Chef Herve Guillard

Chef Herve Guillard grew up in his native France in a family of foodies where he found his passion cooking along with his mother and grand-mothers.

He went on to become an engineer in the field of Health and Safety and came to California in 1995 to work in that capacity for the Disney Studios. A few years later he decided to listen to his heart and follow his passion for cooking. He graduated from California School of Culinary Arts with high honors and pursued his career in local restaurants and mostly as a caterer and private chef.

For over 11 years he has been sharing his love of cooking by teaching at the renowned Le Cordon Bleu Los Angeles. He has taught in the restaurant, the hot and cold kitchen production as well as academics with a strong emphasis in baking and Patisserie.

He also has credentials from the San Francisco Baking Institute and the Sushi Chef Institute. He is a Certified Post-secondary Instructor by NCCT, a certified instructor/proctor for SERVSAFE, and a certified Red Cross instructor. He loves to work with local products and looks forward to sharing his passion with you.

Chef Judy Gilbert

Judy Gilbert, long-time Santa Clarita resident, has been cooking professionally for 30 years. She began as an apprentice in L.A.’s 5-star restaurant, L’Orangerie. From there she worked at Spago’s and in some of Beverly Hill’s finest hotels. It was at this time she met her husband, former pastry chef, Darrell Gilbert. They married and moved to Santa Clarita in 1987 and began their family. Her daughter Lauren is 24 and her son Jared is 21. Judy was the pastry chef for Santa Clarita’s popular French restaurant, Gerard’s, and later for Country Gourmet. In 1993 she went to work for Universal Studios where she helped in the development of 2 restaurants for City Walk. In 1994 she became the executive pastry chef for Sisley Italian Kitchen and helped to open two of their franchises. In 2003 she decided that teaching was what she wanted to do so she took a position as Chef Instructor for Le Cordon Bleu in Pasadena. Opening Culinary Wonders is the culmination of a dream that combines what she loves best. Cooking and Teaching.

 GUEST CHEFS

DiMaggio Washington

DiMaggio has been in the wine business for more than 16 years.  He owned and operated the first Wine Bar in Valencia in 1997, as well as The Cellar Wine Bar & Restaurant in 2011.  DiMaggio has taught wine classes for over a decade at various colleges in California, including the Le Cordon Bleu Culinary and has recently returned to College of the Canyons, teaching classes in their wine studies program.  Other wine ventures have included importing French and Italian wines.  DiMaggio also owns and makes wine from his local personal vineyard.  In his “pre-wine” life DiMaggio enjoyed a long and successful career as an electrical aerospace engineer.

A few certifications held by DiMaggio would include: UCLA Certified Vintage Wine Program, UC Davis Small Vineyard and Wine Program, Court of Masters (International), WSET Wine Spirit and Education Trust (International)

DiMaggio’s passion for wine education encouraged him to recently publish a book, World Wine Education, for the student, hobbyist or wine lover in all of us.  He also offers Wine Appreciation and WSET Certification Classes, as well as an education in wine and food pairings.  You can visit his website at:  www.worldwineeducation.com    

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