Star Chefs and the Wines & Spirits They Love 2025

Meet the Chefs

• Chef Jackie Jackson, Jackie's Place (2024 People’s Choice Winner)

  Chef Jackie runs the show at Jackie's Place: soul food at its finest in downtown San Jose. Jackie has been cooking since the age of 8, taught by her mother who was a chef most of her adult life. Jackie's business and clientele roster includes catering for companies like Google, Apple, The San Francisco 49ers, the City of San Jose, and TiVo. Jackie's Place opened in Japantown in 2018 to great success, but a devastating fire and the pandemic destroyed the restaurant. Jackie's prayers were answered when she was able to reopen in a new location in 2021. Three years after reopening her doors, Jackie is continuing her dreams serving great food in a place that creates memories for the community. Additionally, Jackie and her family are in the process of launching “The Big Love Foundation”, a nonprofit focused on addressing food insecurity.
  
  Photo credit: Trisha Leeper

  

• Chef Patrick Capurro, Be.Steak.A (2024 Judge’s Choice Winner)

  Chef Patrick Capurro began his culinary journey in the kitchens of Spiaggia, a renowned Michelin-starred Italian restaurant in Chicago. He continued his training at Michelin star recipient Longman & Eagle and then two-Michelin starred Sixteen. He spent three years as Sous Chef for Chef Sarah Grueneberg in opening Monteverde in Chicago. Upon moving to San Jose, he began working with Chef Jeffrey Stout as Sous Chef at Orchard City Kitchen, while supporting the development and creation of Be.Steak.A. Today, under the guidance of chef and owner Jeffrey Stout, he strives to engage the Be.Steak.A team to execute at their very best, while providing diners in the South Bay area a unique and memorable fine dining experience.
  
  Photo credit: Be.Steak.A

  

• Chef Marcelino Hernandez, ASA Los Gatos

  For the past thirty years, Marcelino Hernandez has been cooking here in the Bay Area. Currently the executive chef of ASA Los Gatos, his resume also includes The Basin and Casa de Cobre in Saratoga, CA. Born in Santa Clara del Cobre, Michoacán, Mexico, his passion for cooking stems from his family roots. Naturally soft-spoken, his food speaks volumes with rustic flavors and simple, yet carefully sourced, ingredients. Chef Hernandez has been working in tandem with Andrew Welch, the proprietor of ASA Restaurant, for the better part of 25 years, and their collaboration has inspired many signature dishes. Humble and kind, you can always find Hernandez in his brightly colored chef pants, smiling as he cooks. Simply put, Chef Hernandez's food tastes like love.
  
  Photo credit: ASA Los Gatos

  

• Chef Peter Armellino, The Plumed Horse

  Chef Peter Armellino began his culinary journey at 17 on Long Island, New York, inspired by the farmland and fresh seafood of rural Suffolk County. After moving to New York City in the early '90s, he refined his skills in acclaimed kitchens like Gramercy Tavern. A transformative culinary tour through Europe, where he dined at Michelin-starred restaurants, deepened his passion for fine dining. He later moved to the Bay Area, working with Chef Laurent Manrique at Campton Place and Aqua. In 2008, Armellino took the helm at The Plumed Horse, introducing a refined, contemporary California cuisine focused on fresh, seasonal, and sustainable ingredients. Under his leadership, the restaurant has earned a Michelin Star every year since. He’s been featured on the Food Network, appears at national culinary events, and supports causes such as Meals on Wheels and Tibetan Aid Relief.
  
  Photo credit: The Plumed Horse

  

• Chef Trent Lidgey, One Fish Raw Bar

  From the Atlantic Culinary Academy to Michelin-starred kitchens around the world, Chef Trent Lidgey’s culinary journey has been anything but ordinary. He began at the Boston Harbor Hotel before finding his spark at Clio under the legendary Ken Oringer, where rare ingredients and bold techniques reshaped his view of food. In 2014, he moved west to San Francisco, joining the acclaimed Atelier Crenn and eventually rising to R&D Sous Chef. His talent led him to Australia, where he trained at Brae and Attica before returning to Boston to master Japanese fish butchery at UNI. Now based in California, Chef Trent leads the kitchen at One Fish Raw Bar in Campbell—his first solo venture. There, he fuses global inspiration with local ingredients, crafting a refined yet approachable raw bar and sake experience. Chef Trent’s work is precise, playful, and deeply thoughtful—each dish a reflection of his journey.
  
  Photo credit: One Fish Raw Bar

  

• Chefs are still being announced—stay tuned!