Great Taste Magazine

Welcome to Great Taste Magazine, the premiere connection to all the key decision makers in our local Southern California restaurant industry. Each month our 7 year-old full-color trade publication reaches 10,000 of the area’s top restaurant owners, general managers, executive chefs and buyers. Take a tour through the magazine. Each issue features a restaurant and local chef, and is packed with the timeliest information, critical operational tips and other industry news important to our readers.

Teri Williams - Editor in Chief

Teri Williams has her finger on the pulse of the local hospitality industry like no one else. Seven years as editor and publisher of Orange County’s only hospitality trade magazine combined with her consultancy for the non-profit sector and her public relations expertise give Williams a far-reaching, varied and unique perspective of the industry. Besides her esteemed Great Taste publication, she has extensive experience in the travel industry (retail agent and wholesale), event planning and volunteerism. Williams has contacts around the globe in the restaurant, hotel, media and travel trades. She has also been applauded for her enthusiastic charity work and has chaired numerous chef, food and wine events on behalf of local non-profit organizations, for which she has helped garner more than $1 million in donations through the years. Known for her unflagging enthusiasm, entrepreneurial spirit, “can do” attitude and joie de vivre, Williams is a constant presence and authority on the OC culinary and hospitality scene.

Contributors

Great Taste would not exist without our enthusiastic and generous contributors, which is why we want to turn the spotlight on them! We’ve got chefs and students, teachers and experts - so read on to meet the wonderful people that write for your pleasure. They all have Great Taste!

Contributor Voices

Lauren Monahan - Writer  Hey, I’m Lauren Monahan. I’m a student at Cal State Long Beach, majoring in English with an emphasis in creative writing. I’m also working here at Great Taste, writing and learning all about the publishing and food industries. I grew up in Yorba Linda…North Orange County. Born and raised here, but I had the opportunity to live in Europe for four months…it was definitely hard to get myself onto the plane home. I started here at Great Taste in mid-February and have been writing up a storm ever since. I love to eat and am starting to love to cook - and learn that wine can be a girl’s best friend. I have a soft spot in my heart for Mexican food…I could eat it for every meal. From day to day, nothing is ever the same in hospitality. It’s such a fast-paced and dynamic way of life, and it provides an opportunity to meet all types of people…from celebrities to bar flies to mothers of six. Everyone’s gotta eat, right?

Todd Lejnieks - Management Issues/Writer Hello, I’m Todd Lejnieks and I am the Director of Food & Beverage at the Lone Tree Golf Course & Events Center in Antioch, CA. I was born and raised in Napa, California. I’ve also lived in San Francisco, San Diego, Portland, Laguna Niguel and Las Vegas. I guess I’m a West Coast guy. I’ve been working with and writing for Great Taste for about 4 years. I wrote a screenplay for a 10-minute short with my brother, co-writer and director Greg Lejnieks, called “The Circuit,” premiering in April ‘08. It’s about the life of a plate in a restaurant. I’m also an avid golfer, poker player, and writer. The opportunity the hospitality industry gives to non-movie stars to produce, direct and star in a major production every night is something that really makes me love it. Also, meeting all kinds of cool people - literally hundreds of people a day, from all walks of life - from moms to movie moguls, from mobsters to millionaires - keeps life interesting.

Steven Ackad - Beverage Issues/Writer My name is Steven Ackad and I am the wine buyer and lead captain at Sam & Harry’s Steakhouse at the Newport Beach Marriott. I was born in Montreal, Canada and moved to the Saddleback Valley in 1980. I just started working with Great Taste, writing the beverage column…I look forward to learning and contributing as best I can! Aside from my adoration for food and wine, I can be found in local (and not so local) pool rooms, playing for a frosty libation or a little cold hard cash. There are few jobs or careers that offer such timely cheer and/or criticism as the restaurant and hospitality industries. When you do it right, the benefits are immediate; when you do it wrong, you’ll also know forthwith. Next to that, no two days are ever the same.

Will Leivenberg - Young Dining Perspective/Writer My name is Will Leivenberg. I am a student at the University of California, Berkeley and I am interning with Great Taste. I’m from Sherman Oaks, CA, but live up in Berkeley during the school year. My work with Great Taste only began about two or three months ago, and it has been very exciting thus far. Aside from being an avid golfer, I have always felt a special connection with eating. I started cooking pancakes with my Dad when I was seven years-old and since then I’ve been infatuated with all aspects of food - especially the part where I get to eat it. I like the restaurant industry because no one restaurant is the same. Each one has its own special flair and provides a specific kind of atmosphere that I’ve learned to identify with that particular restaurant.

Cory Martin - Event Extraordinaire/Writer Hi, my name is Cory Martin, and I am the President of Adonis catering. I grew up in Long Beach Island, NJ. I wrote my first column for Great Taste about a month ago, and will be contributing issue to issue in a column about events and catering. My real inspirations for starting my own catering company, Adonis, were my parents - really, really great people. I enjoy the creative elements in the planning & design that go into everything about the hospitality industry - with my own catering business I get to start from the ground up.

