Ruben Barrera  ( Bread Show )
Ruben's baked bread with me for more than a decade. Ruben came on board at PANoRAMA when we started the company in 1993. In 1996 he became Head Baker and now is one of the partners as well.

Mollie Blades  ( Asparagus Show )
Mollie lives here in wine country. She's a terrific artist and interior designer. I like her flair so much I asked her to be the Art Director for Season by Season.

Lynn Brown  ( Eggplant Show )
Lynn’s a master gardener who started farming in northern Napa Valley years ago. His produce business, Forni-Brown-Welsh Gardens, began by happy chance. He made a sales call with his elephant garlic to a local store and Masataka Kobayashi, the legendary chef, was behind him in line. Masa admired the garlic and asked what else Lynn had. Soon he was supplying top restaurants all around Napa Valley.

Jennifer L. Cecil  ( Olive Oil Show )
Jennie, a KQED intern, took the role of Assistant to Producers for the Season by Season show. She had a great attitude and was willing to do anything, including taste a raw olive (bad idea!).

Bill Davies  ( Rice and Risotto Show )
Bill grew up in the Napa Valley. His parents, Jack and Jamie Davies of Schramsberg, were pioneers in Napa Valley’s fine wine business. Now, as Organic Director for California Pacific Rice Milling, he’s building an organic rice business in the Sacramento Valley.

Matthew L. Davis  ( Olive Oil Show )
Matt spent 1-1/2 years building my house, and we are still friends. He was raised in the Napa Valley and has built houses here for the last ten years or so, working his way up from laborer to journeyman carpenter to project superintendent.

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Carlo Di Fede  ( Corn Show )
I've known Carlo for years and asked him to be the architect for my dream house. The year and a half it took to build has been quite a journey for both of us.

Elizabeth Florence  ( Wine Festa Show )
Elizabeth, as Beaulieu Vineyards North Coast Winegrowing Representative, makes sure growers and the winemaking staff understand what each needs and wants. She is the growers’ main contact with BV so she spends most of her time in the vineyards monitoring viticultural practices to maintain quality.

Constance Green  ( Mushroom Show )
Connie’s been picking and selling wild mushrooms for 21 years. Her business, Wine Forest Mushrooms, sells exclusively to restaurants. Connie focuses on quality. That means she and her gang of mushroom-picking friends walk right by lots of mushrooms others might pick.

Susie Heller  ( Asparagus Show )
I met Susie, Season by Season Culinary Producer, when we put a team together to develop the show. She's worked on Julia Child's and Jacques Pepin's shows, too. She's been a chef, a caterer, and has worked with many chefs on their cookbooks. She also wrote Thomas Keller's "The French Laundry Cookbook".

Don Helton  ( Bread Show )
Don's the General Manager of PANoRAMA Baking Company. Don's background in restaurant operations helps him understand our customers — mostly restaurants, hotels and catering companies.

Jim Higa  ( Rice and Risotto Show )
Jim was born and raised in Japan. He has an incredible depth of knowledge of rice production and the issues that affect the subtle nuances of premium quality. He’s the Director of International Sales for California Pacific Rice Milling, Ltd. which is located in the heart of one of the most spectacular rice growing regions in the world.

Michael Laukert  ( Olive Oil Show )
Michael began as one of my sous chefs at Tra Vigne. His talent for turning my food ideas into food products made him a natural as Director of New Product Development for my Consorzio brand. He's also served as the Director of Olive Oil Manufacturing for Calio Groves, and backed me up as the Production Chef for our Season by Season television show. And now he's our Director of Product Development at NapaStyle.

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Jerry Maltby  ( Rice and Risotto Show )
Jerry was born and raised in Colusa County, CA. As a rice farmer he’s broken new ground on his Broken Box Ranch growing the first American organic arborio rice. He’s also a cattle rancher, and currently serves on the Colusa County Board of Supervisors, representing District 3.

Jeffrey Manfredi  ( Corn Show )
Jeff and his wife Sally opened Calistoga Pottery in 1980. Their wonderful pottery has found a home in many valley restaurants, inns, and wineries. They also maintain an open studio for visitors year 'round.

Maria Mittino  ( Gnocchi Show )
Maria is famous throughout the Napa Valley for her gnocchi. She makes them for many local restaurants where they are identified as "Maria's Gnocchi." She shapes gnocchi so fast, I still haven't quite figured out her method.

Connie Nellos  ( Corn Show )
Connie's a refugee from Silicon Valley. She makes sure I am where I am supposed to be and basically takes care of all my day-to-day business.

