shipped to clients worldwide. Scott also travels the
globe setting up wine cellars for discerning buyers and somehow finds extra
time to make his own label, Pneu, in partnership with Gary and Cheryl Van
Brunt.
And what does
this Irishman in Napa like to drink? Scott’s wine of choice is Pinot Noir, his favorite
being his own Pneu, and also Paradigm. For white, he lovesthe Teeter Totter
Chardonnay.
MARK DOMMEN
Chef/Partner
Mark Dommen is a unique talent who has spent more than 20
years in the kitchen. After years of classical training with some of the
world’s most eminent culinary masters, Dommen’s move to head One Market® Restaurant in 2004 marked his exciting return
to the San Francisco dining scene. His modern take on American cuisine earned
the restaurant a Michelin star in 2008-2012 and a 3 ½ star review from San Francisco Chronicle critic Michael Bauer.
Dommen was also named a 2007 StarChefs.com “Rising Star” and the restaurant has
held a consistent presence on the Chronicle’s “Top
100” restaurant list.
Dommen’s contemporary, seasonal American fare developed
through his work in some of the world’s most distinguished restaurants. His
career began at Fleur de Lys in San Francisco, where Chef Hubert Keller became
Dommen’s mentor in the art of contemporary French cuisine. Dommen later spent
four years in New York, honing his craft with one of his largest influences,
Gray Kunz at Lespinasse and also with David Burke at Park Avenue Café. By the
time he opened Palladin as Sous Chef for the legendary Chef Jean-Louis
Palladin, his immersion in the art of French cuisine was well advanced. Dommen
was next invited to join Julia’s Kitchen in Napa Valley as the opening
Executive Chef. While he was at the helm, the restaurant was named one of Esquire magazine’s “Best New Restaurants.”
Dommen describes his approach to cooking as “blending the
freshest, seasonal ingredients from California, while using the classic French
techniques I have honed from my previous experiences.” His seasonally changing
menu includes inventive farm-fresh dishes such as Lightly Smoked Tasmanian
Trout Mi Cuit with potato rösti, organic chicken egg and
pancetta vinaigrette; Dungeness Crab with
green apple water and jalapeño sorbet; and Bacon-Wrapped Pork Tenderloin with
dandelion “persillade,” salsify and natural jus.
“I truly enjoy experimenting with the freshest of
produce, seafood and meats to create entirely new and unexpected dishes,” says
Dommen. “I make a point each day to ensure that the menu is a reflection of the
finest raw materials prepared in a unique, delicious and artistic way.”
’Some of Dommen’s favorite dishes to make when not in the
kitchen at One Market Restaurant include pizza and barbequed beer-can chicken cooked
over apple wood chips. He lives in Napa with his wife and two daughters and
enjoys skiing, golf and fishing in his spare time.
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