Most recently, he was invited to join the Holland America Line Culinary Council alongside renowned international chefs Jonnie Boer, Marcus Samuelsson, Jacques Torres, Charlie Trotter and Elizabeth Falkner. After graduating, Nick worked as an agent for New York Life Insurance Company until the loss of his house during Hurricane Katrina forced him to reevaluate what was important to him. Dinner came from the family garden and local producers, but he didn’t recognize how unique that was until leaving home and discovering the restaurant industry -- but that wasn’t a direct route. After graduating Johnson and Wales University in Charleston S.C. Vinson started working in the best restaurants he could find, usually one or two week stints for free to gain experience. Prior to that, he spent six years at Water Grill, a fine-dining seafood restaurant in downtown Los Angeles, learning high-end applications of his craft. She holds a B.A. he in-house food and beverage program, fondly dubbed Neal Fraser & Co., offers custom menus complemented by a cocktail program. In addition, it cites the numerous incarnations of Chef Burke's creative vision, from David Burke Townhouse to David Burke Fishtail, from Burke in the Box to David Burke's Primehouse.Chef Burke's vast talents have been showcased recently on television, including season two of Burke's visibility as a celebrity chef has also led to consultant positions with hotels, cruise lines and food experts. Burke has been honored with Japan's Nippon Award of Excellence, the Robert Mondavi Award of Excellence and the CIA's August Escoffier Award. Chris Shea brings nearly a decade of experience working with David Burke to the acclaimed chef’s newest venture, David Burke Kitchen, in Manhattan’s SoHo neighborhood.

Curtis developed Kitchen Solutions, a line of sleek and functional cookware, in 2007 after spending thousands of hours with home cooks in their own kitchens. In pursuit of a new challenge, Ritchie returned to his old stomping grounds at Charlie Palmer Steak, D.C. to serve as Sous Chef. Nick quickly moved up the ranks and found himself happy for the first time at work. Burke returned to the U.S. as a sous chef for Waldy Malouf at La Cremaillere and then for Charlie Palmer at The River Café, where he ascended to executive chef and earned three stars from In 1992, Burke opened the Park Avenue Café with Smith & Wollensky CEO Alan Stillman, and then, in 1996, he became vice president of culinary development for the Smith & Wollensky Restaurant Group. He moved himself and his wife, Melissa, to New York City where he attended school, staged in a few kitchens, and explored New York’s culinary scene. Soon after, Nick contacted a family friend, who was the chef at Muriel’s Jackson Square, about getting a job there to see if working in a professional kitchen was the right fit. **Jorel tried out for and made it to the final round of casting (episode 1001 for Top Chef: Seattle where he was Eliminated in Tom’s kitchen at Craft.Lora Kirk is regarded as one of Canada's leading chefs with over 15 years of international culinary experience. Swapping his suit for chef’s whites three nights a week, he trained at the French Culinary Institute in New York City. Shea, eager to work for Burke and still in his dress shirt and slacks, was hired on the spot only one week after the restaurant opened.Over the next eight years, Shea became an integral part of Burke’s culinary team, graduating from the hot appetizer station at David Burke Townhouse to chef at both David Burke at Bloomingdale’s and David Burke Prime at Foxwoods. When asked what inspired him, Ritchie answered, "I started cooking at 14 but I don't think it was until I moved to New York City that I fell head-over-heels in love with cooking and that's completely due to my chef at David Burke & Donatella -- Chef Eric Hara." In 2005 came David Burke at Bloomingdale's, a dual-concept restaurant offering both a full service Burke Bar Café on one side and a Burke in the Box eat-in concept on the other.In 2006 Burke opened up David Burke’s Primehouse in The James Hotel Chicago. Although Cyrus experienced an untimely closing late last year, Paul took pride in maintaining 100% of the kitchen staff through the final night of service.Paul is currently working with Chef Dan Barber at Blue Hill at Stone Barns in Pocantico Hills, NY. For seven consecutive years he maintained both two stars from Born and bred in Brooklyn, NY, Chef Franklin Becker is a busy man. She then trained in the kitchens of legendary Le Cirque 2000 and groundbreaking Vong restaurants, and worked as the assistant to Vogue magazine’s esteemed food critic, Jeffrey Steingarten. They were concerned about the grueling schedule in a professional kitchen, so he went to college and graduated from the University of New Orleans with a B.S. A brief sojourn to Minnesota landed him a job as chef of D’Amico Partner’s Italian restaurant Campiello. In 1996, Fada went on to the famous San Domenico New York, Tony May's restaurant on Central Park South in Manhattan.