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CHEFS IN RESIDENCE

Sonoma Wineries with Food Pairing

As a hub of the community, our goal is to not only support winemakers at the crush studio and local organizations with our event venue, but also to support local chefs. The Wine Lounge at Sugarloaf Wine Co. was designed with a full commercial kitchen for member wineries food pairing experiences and special events. For the first time, we began leasing our kitchen to talented chefs in the community who need fully equipped space to practice their crafts and grow their business. We call them our Chefs in Residence.

Chef Travis Gee has an outstanding culinary career under his belt. His ability to use the fresh locally sourced ingredients set him apart from other culinary teams. As a local to Kenwood, Travis understands the sense of community and how food plays a part in bringing everyone together.  Chef Travis owns his own private cheffing & catering company that caters to parties of all sizes and can accomodate a large spectrum of cuisines for his clients to enjoy. We got a chance to ask Chef Travis about his journey so far stating that “I have been passionate about cooking since I was a child, and I have honed my skills through years of experience in the food industry. My journey has led me to work in various restaurants, pursue wine education and international travel so that I could understand the relationship between food and wine. Each dish is crafted from my passion and expertise to present a memorable tasting experience for our guests.” Chef Travis is a great addition as our chef in residence and will bring a much needed culinary program to Sugarloaf and all of our patrons!

Click here to learn more about Chef Travis and his culinary company, Know Wine-ing.

creative juices

Meet Sean Quan of Second Staff

Supporting Our Wineries with Food Pairing

Not long after moving to Sonoma County in 2021, chefs Sean Quan and Jenny Phan started having withdrawal symptoms from late-night social life in Los Angeles. That’s when the idea for Second Staff, their creative culinary company, started to take shape. They teamed up with some new chef friends who also had a hankering for midnight eats and drinks with friends to host a string of fun, daring pop-up concepts for industry folk. Rage Cage fried chicken battles, Space Balls boba wars and Small Men sandwiches for gearheads paved the way for FNCY PNTS, their take on fine dining without the formality. 

Within a year, Second Staff became Sonoma County’s pop-up restaurant dream team, and their events hosted at wineries, breweries and food events around the region usually sell out. Many wineries with food pairing dreams turn to Second Staff to wow their guests, and we are thrilled that Second Staff was in need of a kitchen to call home around the same time The Wine Lounge at Sugarloaf was ready to start offering fun food pairings to guests. As a community crush studio, it only made sense to share our commercial kitchen with local chefs in the community.

Chef Quan’s creative pop-up ideas are as limitless as his insanely delicious food. “Restaurants and the food they serve should always be a reflection of the communities they are part of,” Sean says. “They should also have a deeper meaning, and provide an insight into the community that you wouldn’t normally see.”

Sean Quan

Jenny Phan

Explore Our Food Pairing Experiences

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