WILLIAMS SONOMA ANNOUNCES 2017 CHEFS' COLLECTIVE

Fourteen premier chefs and bar experts to serve on culinary advisory board

Williams Sonoma, a member of the Williams-Sonoma, Inc. WSM portfolio of brands, is proud to announce the members of its 2017 Chefs' Collective, featuring fourteen chefs and bar experts selected to serve as brand advisors. Each member of the diverse group was selected for being an innovator in his or her field and someone who is redefining the culinary landscape. These newly inducted members come from notable restaurants and bars in the US and Canada and will provide culinary insights, feedback on product development, testing, testimonials, exclusive content and new recipes.

Williams Sonoma's history as a culinary connector began more than sixty years ago, as Chuck Williams introduced home cooks to iconic chefs of his era, like James Beard, along with the tools and equipment they used in their professional kitchens to customers. Throughout the years, notable chefs have served as a voice of authority for the brand about what to cook, how to cook it, and what tools and ingredients chefs are using.

In 2015, Williams Sonoma launched its first Chefs' Collective, a culinary advisory board that has been featured throughout the last two years at events, online, and on social media. The Chefs' Collective members participate in many large brand moments including product launches, new store openings, and product development initiatives. As the chefs graduate to Williams Sonoma's Chefs' Collective alumni, the brand welcomes the newest class of chefs and bar experts.

"The Williams Sonoma Chefs' Collective is an important group of talented leaders," said Janet Hayes, president of Williams Sonoma. "Their creativity, knowledge and appetite for innovation inspires us to think in new ways as a brand. We're looking forward to collaborating with them in 2017 and beyond."

In celebration of the Williams Sonoma 2017 Chefs' Collective, there will be a series of events with the chefs throughout the year.

Williams Sonoma's 2017 Chefs' Collective members are as follows:

• Matt Bolus, Executive Chef, 404 Kitchen, Nashville, TN
• Katie Button, Executive Chef/Owner of Heirloom Hospitality Group, Cúrate and Nightbell, Asheville, NC
• Ashley Christensen, Chef/Proprietor, Beasley's Chicken + Honey, Bridge Club, Chuck's, Death & Taxes, Fox Liquor Bar, Poole's Diner, Raleigh, NC
• Derek Dammann, Chef/Owner, Maison Publique, Montreal, QC
• Deuki Hong, Owner, Deuki Hong Hospitality Group, Executive Chef, Sunday Bird, San Francisco, CA
• Brandon Jew, Executive Chef/Owner, Mister Jiu's, San Francisco, CA
• Gavin Kaysen, Chef/Owner, Spoon and Stable, Minneapolis, MN and Bellecour, Wayzata, MN
• Joshua McFadden, Executive Chef/Owner, Ava Gene's, Founding Partner, Tusk, Consulting Chef, The Suttle Lodge & Boathouse, Portland, OR
• Julia Momose, Bartender at Large, Eater Young Gun, Chicago, IL
• Steven Satterfield, Executive Chef/Co-Owner, Miller Union, Atlanta, GA
• Daniela Soto-Innes, Chef De Cuisine, Cosme, Alta, New York, NY
• Jeremiah Stone, Chef/Owner, Contra, Wildair, New York, NY
• Fabian von Hauske, Chef/Owner, Contra, Wildair, New York, NY
• Kris Yenbamroong, Chef/Owner, NIGHT + MARKET, Los Angeles, CA

ABOUT THE CHEFS

Matt Bolus

Matt Bolus is the Executive Chef of 404 Kitchen, in Nashville, TN. Bolus has been awarded the title of Best Restaurant in Nashville by Eater Nashville, Best New Restaurant in the South by Southern Living and Writer's Choice for Best Restaurant by Nashville Scene. He was named to the 25 Best Restaurant List by Thrillist and The Tennessean, and was named one of the Best Whiskey Bars in America by Travel + Leisure. Bolus has appeared on the Bravo Cooking Series, Recipe for Deception, has been a co-host on Little Chef Big Chef Nashville and was a 2014 James Beard Award semifinalist for Best New Restaurant.

Katie Button

Katie Button is the executive chef and owner of Heirloom Hospitality Group and restaurants Cúrate and Nightbell in Asheville, NC. She was a 2012-2013 James Beard Rising Star semifinalist, a 2014 James Beard Rising Star nominee and a 2015 semifinalist for the James Beard Best Chef: Southeast Award. In 2015, she was also named one of Food & Wine's Best New Chefs. Button hosted the international TV series "The Best Chefs in the World" and is the author of CÚRATE: Authentic Spanish Food from an American Kitchen. She has an eco-friendly approach, is Living Wage Certified, and is an active member of the Chef Action Network.