Mariano Orlando  ( Cookie Show )
Mariano’s Sicilian and has inspired the food of Tra Vigne’s Cantinetta for more than nine years. He is also its heart and his joy is hungry people. At home in the little shop, he will gently tease the shyest child until she gladly grabs the offered cookie. To watch him is to understand why all the staff calls Mariano “Grandfather”.

Ferruccia Particelli  ( Gnocchi Show )
Ferruccia and her family own the Napa Valley Olive Oil Company in St. Helena. It's a definite "must visit" for any food-loving Napa Valley tourist. The Particelli family has been making and selling their fruity olive oil from their historic building since 1930.

Cindy Pawlcyn  ( Artichoke Show )
When Cindy arrived in the Napa Valley in 1980 to be the opening chef of Meadowood Resort, she set the local food scene on its ear with her innovative cooking style. With her partners, she went on to open Mustard’s in 1983 and a slew of successful North Bay and San Francisco Restaurants. She was the opening partner of Tra Vigne when I interviewed there in 1986 to be the opening chef.

Carmen Quagliata  (Wine Festa Show )
Carmen came to see me in 1991 and very soon he was in the Tra Vigne kitchen as a cook. And what a cook. He’s now Tra Vigne’s Executive Chef and a partner in Tomatina, Tra Vigne, and the Cantinetta at Tra Vigne.

Palma Quagliata  ( Piadine Show )
Palma was born knowing how to cook. She’s Italian, from a town in Connecticut close to New Haven. She and I have known each other since she started working as a waiter at Tra Vigne years ago. She’s married to Tra Vigne’s chef, Carmen, and they have a son, Constantino.

John Scharffenberger  ( Chocolate Show )
John’s just an amazing food and wine entrepreneur. He’s fascinated by flavor and has made a career of it. He owns vineyards in California’s Anderson Valley and founded the sparkling wine house, Scharffenberger Cellars. Now, with his partner Robert Steinberg, he’s making America’s best dark chocolate, Scharffen Berger.

David Shalleck  (Balsamic Vinegar Show )
David’s originally from New York City and a BFA grad from Syracuse University. He took a break from his scenic design career to study food and that was two decades ago. He’s cooked in many of the world’s great kitchens (we met several times by chance in Italy) and started working with me as the chef of Bistecca restaurants. David is now the Culinary Director for "NapaStyle".

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Bob Singletary  ( Olive Oil Show )
Bob, VP Production and Farming at Calio Groves, and I have known each other since 1995 when I visited his Silver Ridge olive grove and olive oil production facility. We immediately recognized a shared passion for making the highest quality California olive oil.

W. S. Burgess Smith  ( Citrus Show )
Burgess came on board at Tra Vigne about a year after it opened. He was a gifted manager and we teased him that his skills were inherited from his diplomat father. Burgess had never lived anywhere longer than four years until he came to Napa Valley. Now he’s lived in St. Helena twelve years and is raising a family here.

Angie Spensieri  ( Corn Show )
Angie came out from New Jersey to be part of our television production crew. Her food knowledge speeded communication from the back kitchen to me in front of the camera. And when a spontaneous burst of creativity called for a goofy scarecrow to appear in the corn show, she took the part.

Robert Steinberg  ( Cookie Show )
Robert’s a physician but his real love is chocolate. His goal is to produce a product that retains all the complexity of the cocoa beans. The first Scharffen Berger chocolate, produced in 1997 with his partner John Scharffenberger, was offered only to restaurants. The outstanding quality and demand led quickly to retail production and distribution.

Thearsa Stevens  ( Corn Show )
Thearsa's been my friend of the "spirit" since I first came to the Napa Valley in 1986.

Ken Stutz  ( Potato Show )
Ken’s played a major role in the recent rise to worldwide prominence of California extra-virgin olive oil. He produces terrific oil for his own brand, Stutz, and served as President of the California Olive Oil Council from 1997 to 2000. During that time, he oversaw the creation of the first American Panel of Tasters for certifying extra-virgin olive oil.

Barney Welsh  ( Tomato Show )
I first met Barney, one of the partners of Forni-Brown-Welsh Gardens, a small, very fine local organic grower, when I was brand new in Napa Valley and looking for produce with a fresh-from-the-ground flavor. Forni-Brown does amazing things for chefs. Only after we place our morning order do pickers go into the field.

Amy Wilmoth  ( Salad Show )
About 12 years ago, Amy started babysitting for my three girls. A few years later she started cooking in Tra Vigne’s kitchen and worked almost every station. Now, she works at Gordon's, a San Francisco restaurant.

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