Chef Contributor Voices

Chef Mark Adair - Catch of the Day Hello, I’m Mark Adair and my culinary career spans 25 years, three continents and eleven countries. I’ve been fortunate to cook for U.S. presidents, dignitaries and numerous celebrities over the years. I began my training in the kitchen of my grandparents’ inn in St. Andrews, Scotland and apprenticed in Rhone, France under the tutelage of Chef Paul Bocuse and at the Hotel International in Zurich, Switzerland. Over the years, I’ve worked for several major hotel companies, including the Westin and Doubletree in Denver, Phoenix, Pasadena and Vail. My favorite was serving as Executive Chef at the AAA Five-Diamond Ihilani Resort and Spa in Kapolei, Hawaii and overseeing their six award-winning restaurants. Prior to my current position as Director of Culinary for Blue Coral, Seafood & Spirits, I worked as Corporate Executive Chef for the Brigantine Restaurant Corporation in San Diego, supervising their eleven restaurants. I live in San Diego and when I’m not working you’ll frequently find me on my motorcycle. It’s a lot of fun writing Catch of the Day for Great Taste and sharing my passion for seafood with my peers.

Chef Katie Averill - Baking Rack I’m Chef Katie Averill, and I am a chef instructor. I also teach more casual classes at Tspoons in Ladera Ranch, I cater, and I write the Baking Rack column for Great Taste! I am from San Diego, but my cooking career has taken me to San Francisco, Las Vegas and Washington D.C. Currently I live in Laguna Beach. I’ve been writing for Great Taste for about a year now. I owned Mirabeau restaurant for five years, and I am planning to open another restaurant - hopefully sooner rather than later. Every day in the hospitality industry is different and you never know what the day will have in store. There is never a dull moment. I also love the instant gratification of cooking and feeding others.

Chef Gabe Caliendo - Spice Rack Hey, I’m Gabe Caliendo, Corporate Chef and Principal of The Lazy Dog Café and author of Great Taste’s Spice Rack column. I am a first generation American. My parents and several generations before are from Naples, Italy. I was born in Long Island, NY. I’ve also lived in Tampa Bay, Fl, but I have lived in Southern California almost all of my life - 25 years. I’ve been working with Great Taste for two years. If I wasn’t cooking I would be farming. Grapes, coffee, fruits, nuts or anything else that tastes great, like honey or agave. I could see myself as a cheesemaker, brewer, or distiller as well. I could never choose one thing that I love about the hospitality industry - I enjoy creating, I love eating - I appreciate sharing with others. I have become addicted to the adrenaline of working in kitchens that are very busy….it’s a rush!

Chef Jason Stein - Farmer’s Market Report Hi, Chef Jason Stein here. I’m Executive Chef of Parkers’ Lighthouse in Long Beach and Jaqu’s “The Place” in Huntington Beach. Originally from Westminster, I’m definitely a local boy and it’s great to be able to work in an area I know so well. I’ve been working with Great Taste Magazine for about four months, writing the Farmer’s Market Report for each issue. In my spare time, what little I have, I really enjoy growing exotic produce and trying to find unique ingredients to cook. There are so many fantastic options, it’s almost seems a waste to keep using the same old stuff! Like many people, I’m sure, I enjoy the energy and fast pace of the restaurant business. I find it amazing that so many people can cram into a small area like a kitchen and still be able to produce such great things.

Principle Production Voices

Lisa Brink - Graphic Artist - Print Hello, I’m Lisa Brink, and I am a graphic designer, art director and founder of DesignSmorgasbord. I was born in Florence, Italy, spent my teenage years in Vancouver, B.C. and then moved down to Southern California for college. I currently live in Long Beach, CA. The first issue of Great Taste I designed was Summer 2004. Since then, the magazine has evolved and changed into a piece that I am very proud of. Working with Teri and the rest of the crew at Great Taste has always been a pleasure… and they give me total creative freedom! Now that’s hard to find! In 1996 I graduated from Art Center College of Design with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Advertising. At that time I wanted the high power, high stress, high salary job that a creative career in advertising provides. After a few years in that industry, I ran as far and as fast as I could to the beach, took up surfing and started my own graphic design business. My life is now consists of lots of time in the water to keep my creativity flowing and many fun, exciting projects for inspiring people trying to make their mark in the world. The restaurant industry and I are a perfect fit. I was raised in Tuscany, Italy by a mother from New Orleans. So, as you can imagine, I love to eat! The bonus of having restaurant clients as that you always leave meetings with a full belly.

Michael Rutt - Photography Editor My name is Michael Rutt and I contribute the majority of the photos featured in Great Taste Magazine. I was born in San Francisco but I was raised in England, Sweden and Malta. My specialty is food photography but I love all types of photography whether it be editorial or commercial. Food photography always presents a challenge; some things just don’t look as good in two dimensions. Overcoming that challenge is what makes this field so rewarding. I have been working with Great Taste for about five years now and I have seen it develop and grow. Orange County’s restaurant industry is constantly changing and contains a vast variety of flavors. Great Taste keeps people informed and in touch with this ever-changing service industry.