David Maplethorpe, Executive Chef
Rex Restaurant, Billings, Montana
Though his training and experience have taken him all over the country, David Maplethorpe returned to Billings for good five years ago, resuming his position as Executive Chef at The Rex Restaurant Bar & Grill. In February 2008, The Rex Restaurant Bar & Grill was given the “2007 National Beef Backer Award for Innovator of the Year” by the National Cattleman’s Beef Association. This coveted award recognizes the efforts of owner Gene Burgad, David and the highly professional team at The Rex Restaurant.
Freelance Personal Chef, San Francisco Bay Area
Chef Phil Estipular applies his passion for food and wine as a freelance personal chef and cooking teacher in the cuisine-conscious environment of the San Francisco Bay Area.
His background includes numerous Bay Area cooking schools, as well as courses at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris and the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) at Greystone in Napa Valley. He keeps his knowledge and techniques current not only by working in a diverse, cutting-edge region, but through continuing education, seminars, benefits and travel.
Chef Phil’s unique combination of style, sense of humor and approachability will make your class with him a real treat. He emphasizes tips, techniques and ideas for the home chef and is dedicated to helping cooking enthusiasts sharpen cooking skills and have more fun in the kitchen. Chef Phil is returning to the MSU-Billings Wine & Food Festival for the ninth year.
Executive Chef
Gonzaga University, Seattle, Washington
Jeremy Goldsmith is the executive chef at the McCarthey Athletic Center. He has 18 years’ experience in fine dining establishments in the Seattle, Portland and Spokane areas. Jeremy is a graduate of the Western Culinary Institute in Portland, Oregon.
Raghavan Iyer, CCP
Guest Chef
Bombay-native Raghavan Iyer, a Certified Culinary Professional, and a member of The International Association of Culinary Professionals, has acquired degrees in Chemistry (Bombay University), Hotel, and Restaurant Management (Michigan State University). He is a cookbook author, culinary educator, spokesperson, and consultant to numerous national and international clients including General Mills, Bon Appetit Management Company, Target, and Canola. He helped launch an Indian Meals program for Bon Appétit Management Company and trained all their chefs across the United States in Indian cuisine. He helped design a shelf-stable, Indian, ready-to-eat meals for Target’s Archer Farms brand. Most recently, he was named a 2008 Sustainable Seafood Ambassador for the prestigious Monterey Bay Aquarium. He was the culineer for an upscale/casual Indian-themed restaurant.
He is the author of Betty Crocker’s Indian Home Cooking (Wiley, 2001), The Turmeric Trail: Recipes and Memories from an Indian Childhood (St. Martin’s Press, 2002) – 2003 James Beard Awards Finalist: Best International Cookbook, and the just-published 660 Curries (April 2008, Workman Publishing, New York). 660 Curries has been shortlisted among the top cookbooks for 2008 by National Public Radio, the New York Times, Boston Globe, and Food and Wine Magazine (among many others). The book has been named 2008 Best Asian Cookbook in the USA by World Gourmand Awards. His fourth book Mastering Indian Cooking the Easy Way (working title, Workman Publishing, New York) is due for release April 2012. His app for iPad with video, Raghavan’s Indian Flavors, will be available through iTunes in Fall 2011. He received the highly coveted 2004 International Association of Culinary Professional’s Award of Excellence (formerly the Julia Child Awards) for Cooking Teacher of the Year, and was a Finalist for a 2005 James Beard Journalism Award as a contributing writer for EatingWell Magazine. His numerous articles have appeared in national food publications like Cooking Light, Fine Cooking, Saveur, Weight Watchers Magazine, Cooking Pleasures, and the internationally renowned literary food magazine Gastronomica.
Iyer is co-founder of the Asian Culinary Arts Institutes, Ltd. (www.asianculinaryarts.com), an organization dedicated to the preservation, understanding, and enjoyment of the culinary arts of Asia. He is a member of the Board of Directors for the International Association of Culinary Professionals and also a frequent judge for the cookbook awards for the prestigious James Beard Foundation. An accomplished and prolific culinary instructor at many international, national,
and local venues, including the International Association of Culinary Professionals’ Annual Conferences in Phoenix, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Montreal, Dallas, Seattle, and Chicago. With over 24 years of experience in the hospitality industry, Iyer is also fluent in more than six languages. Annually, he leads food and cultural tours to India.
He has appeared in numerous radio and television shows across the United States and Canada including Martha Stewart Radio, The Splendid Table (national public radio show with Lynne Rossetto Kasper), WGN Morning News (WGN Chicago), Good Day Atlanta (WAGA TV – Fox Affiliate), Good Day Tampa (Fox Affiliate Tampa), The Morning Show (KARE 11 – NBC Affiliate in Minneapolis/St. Paul), and the Vicki Gabereau Show (national Canadian television talk show).
Rick Kangas
Guest Chef
Born into a restaurant family, Rick’s culinary career began during a summer break from college when he worked in the kitchen of the Many Glacier Hotel. This was followed by stints at several well-known restaurants in Bozeman, Billings, and as a sous-chef at Lake McDonald Lodge. To expand his culinary repertoire between seasons, he traveled extensively to New York City, San Francisco, New Zealand, Paris, Australia and Copenhagen.
In the fall of 1993, Kangas and his partners opened Grouse Mountain Grill in Beaver Creek Resort, Colorado. Dishes like his pretzel crusted pork chop with honey-orange mustard sauce, featured on the PBS series, Travels & Traditions with Burt Wolfe, made the restaurant one of the Valley’s favorites. Over the dozen years Chef Kangas was at the helm, Grouse Mountain Grill received numerous awards, including the Wine Spectator Award for Excellence for its all-American wine list, and Zagat’s highest rating of all Colorado restaurants. In 1999, Rick Kangas was honored by the James Beard Foundation by being asked to prepare dinner at the James Beard House in New York City.
Chef Kangas is currently teaching classes for the Colorado Mountain College’s Culinary Institute, as well as developing and teaching classes to the general public. His classes include a wide array of culinary courses from artisan breads to charcuterie. Rick has joined his culinary and horticulture interests to create and manage a new sustainable café on the Edwards Campus of Colorado Mountain College. Known as “Café Sus”, the café uses local produce, including vegetables from the campus garden and greenhouse.