Rick Erwin's Food and Wine Celebration! 

Chef Danny Brown
danny brown Wine Bar & Kitchen
Danny Brown’s restaurant career is as varied as his wine bar’s eclectic menu, having honed his culinary techniques in some of Europe’s top kitchens then stepping away from the burners to manage the dining rooms of some of Manhattan’s premiere restaurants. He began his culinary career cooking at Bridgewater’s South Street Seaport Catering, a high-end catering company responsible for some of New York’s finest events. Initially taking on the job to support his habit of playing in rock bands and studying music, Danny had no idea that cooking and restaurant management would become his ultimate métier.

Danny’s career then took him to the Soho hotspot the Cub Room, were he took on the role of manager and was responsible for buying the restaurant’s wine during its first years on the New York scene. He would eventually return to the kitchen after a six year absence for the chance to work with the Cub Room’s newly acquired chef de cuisine, Craig Sammuel. From there, Danny went on to stage in some of the top kitchens in Europe, learning techniques from cutting edge chefs on culinary’s most illustrious continent. His travels took him to the kitchens of L’esguard in Spain, Michel Rostang in Paris and Osteria Francescana in Modena Italy.

Upon returning home to New York, Danny wanted to open a restaurant that encompassed the casualness of a wine bar and some of the traditional dishes offered in these unique eateries, but it was still a few years away from fruition. As he laid his plans for his own venture, he returned to restaurant management in New York and took the helm at rated restaurants such as Artisanal and Town.

In 2006 his long-term goal was fulfilled when in June of that year he opened danny brown Wine Bar & Kitchen. You can now find him cooking in the open kitchen at his eponymous restaurant.

Chef Emmanuel Hodencq
Rick Erwin's Deli

Chef Hodencq first entered the limelight of Michelin stars at the Carlton hotel in Brussels, earning two stars as the executive chef of this distinguished establishment.  It was here that he worked side by side with Pierre Hermé, later elected ‘Best Pastry Chef in the World’ by the American public.  As executive chef of the Westminster Hotel in Paris, Emmanuel made the ‘Le Celadon’ restaurant (one star) the flagship of the Warwick group restaurants.  Within the Warwick group, he was also responsible for all major culinary events around the world.

In 1999, Emmanuel and his wife Vivian opened their own restaurant, "Hodencq," in Clermont-Ferrand.  Less than two years after opening they received their own Michelin star.  This level of distinction was maintained throughout the life of the restaurant.  Restaurant Hodencq was a destination of choice for politicians, celebrated business leaders and other celebrities.

Over the years the Hodencq family developed a love for the United States through their summer vacations across the country.  In the fall of 2012, they decided to take the plunge and pursue their dream of opening a restaurant in this country.

Emmanuel is now the executive chef of Rick Erwin’s Market and Deli, in Greenville, South Carolina.  

Chef Homaro Cantu 
Executive Chef and Owner, Moto Restaurant
Chairman and Founder, Cantu Designs
Host of Future Food on Planet Green

Chef Homaro Cantu is an internationally recognized chef and leader in the field of postmodern cuisine and an inventor of futuristic food delivery systems. 

Chef Cantu graduated from Le Cordon Bleu Culinary Institute in Portland, Oregon. After developing his culinary skills at several establishments along the West Coast he traveled to Chicago to work at Charlie Trotter’s restaurant where he rose to the position of Sous Chef.  After he left Charlie Trotter’s, Cantu concentrated on the development of his concept of an experiential design-based restaurant with a molecular gastronomy approach.  Moto Restaurant, one of Chicago’s most notable restaurants, puts Cantu’s concepts and creations into practice by melding food with science, technology and art to create an unmatched dining experience.  The New York Times described him as “a chef in the Buck Rogers tradition, blazing a trail to a space-age culinary frontier” and included one of his inventions among one of their best ideas of 2005.  Michael Eisner once described Cantu as the most revolutionary person in food since Ray Kroc. Several of Cantu’s patented inventions appear on display in the Cooper Hewitt Design Museum and Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry.  Through his company Cantu Designs, Chef Cantu has filed numerous patent applications covering dining implements, cookware, and printed food and is currently working on developing his inventions for commercial, humanitarian and aerospace applications. In addition to consulting on creativity and innovation to the Fortune 500, Chef Cantu’s innovative approach to cuisine and food delivery has influenced thought across several disciplines.  Chef Cantu and his “edible paper” have been featured in Gourmet (cover story October 2006), Food & Wine (November 2006) The Wall Street Journal (June 2006) and American Scientist (August 2005); this was the item selected among the best ideas of 2005 by The New York Times. Fast Company (May 2006) featured Chef Cantu and Cantu Designs in a cover story entitled “Weird Science” which praised his practice to include running a small business and his philanthropic goals. Cantu Designs’ interactive utensils were part of the exhibit “Feeding Desire, Design and Tools of the Table, 1500-2005” at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum of the Smithsonian Institution, and currently appear in Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry as part of their “Fast Forward, Inventing The Future” Exhibit.

Chef Cantu’s television appearances include “Battle Beets – Morimoto vs Cantu” on the Food Network’s Iron Chef America (defeated Morimoto), Dinner: Impossible, Good Deal with Dave Leiberman, Roker on the Road, the Ellen DeGeneres Show, TODAY, The Early Show, MSNBC, WGN News, Chicago Tonight, and dozens of local Chicago news and lifestyle programs.  In under six years he has been featured in over 1000 articles in 37 countries including The New York Times, USA TODAY, The Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Rolling Stone, Time Magazine, Gourmet, Bon Appetit, Food & Wine, Esquire, Maxim, Chicago, Wallpaper and Dwell.

In 2010 along with his sidekick Pastry Chef Ben Roche, Cantu created and produced his first television series for Discovery Network’s Planet Green titled “Future Food." In over 55 million homes, Future Food displayed Cantu’s ingenious knack for thinking outside the box and apply his ingenuity to global food issues.

In 2011 Chef Cantu opened iNG Restaurant. iNG is the world’s first restaurant that offers flavor changing gastronomy. This approach to food has been hailed by Diane Sawyer on World News Tonight as, “An idea that will change the direction of food for years to come.” Dr. Sanjay Gupta from CNN described Cantu’s approach at iNG as “Transforming the way we think about food in brave new worlds." iNG has been the subject of hundreds of articles around the world.

Current projects for Chef Cantu include working on his first book titled “The Miracle Berry Diet Cook Book," (releasing January 2013), building a multi-million dollar design and prototyping laboratory dedicated to disruptive green food technologies and addressing global food challenges such as obesity and famine. Chef Cantu has also been asked by the Museum of Science and Industry to design an interactive exhibit for display through 2016 that will feature his research on The Miracle Berry as a viable way to dramatically decrease the need for refined sugar.