Stella Fong
Stella Fong shares her personal love of food and wine through her cooking classes and wine seminars as well as through her writings in her Libations column for Magic Magazine and contributions to Yellowstone Valley Woman. In the summer of 2008, she received her Certified Wine Professional certification from the Culinary Institute of America with the assistance of a Robert Parker Scholarship for continuing studies. She has taught on the West Coast for cooking schools such as Williams-Sonoma, Sur La Table, Macy’s Cellars, and Gelsons, and in Billings at the Billings Depot, Wellness Center, Copper Colander and the YWCA.
Fong has featured local bounty through her participation at the Good Earth Sunday Suppers and the first Field to Table dinner at Danly Farms in the summer of 2009 in collaboration with caterer Tom Nelson and Executive Chef Shane Weigel.
Born in the San Francisco Bay Area and raised in a traditional Chinese family, Fong devises culinary creations that include a mixture of old and new. Her understanding of food for the consumer came from working in her father’s grocery store, Martin’s Market, in Berkeley, California and have developed recipes for San Diego State University food services and the Kids Cooking Club. Fong’s articles have appeared in Cooking Light, the Washington Post, and Fine Cooking. More recently, she has written for Big Sky Journal, Western Art and Architecture, and Montana Quarterly. Fong judged the International Association of Culinary Professionals cookbook awards, chairing the program in 2010 and 2011. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in biochemistry from the University of California, Davis, and a general cooking certificate from the Culinary Institute of America. Fong has volunteered for the MSU Billings Wine & Food Festival for many years and chaired it in 2008 and 2009 with Susan Carlson.
Sue Rydquist
Sue Rydquist, Montana native and former corporate manager and mortgage banker, is on her third career. Sue opened her retail store, Simply Wine, in 2005 as a means to be self-employed and follow a life-long passion for wine. Her thought was to put her previous experience to work, continue to learn about wine, and enable her habit of an occasional glass of wine at lunch. Sue earned her Sommelier Certification in 2007 and continues to study and travel, returning from central Italy in September, 2010.
2011-12 has been a year of big changes for Sue and Simply Wine: the store was relocated to Rimrock Mall, and the Simply Wine Bar opened inside the new store, offering wine by the bottle and glass. Most recently, The Bistro at Simply Wine opened specializing in fresh, healthy Mediterranean style fare including salads, paninis, handcrafted daily soup and, of course, Simply Wine’s signature gourmet cheese and meat boards.
Carolyn Korb
Carolyn Korb can often be heard gushing about the joy of getting to turn your passion into your profession. A resident of Billings, Montana, Carolyn has happily allowed her passion for amazing food, wine and beer flow into her professional life. Acting as General Manager of The City Vineyard since 2001, her drive, passion and unbridled obsession with providing the community of Billings with amazing products has turned a small wine shop into two thriving businesses. This store houses more than 10,000 bottles of wine, a beer department full of local and import brews, a full gourmet market featuring artisan cheeses and a full service wine bar that features an ever changing selection of wines by the bottle and by the glass, wine flights, beer and artisan cheese boards. Carolyn and her knowledgeable team are passionate about not only providing an unsurpassed level of service, but also about educating their customers and welcoming them to the ever changing world of wine, beer and gourmet foods.
