Welcome Back, Manresa Chefs

While I am looking forward to inviting some new guests into the kitchen over our anniversary week, I am equally excited to welcome some of my favorite former chefs. When we were deciding how to honor this milestone, we thought what better way to celebrate than by bringing back the people that played a positive role in the growth of Manresa. In thinking more about it, there is no one else I’d rather celebrate with! I’ve remained close with each and every one of them and that’s such a great feeling. Even though I will be collaborating on the first course for the evening, I am essentially a guest in my own restaurant. I am handing the kitchen over to them for the two nights and can’t wait to see what they come up with. The entire menu will be in the control of the seven chefs coming back to Manresa from all over California. There will be so much talent in one little kitchen. I can’t wait to see their creative processes and if a little bit of Manresa shines through their dishes. I look forward to joining you in the Manresa dining room! —David Kinch

July 14 & 15: Manresa Alumni
Manresa welcomes back former Pastry Chef Belinda Leong (soon opening the much anticipated B Pâtisserie), former Chef de Cuisine and Pastry Chef John Paul Carmona (Partner at 3 Mile Group), former Chef de Cuisines Jeremy Fox (chef at Paper or Plastik in Los Angeles, CA) and James Syhabout (chef/owner of Commis in Oakland, CA), and former Sous Chefs Charlie Parker (executive chef at Freddie Smalls in Los Angeles, CA), Michael Gaines (chef de cuisine at Central Kitchen in San Francisco, CA), and Marty Cattaneo (executive chef of Dio Deka in Los Gatos, CA). Reservations can be made by calling Manresa at 408.354.4330.

Welcome Pastry Chef Belinda Leong

Manresa is pleased to welcome pastry chef Belinda Leong to Manresa. Leong is a native of San Francisco with more than ten years of international professional pastry experience at some of the world’s finest restaurants and patisseries. In 1998 she accepted an internship at Aqua Restaurant under the direction of Michael Mina, which inspired her to enroll in the culinary program at San Francisco City College. After graduating, she embarked on a culinary internship with the newly opened Restaurant Gary Danko. She soon discovered her passion for desserts and gravitated to the pastry department, and after a year was named Executive Pastry Chef, where she developed her skills during the following eight years. After nine years with Gary Danko, she embarked on a European tour of France, Spain, Denmark, and Belgium where she refined her skills at renowned patisseries and restaurants including a year at Pierre Hermé in Paris learning traditional French pastry, Restaurante Martín Berasategui in Spain (three Michelin stars), Noma in Copenhagen (two Michelin stars), In De Wulf in Belgium (one Michelin star) and Bubo in Barcelona. In 2007, Leong won the San Francisco Bay Area award for Rising Star Pastry Chef from StarChefs.com, and was a featured celebrity chef at the famed Pebble Beach Food and Wine Festival.
Photo courtesy StarChefs.com