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Meet The Chefs

Eco Top Chef Marin 2012 Chefs

 

Justin Everett:
Executive Chef, Cavallo Point

Executive Chef Justin Everett is a longtime Bay Area and Wine Country resident. As with many chefs, Justin’s first kitchen job was dishwashing in high school. He worked his way up and received a culinary arts degree from Western Culinary Institute in Portland, Oregon. Upon returning to Wine Country, he worked in some of the West’s best kitchens, including as chef de partie at both Bouchon in Yountville and Auberge du Soleil in Rutherford. Most recently, he was named Best Chef of Napa/Sonoma for 2009 and 2010 as executive chef at El Dorado Kitchen in Sonoma, where he cultivated relationships with local farmers and instated a menu of approachable seasonal cuisine. His charcuterie and whole-animal cooking have a following among foodies.  Justin upholds the restaurant’s social responsibility by “employing, feeding and supporting” the local community. He has mentored local youth in the kitchen and partnered with Benzinger Family Winery to foster appreciation and respect for farming the land.

Jeremy Goldfarb:
Executive Chef, 123 Bolinas                               

Coming from a fine dinning background, Jeremy makes the delicious look irresistible: the perfect scoop of creme fraiche, fanned peach and shaved chocolate – we all have a lot of great experiences awaiting us. At 123 he blends fresh innovation with the bounty of local producers and farmers setting a table of simple pleasures and seasonal appreciation.

 

 

Norman Louie:
Owner, Harmony Restaurant

As a native san franciscan, norman’s interest for the love of food and eventually a career as a restaurateur was sparked when he was a young boy frequenting farmers’ markets and local produce stores with his mother and grandmother. Both had a passion for cooking and prepared today’s meals with today’s fresh bought bounty. Receiving an Award of Achievement and a degree in hotel and restaurant management, Norman continued his educational pursuit obtaining an additional degree in business management and finance.

After a long stint at the renowned yank sing restaurant group in san francisco as a director, Norman’s hope was to open his own restaurant near his home in marin. Mill valley’s new strawberry center was the perfect opportunity and with its completely new constructed buildings, it allowed him to put forth his vision, from top to bottom, of a truly new and unique type of chinese restaurant offering healthy, organic, sustainable and “green” dining options. 

Zak Noles:
Executive Chef, Small Shed Flat Breads / Shoreline Coffee Shop

Zak landed in Marin in the Fall of 2012 and was quickly scooped up to be the Chef at the newly reinvigorated Shoreline Coffee Shop in Tam Junction and Small Shed Flatbreads in downtown Mill Valley.  Born in Atlanta Georgia, and raised in a small town of Michigan, his childhood was spent making Sunday dinner and traveling around the country with his family learning different regional cuisines along the way. He moved Back to Georgia at 21 and dove head first into the commercial kitchen world, learning the trade form several prominent area chefs.  The sustainable/ local organic culinary oasis that is Athens, GA was the perfect proving ground for this creative Chef who now calls Marin with all its culinary bounty home.

Roland Passot:
Owner / Executive Chef, La Folie

Chef Roland Passot began his culinary career at age of 14, where he apprenticed under French chef Jean-Paul Lacomb at Léon de Lyon (Michelin Three Stars) and worked his way up to assistant Sous Chef. Passot then spent four years under the tutelage of Chef Jean Banchet in Chicago’s Le Français. In 1981, Banchet appointed him the chef to open the swank French Room at the Adolpus Hotel in Dallas, Texas. In 1988, Passot decided to follow his dream and opened La Folie in San Francisco with his wife, Jamie. La Folie was an immediate success with the critics and has been consistently rated as one of the top restaurants in San Francisco. Subsequently, Passot was awarded the coveted James Beard Rising Star Chef Award in 1990 and in 1991 he was inducted into the prestigious French Chefs’ organization Maîtres Cuisiniers de France. Although Passot is extremely serious about his food, his talent, his gregarious personality and booming laugh have made him a favorite with local TV producers and as a guest chef with several local culinary centers including Draeger’s, Ramekins and Sur La Table. Chef Passot’s commitment to his métier is reflected locally with his October 2000 induction into the California Culinary Academy’s Chef Stars Walk of Fame. However his June 2001 awarding of Chevalier dans l’Ordre du Mèrite Agricole is perhaps one of his greatest accomplishments, as this is an official French Governmental recognition of his genuine contribution to his native country and the value of his craft. He also donates his time and talent to his favorite charities including Meals on Wheels, SF Food Bank and the James Beard Foundation.