As a child growing up on her family’s farm, Chef See Thao enjoyed working with the land, seeing nature grow. Encouraged by her mother’s dishes, she would watch with fascination as her mother prepared meals for the family. During those days in the kitchen, she dreamed of becoming a chef. Eventually, she turned those dreams into reality and graduated from the Culinary Arts program at the Institute of Technology in Clovis. Currently, she’s the Manager of Operations and Sales at Mao’s Farm, established in 1996, which merges Central Valley Ag and Southeast Asia farming traditions. Chef See loves bringing in new recipes and dishes to her many farm-to-table dinners, and her favorite dish is a fusion of pasta and Thai Food.

Born and raised in the Central Valley on his family’s ranch, growing pistachios and grapes, Chef Rob Vieira discovered his passion for food in his teens. Studying at the Elderberry House in Oakhurst, he appreciated the beauty of local cuisine. Living in South America, he explored other flavors and experienced new tastes and techniques. With a burning desire to bring that style back to California, he opened P&R Fusion food truck, where he serves up exotic authentic Peruvian flavor fused with all classic American forms. His favorite types of dishes are freestyle and being able to make any dish his own!

Chef Yeni Solis considers cooking a family affair, as both of her parents owned restaurants in Mexico where she grew up. For the past seventeen years, Solis has worked at Valley Children’s Hospital. Currently, she’s heading up the kitchen staff for the many events and banquets. She’s also branched out and started her very own catering, Solis Catering. Chef Yeni takes pride in the food she prepares, and she adds touches to make dishes reflect her personality. She loves the compliments that her dishes receive, and her favorite dish to prepare is Stuffed Tri-Tip, with Gouda cheese, mushrooms, and spinach.

Chef Joey Roman knows the meaning of hard work. He is a chef, opened an outdoor seating restaurant at 21 while working in construction. In 2014, he officially made a career change and went to culinary school to become a chef full-time. Cooking runs in the family, beginning with his grandmother, his inspiration, and now his kids love to cook as well. As the owner of Whole Hog BBQ Co, he brings his culinary skills to the Valley. He’s inspired by a mix of Japanese, Italian, Native American, and Mexican foods and likes being able to look back at their traditional dishes.