Savor The Southwest: The Chefs

The Chefs

Robert Del Grande
Considered one of the fathers of modern Southwestern cuisine, Del Grande holds a Ph.D. in biochemistry and uses his scientific skills plus the very best products to create his sophisticated version of "New Texas" and "cowboy" cuisine at Cafe Annie, Rio Ranch Texas and Cafe Express in Houston.

Vincent Guerithault

One of the first modern Southwestern chefs, Guerithault has put Phoenix on the culinary map with his eponymous restaurant. Author of Vincent's Cookbook, he has won the 1993 James Beard Award as Best Chef: Southwest, and has been featured in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Gourmet, Bon Appetit, Travel and Leisure and on the cover of Money magazine. Classically trained in his native France, he combines his sophisticated kitchen skills with regional ingredients to create unique Southwestern dishes.

Jay McCarthy

Formerly executive chef at San Antonio's prestigious Casabel restaurant, McCarthy is currently chef at Cazwellas in Telluride, Colo. McCarthy brings a distinctive style and Caribbean influences to Southwest basics. The author of Traveling Jamaica with Knife, Fork and Spoon, he has become a cactus expert and is working on a new book, Cactus Cuisine and Culture.

Robert McGrath
Chef/owner of The Roaring Fork in Scottsdale and former chef de cuisine of The Phoenician's Southwest-inspired restaurant, Windows on the Green in Scottsdale, Ariz., McGrath was named one of the Ten Best New Chefs in America by Food and Wine magazine in 1988, nominated for the James Beard Foundation's Best Chef of the Southwest in 1994, 1995 and 1998, and was the Evian Healthy Menu Awards National Winner in 1994. Before coming to Arizona, he was chef de cuisine at the Four Seasons Hotel in Austin, Texas, and chef/owner of Sierra restaurant in Houston.

Mary Sue Milliken, Susan Feniger
Known to television viewers as the Too Hot Tamales, they are co-owners of the Border Grill in Santa Monica, Calif., named one of the best restaurants in America by Gourmet magazine. In 1988 they were the first women to receive the California Restaurant Writers' "Chef of the Year" award and in 1993 they were two of only 16 chefs worldwide invited to appear with Julia Child in PBS' Home Cooking with Master Chefs.

Donna Nordin

Chef/owner of Cafe Terra Cotta in Scottsdale and Tucson, and the Tohono Chul Tea Room and Trio in Tucson, Nordin was featured in the PBS television series Great Chefs of the West and her recipes appeared in the series companion book and in numerous food magazines. Contemporary Southwest: The Cafe Terra Cotta Cookbook, her first cookbook, details her imaginative, contemporary Southwestern cuisine.

Loretta Barrett Oden
A member of Oklahoma's Potawatomi tribe, Oden honors the culinary traditions of many Native American cultures by incorporating a remarkable variety of traditional ingredients in addition to corn, beans and squash - the "three sisters" - into the innovative fare at her Corn Dance Cafe in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Stephan Pyles

Recognized as one of the founding fathers of Southwestern cuisine, Pyles has been involved in the restaurant business from the time he helped out in his family's Truck-Stop Cafe in West Texas. In Dallas, he opened Routh Street Cafe, Baby Routh and Star Canyon. Winner of the 1991 James Beard Best Chef: Southwest Award and a member of Who's Who of Food and Beverage in America, Pyles is the author of The New Texas Cuisine.

Lenard Rubin
Formerly executive chef at Windows on the Green at The Phoenician Resort in Scottsdale and The Boulders in Carefree, Rubin added The Eldorado Hotel in Santa Fe to his culinary itinerary before taking a three-year detour to Russia. Rubin returned to Scottsdale in 1997 as chef de cuisine at The Princess Resort's La Hacienda, the only Four Diamond Mexican restaurant in North America, and he is now at the helm of Marquesa, the hotel's flagship restaurant.

John Sedlar

Sedlar began his professional career in his native New Mexico. The first to create contemporary dishes from Southwest ingredients, he opened Saint Estephe in 1980 in Manhattan Beach, where his unique cuisine attracted national attention. His ground-breaking book, Modern Southwest Cuisine, is a classic that has been updated and recently re-released. At his Abiquiu restaurant in Los Angeles, he expressed his creativity, incorporating spices and ingredients from all over the world into his unique specialties. A member of Who's Who of Food and Beverage in America, John was influenced by his aunt, who was Georgia O'Keeffe's cook.

RoxSand Suarez Scocos
RoxSand has been recognized by Gourmet, Esquire and USA Today as one of America's most talented, unique chefs. She is the chef/owner of RoxSand, one of the most innovative restaurants in Arizona. Her dynamic dishes reflect the diverse elements of her culinary training, and she has recently begun introducing Native American ingredients to her menu selection. Scocos was nominated for a James Beard Foundation Best Chef of the Southwest Award in 1995 and 1998.

Janos Wilder

Wilder is chef/owner of Janos, a trend-setting restaurant set in a historic home in Tucson, Ariz., that dates from 1865, and Wild Johnny's Wagon, an innovative lunch spot that doubles as a catering kitchen. The author of Janos: Recipes and Tales from a Southwest Restaurant, Wilder was a pioneer in growing his own produce and finding local farmers to grow what he could not. He was nominated for Best Chef of the Southwest by the James Beard Foundation in 1994, 1995 and 1998.

Chuck Wiley
Named one of the Best Ten New Chefs in America by Food and Wine magazine in 1994, Wiley is the executive chef of The Boulders in Carefree, Ariz., and The Peaks in Telluride, Colo. Among his many talents, Wiley is an expert at grilling and smoking meats, fish and vegetables and his innate sense of flavor combinations earns his cuisine national acclaim.