Speakers & Chefs 2024 (2025 Speakers to be announced soon!)
Dr. Tom Michaels planted his Tennessee truffle orchard in 2000, and has since been written up in the New York Times, Gentlemen Quarterly, Garden and Gun, helped get Blackberry Farm's orchard off the ground, and can tell you everything you dreamed of knowing about the mysterious Tuber melanosporum. Tom will be heading up the seminar part of the week-end's happenings.
|
William Dissen is a renowned chef and culinary diplomat, restaurateur, author, and is a pioneer and advocate of the farm-to-table and ocean sustainability movements. Founder of four award-winning restaurant concepts, Chef Dissen draws on his global culinary expertise and zest for diverse ingredients that tell a story to create world-class dishes for each restaurant's guests. His recent title, Thoughtful Cooking: Recipes Rooted In the New South, is slated for release in April.
|
Chris Bugher, CEC is a Chef Instructor at A-B Tech in Asheville, North Carolina and Chef/Owner of Apex Culinary, a consulting and private event company. Bugher began his career in West Virginia working in fine dining restaurants, operating his own catering company, and working in corporate healthcare, before moving to the Asheville area in 2015. Chef Bugher is a Certified Executive Chef, through the American Culinary Federation. He was the USA Southeast Chef of the Year in 2017, and recently represented the United States at the Culinary World Cup, and the World Chefs Global Cup, winning 1st place in North & South America earning a spot in the Finals at the Worldchefs Congress & Expo 2024 in Singapore.
Susi Gott Séguret, CCP, CSW is founder and director of the Seasonal School of Culinary Arts held in Asheville, Ithaca, Sonoma and Paris, and also orchestrates the Asheville Wine Experience, the Asheville Truffle Experience, and the Appalachian Culinary Experience. Author of multiple books, including Cooking with Truffles: A Chef's Guide, Susi honed her culinary skills in France, where she resided for over 20 years, earning a diploma in Gastronomy and Taste from the Cordon Bleu and the Université de Reims.
Lois Martin (TBC) is both dog trainer par excellence and business analyst, and embraces a new work model for life success blending her professional skills and training with a love of the outdoors and dogs. Over the years, she and Monza, her Lagatto romagnolo, have unearthed a wealth of truffles, celebrating the growing abundance now taking root in American soils.
Join us!
|
Natalie Dechiara is a lover of all things wild. She was bit by the foraging bug back in 2014 on a porcini hunt in Takilma, Oregon. Since then she has climbed many a mountain in search of special berries, crunchy leaves, and many a fungi. When she isn’t truffle hunting with her Lagotti Eva and Massimo, you can find her selling foraged mushrooms and hand printed art at numerous of Asheville area tailgate markets with her husband Luke at the Wild Goods booth.
|