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. Prior to joining The Art Institute of California - Orange County, Chef Mattos taught health-supportive vegetarian cooking by integrating classical cooking techniques at the Natural Gourmet Institute in New York City. Chef Daniel Mattos joined Orange County School of the Arts in 2011 and currently serves as the 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.

Chef Striffolino was named Orange County Chef of the Year by the Orange County Business Journal, a Top Twelve Young American Chef by the Culinary Institute of America and Kraft International, and he is the originator and host of Great Chefs of Orange County, now in its 19th year. He has also received the Southern California Restaurant Writers’ Gold Award seven years in a row.

Having worked in the food industry for nearly ten years, Amanda got her start in the quality department of a beverage flavor manufacturing plant in south Orange County. She then worked in the research and development department of a juice concentrates manufacturer, developing products for vending machine drinks in California schools, frozen treats, and nutritional beverages. This was followed by the quality department at Cargill, one of the largest cooking oil and shortening manufacturers in the country. While working at Cargill for almost five years, Amanda served as a member of a special team tasked with troubleshooting a new cross-departmental software system and training employees at two sites. She currently works in Santa Ana researching and developing gummy vitamins from concept to full scale production. Amanda is responsible for nearly 10 new kids and adult gummy vitamins this year.

Determined to increase awareness on healthy food and nutrition, she started teaching as Italian language and Chef Instructor at The Loretta Paganini School of Cooking, and then at Chabam Educational Center, where she taught for several years. As Chef Instructor and Student Chef Supervisor, Paola coordinated menu development, recipe analysis, staff scheduling, and food preparation techniques. In 2007, she was the leading chef assistant in food preparation activities for Simply Gourmet episodes by The Learning Channel.

Prior to that, she was a cooking demonstrator at the Home & Garden Show in Cleveland, Ohio, the Big Food Show in Cleveland, Ohio, and the Wine & Food Show in New York City, NY.

Paola also worked as a professor of Italian Culture and Language at Lake Erie College, in Painesville OH, and at Cuyahoga Community College, in Parma OH, where she enjoyed educating students in a global context, while encouraging knowledge and respect for cultural diversity.

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 1996, 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. In addition to Food History, she also teaches Comparative Mythology, Science Fiction, Shakespeare, and Gothic Literature for students in 12th grade.

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.

Mrs. Vukalovich also spearheaded the company's bid for ISO9001 series Quality Assurance through Lloyd’s Register of London. She also 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.