DOMINIC SBARDELLATI, Chef

I was born and raised in Orange County, California and I’ve spent the better part of my life so far in the greater Southern California area. Growing up, my best friend’s family owned a local Italian restaurant, which I found to be an exotic, exciting place in which to spend my free time. So it was only natural that I sought out a job at this seemingly magical establishment as soon as I was old enough. After working at ‘the Roma’ all through high school and college, I studied English at USC, I decided to get serious about making my career in the culinary industry. I attended the Le Corden Bleu culinary academy in Pasadena and from there began a journey through many great Los Angeles kitchens. One notable stop that strongly influenced my cooking style was at Campanile, an iconic LA restaurant founded by the late Mark Peel and his then wife, Nancy Silverton. I worked as Mark’s sous chef at both Campanile as well as at his supper club venture, the Tar Pit. It was here that I developed an affinity for locally sourced products and farmer’s market driven menus. This also meant learning to cultivate bonds with farmers, ranchers, fisherman, etc, that went beyond the transactional vendor client relationship. After leaving Mark’s employ, I headed up the coast to beautiful Santa Barbara where I ran The Hungry Cat, showcasing exquisite local seafood, and continued to develop connections with local farmers and artisans. My time in Santa Barbara allowed me more freedom to focus on my own personal cooking style, always utilizing the freshest and most local ingredients, but which I firmly believe is ever evolving. For the past few years I’ve worked as a private chef for a family based out of Newport Beach. I accompany them on months long yacht tours of British Columbia and Mexico, handling all things culinary and quite a few things unrelated to culinary as well! I’m a firm believer in the power of community and I think that solid growth as well as necessary healing can occur when we gather around a table, together, to break bread and understand each other more, little by little. It’s with all of that in mind that I enter into this project with Michael. I hope you’ll join us on this journey of discovery and see where it leads!