Ashley Christensen

Ashley Christensen is the Chef and Proprietor of Beasley's Chicken + Honey, Bridge Club, Chuck's, Death & Taxes, Fox Liquor Bar, and Poole's Diner, in Raleigh, NC. Christensen has been featured in Bon Appetit, Gourmet, The New York Times, Southern Living, and Garden & Gun and has appeared on Food Network's Iron Chef America and MSNBC's Your Business. She won the 2014 James Beard Award for Best Chef: Southeast and is the author of Poole's: Recipes and Stories from a Modern Diner.

Derek Dammann

Derek Dammann is the Chef and Owner of Maison Publique, in Montreal, QC. He owns Maison Publique with Jamie Oliver, who he trained under while in London. Dammann was a featured Judge on Top Chef Canada and is a founding member of the Northern Chefs' Alliance and is the author of True North, an award winning cookbook on Canadian Cuisine that features a forward by Jamie Oliver. Maison Publique was nominated by Conde Nast Traveler as Montreal's Best Restaurant.

Deuki Hong

Deuki Hong is the owner of Deuki Hong Hospitality Group and the Executive Chef of Sunday Bird, in San Francisco, CA. Hong began cooking at age of 15 for Aaron Sanchez at Centrico where he first honed his culinary skills. He was named the 2015 Eater Young Gun, to the Zagat 30 Under 30 and Forbes 30 under 30. He is the former chef at Kang Ho Dong Baekjeong, Momofuku, and Jean-George and is a Co-Author of Koreatown: A Cookbook.

Brandon Jew

Brandon Jew is the Executive Chef and Owner of Mister Jiu's, a contemporary Chinese American restaurant in San Francisco Chinatown. Jew trained in Italy and Shanghai before long stints under Judy Rodgers of Zuni Cafe and Michael Tusk of Quince. Jew was the opening chef of the James Beard-nominated Bar Agricole before opening Mister Jiu's. At Mister Jiu's he was awarded San Francisco Magazine Chef of the Year, received one Michelin star and was named one of 2017's Bon Appetit Top 50. Jew has been featured in New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Vice Munchies and PBS Mind of a Chef.

Gavin Kaysen

Gavin Kaysen is the Chef and Owner of the award-winning Spoon and Stable in Minneapolis, MN and recently-opened Bellecour in Wayzata, MN. He was named one of Food & Wine magazine's Best New Chefs in 2007 and won the 2008 James Beard Foundation Rising Star Award. As active Vice President of the ment'or BKB Foundation, a non-profit that selects, trains, and sends Team USA to compete in the Bocuse d'Or, he contributed significantly to the team's successes in 2015 and 2017. He has competed on Food Network's Next Iron Chef and Iron Chef America. His first restaurant, Spoon and Stable, was a 2015 James Beard Foundation Best New Restaurant Nominee.

Joshua McFadden

Joshua McFadden is the Executive Chef and Owner of Ava Gene's, Co-Owner of Tusk, and Founding Partner of Submarine Hospitality in Portland, OR. He is also the Consulting Chef at The Suttle Lodge & Boathouse. McFadden has been featured in The New York Times, Food & Wine and Sunset, was a semifinalist for a James Beard Award in 2017, and Ava Gene's was included in Bon Appétit's Best New Restaurant list in 2013, and won the Eater Award for Portland's Restaurant of the Year (2013). Tusk was named one of Food & Wine Restaurants of the Year for 2017. McFadden recently published his first cookbook, Six Seasons: A New Way with Vegetables, to critical acclaim.

Julia Momose

Julia Momose, bartender at large and Eater Young Gun, in Chicago, IL. Momose has been named Food + Wine's Best Mixologist of 2016 and won the Eater Young Guns of 2016 Award. She was awarded the 2017 Jean Banchet Awards Mixologist of the Year. During her time at GreenRiver, they were awarded a Michelin Star, Three Stars by Chicago Tribune, Four Stars by Crain's Chicago Business, and was named one of Playboy Magazine's Best New Bars of 2016. She is currently the cocktail creative at two-Michelin starred Oriole, where she is championing the zero proof cocktail. Momose dedicates her time to developing the non-alcoholic beverage pairings for Chef Noah Sandoval's tasting menu, as well as writing the cocktail and zero proof cocktail menus.

