Chef Bio
As a native Ohio teen, Chef Brian began restaurant work that inspired him to earn the Associates Degree in Culinary Arts at Florida Culinary Institute. Graduating in 2002, he served the first of two tenures at a new restaurant venture in his home state. He joined Chef Dave Russo at Russo’s Restaurant serving family heritage Italian-Creole cuisine, after Russo’s New Orleans tutelage by Paul Prudhomme and Emeril Lagasse.
In 2004, Chef Brian became Executive Chef at Sequoia National Park’s signature hotel, The Wukaschi Lodge. There, Certified Master Chef Roland Henin mentored him, his gift to many American chefs. Thomas Keller credits Henin as the single mentor among many teachers, for his epiphany that cooks cook to nurture people: “There was Zeus, and Roland, god of cooking.”
From 2006 to 2017, Chef Brian served in leading roles in esteemed kitchens across the country: The Portofino Hotel and Yacht Club in Redondo Beach, Santa Cruz Dream Inn, The Ventana Inn and Spa in Big Sur, The Shorebreak Hotel in Huntington Beach, and The Hollywood Roosevelt, famed for its luminary guests and David Hockney pool mural.
More recently, Brian served as opening Executive Chef at David Burke’s BLT Prime in Washington, D.C., and at the first East Coast GDL Italian restaurant in Baltimore, namesake of Food Network celebrity chef and cookbook author Giada De Laurentiis, granddaughter of Dino De Laurentiis, celebrating her family’s cinematic and culinary heritage.
Chef Brian’s seasonally-inspired dishes receive praise for their “local organic ingredients and tons of vibrant flavors.” His robust culinary expertise in worldly coastal cuisine, from tapas to regional pasta, sustainably sourced seafood, heritage meat and poultry, and creative vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free dishes enriches the Mediterranean-Rim, California Coastal culinary experience of our guests.
