Chef Mattos also served as sous chef, chef de cuisine, and executive chef of Bisque Restaurant, a full-scale kitchen serving more than 200 guests; he is credited with bringing the restaurant from one-and-a-half stars to four stars. As chef director at The Art Institute of California - Orange County, he led the culinary department, and under his leadership, the culinary program grew from 300 to 800 students. Previously, Chef Mattos taught health-supportive vegetarian cooking by integrating classical cooking techniques at the Natural Gourmet Institute in New York City. Chef Mattos joined Orange County School of the Arts in 2011 and currently serves as Chef Director of The Mekjian Family Culinary Arts & Hospitality Conservatory, where he is responsible for organizing multiple kitchen facilities to accommodate teaching labs, high volume production for cafeteria services, and special events. He is devoted to giving his students hands-on and real-world experience through competitions, class assignments, and internships with local kitchens, hotels, and restaurants.

As the Australian and New Zealand executive training manager for Fisher Catering Services, the company expanded to provide food services in many high profile sites including, New Zealand Parliament House, numerous BHP Billiton sites, Antarctic Australian Mining Camp, elite schools such as Ascham and Scotts in Sydney, along with Channel 10 TV facility in Western Australia and other high profile clients.

Ms. Vukalovich also spearheaded the company's bid for ISO9001 series Quality Assurance through Lloyd’s Register of London. She worked for Gardner Merchant / Sedexo Australia and was involved in the training of hospitality personnel in key locations, such as Flemington Raceway, Myers cafes, the Bennelong Restaurant, and Concourse Cafes at the Sydney Opera House. After relocating, she worked for the Illawarra Institute of Technology as a hospitality management travel and tourism lecturer for a decade. Her passion for quality hospitality education has forged its way throughout her career.

Before embracing a culinary career, Chef Costa was a university adjunct faculty member and conference speaker for eight years, after graduating from the University of Genova, Italy, with a M.A. in Italian Language & Literature. She taught comparative cultures at Lake Erie College in Painesville, Ohio, and Italian Language at John Carroll University in Cleveland, Ohio and Cuyahoga Community College in Parma, Ohio.

Additionally, Chef Grover acted as the front of the house captain at Sotheby’s in New York, as well as a culinary demonstration chef, marketing international vendors and collegiate culinary programs. He also currently works as a private chef, where he designs custom healthy lifestyle cuisine for clients.

Since 1995, she has taught English and social studies to high school students and is an enthusiastic consumer of the creations of the culinary arts and hospitality industry. She has taught several courses in addition to Food History, including 9th Grade Literature and Composition, Popular Culture, Film, and Shakespeare. Ms. Cruz believes that learning is a process, not a result. She is passionately dedicated to supporting her students from whom, she is proud to say, she learns from every day.

Recently, Chef Molina worked at Paramount High School where she began the Culinary Program, which she helped develop into a three-year curriculum. She also served as a campus advisor to the culinary club, where she planned, organized, and facilitated extracurricular events that helped further the total school program outside normal school hours. She also incorporated a “Farm to Table Event/ Master Chef Food Competition, where her high school students partnered with local elementary students into creating specialty deserts.