Steven Satterfield

Steven Satterfield is the Executive Chef and Co-Owner of Miller Union, in Atlanta, GA. Satterfield was a James Beard finalist for Best Chef: Southeast in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 and won the coveted award in 2017. Bon Appetit and Esquire named Miller Union one of the "Best New Restaurants in America." Satterfield has also been featured in The New York Times, Epicurious, Tasting Table, Vice, Garden & Gun, Atlanta Magazine, and Men's Book. He serves on the board of Slow Food Atlanta and the local leader of Chefs Collaborative Atlanta. Satterfield is the author of Root to Leaf, A Southern Chef Cooks Through the Seasons, Harper Wave and Short Stack Editions: Peanuts, Dovetail Press.

Daniela Soto-Innes

Daniela Soto-Innes, 26, comes from a long line of women who love food and cooking. After traveling and staging at restaurants in Texas, New York, and Europe, she joined Brennan's of Houston where she worked with Chef Danny Trace to create tasting menus. Two years later, she joined the progressive American restaurant Triniti, followed by the charcuterie driven restaurant Underbelly with Chef Chris Shepherd, a mentor who pushed her to become a leader in the kitchen. After a stage in the kitchen of Pujol, Soto-Innes was offered a full-time position working alongside Chef Enrique Olvera. In 2014, she opened Cosme in New York City as Chef de Cuisine, where she quickly began garnering praise as one of the city's top young chefs. After just a year and a half in the role, she was named the James Beard Rising Star Chef of the Year. In 2017, she was included in Forbes Magazine's 30 Under 30: Food & Drink list. Just a few months later, Cosme was ranked 40th on the prestigious World's 50 Best Restaurants list, and, around the same time, Soto-Innes was made Chef Partner at both Cosme and the newly-opened ATLA, an all-day café-style restaurant created by the same team behind Cosme.

Fabian von Hauske and Jeremiah Stone

Fabian von Hauske and Jeremiah Stone are the Chefs and Owners of Contra and Wildair, in New York, NY. Both restaurants have acquired numerous awards and recognitions including glowing reviews from the New York Times from critic Pete Wells, as well as landing in his best restaurant picks for 2014 (Contra) and 2015 (Wildair). Contra was bestowed one Michelin Star, and Wildair was a James Beard Best New Restaurant finalist, won Taste Talk's Best New Restaurant-East, as well as Wine Enthusiast's Best Wine Restaurants, and was named Best New Restaurant from Bon Appetit Magazine. Additionally, Jeremiah and Fabian were named Best New Chefs 2016 by Food & Wine Magazine.

Kris Yenbamroong

Kris Yenbamroong is Chef and Owner of NIGHT + MARKET, in Los Angeles, CA. He has been named Rave reviews LA Times critic/Pulitzer Prize winner and was marked youngest ranked in Los Angeles Times Best Restaurant Top 20. Yenbamroong has had back-to-back semifinal nods from the James Beard Foundation in the Rising Star Chef category and was named Chef of the Year by Los Angeles Magazine in 2012, 2015 Eater LA's Restaurant of the Year Award and has no formal culinary training.

To learn more visit: https://www.williams-sonoma.com/pages/ws-chefs-collective.html

ABOUT WILLIAMS SONOMA CHEF'S COLLECTIVE

The Williams Sonoma Chefs' Collective began in 2015 as a culinary advisory board of top chefs from notable restaurants and eateries in North America. The members of the Williams Sonoma Chefs' Collective partner with the brand as culinary ambassadors for product launches, new store openings, product development initiatives, cooking events and classes and company culture.

ABOUT WILLIAMS SONOMA

Since its founding by Chuck Williams in 1956, the Williams Sonoma brand has been bringing people together around food. A member of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. WSM portfolio of brands, Williams Sonoma is a leading specialty retailer of high-quality products for the kitchen and home, providing world-class service and an engaging customer experience. Products include cookware, cooks' tools, cutlery, electrics, bakeware, food, tabletop and bar, outdoor, cookbooks, as well as furniture, lighting and decorative accessories. Each store offers cooking classes and tastings conducted by expert culinary staff. A comprehensive gift registry program for weddings and other special events is available in stores and online. On williams-sonoma.com and the Williams Sonoma blog, Taste, customers can find recipes, tips, and techniques that help them create delicious meals and wonderful memories. Williams Sonoma is a proud supporter of No Kid Hungry, a nonprofit dedicated to ending childhood hunger in America. Follow Williams Sonoma on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+ and YouTube.

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