Featured Chefs of the Steamboat Food & Wine Festival

Meet the chefs shaping the Steamboat Food & Wine Festival experience. Each brings a distinct voice, technique, and perspective to the table.

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Joe Campbell

Executive Chef Joe Campbell’s path runs from Midwest kitchens to Le Cordon Bleu, the James Beard House, Bésame, Yampa Valley Kitchen, Mambo Italiano, and The Madeline, where travel, craft, and place shape every dish. His food reflects a life spent chasing flavor, creating experiences, and bringing people together across kitchens, continents, and mountain tables alike.

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Alberto Collarte Pindar

Chef Alberto Collarte Pindar cooks from a Baja point of view shaped by coastal ingredients, open fire, and the rhythm of shared meals. At Rhythm of the Ranch, his perspective adds smoke, spice, seafood, and a deep sense of place to the evening.

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John Courtney

Chef John Courtney, owner of Chop Shop and The Bake Shop Park City, built his career from finance to fine dining. Former Culinary Director of Block 16 at The Cosmopolitan Las Vegas and Chef de Cuisine at DB Brasserie and Yardbird, he is also a Chopped Champion.

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Chris Curren

Chef Chris Curren is known for high-energy cooking, sharp technique, and bold seasonal flavor. At Culinary Collective Dinner, he joins Collin Kelley and John Courtney in an open-kitchen collaboration built around personality, timing, and the kind of dinner guests feel as much as taste.

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William Dissen

Chef William Dissen is the owner and head chef of The Market Place in Asheville, known for seasonal cooking and a strong connection to regional farms. At Elevated Expressions Dinner, his Appalachian perspective adds depth to an intimate mountain collaboration.

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Taylor Frankel

Slope Room Executive Chef Taylor Frankel became Sweet Basil’s youngest and first female Head Chef after seven years in its kitchen. With Michelin three-star experience and six Food Network appearances, she brings refined technique to bold, seasonal mountain cooking.

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Russell Goodman

Chef Russell Goodman works at the intersection of farm, pastry, and seasonal cooking at Elkstone Farm. Across the chocolate seminar and Terroir to Table Dinner, his perspective connects ingredients, technique, wine, and place with quiet precision.

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Miguel Angel Guerrero

Chef Miguel Ángel Guerrero is the creator of BajaMed cuisine, blending Mexican, Mediterranean, and Asian influences. A global ambassador for Baja California gastronomy, he has presented the concept from Tokyo and Paris to New York and Madrid.

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Collin Kelley

Chef Collin Kelley leads from the center of Primrose’s open kitchen, where hospitality, pace, and seasonal mountain cooking meet. His role in Culinary Collective Dinner anchors the evening with a local Steamboat perspective and a menu designed for collaboration.

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Kevin Nashan

James Beard Award-winning chef Kevin Nashan brings the perspective of Sidney Street Cafe to Elevated Expressions Dinner. His cooking is polished, generous, and relationship-driven, making him a strong fit for a seven-course collaboration built around trust, timing, and craft.

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Paul C. Reilly

2025 James Beard Foundation semifinalist for Best Chef: Mountain & James Beard Foundation scholarship winner Paul C. Reilly is Culinary Director and proprietor of Denver’s beast + bottle group. Known for seasonal, farm-driven cuisine, his restaurants Coperta and Apple Blossom celebrate the connection between farmers, artisans, and the table.

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Martín Rios

Chef Martín Rios is the chef behind Restaurant Martín in Santa Fe and a James Beard Best Chef: Southwest nominee. His cooking balances refinement with regional character, making him a natural collaborator for a farm-rooted dinner at Elkstone.

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Dana Rodriguez

Chef Dana Rodriguez is one of Denver’s defining culinary voices and the chef behind Casa Bonita’s reimagined menu. A multiple James Beard nominee connected to Work & Class, Super Mega Bien, and Carne RiNo, her cooking is bold, generous, and unmistakably rooted in Mexican hospitality.

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Mutsuko Soma

Chef Mutsuko Soma is a celebrated soba master and founder of Seattle’s Kamonegi and Hannyatou. Trained in traditional soba-making in Japan, her cooking pairs deep technique with Pacific Northwest ingredients and has earned national James Beard recognition.

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Jon-Claude JC Stevens

Chef Jon-Claude “JC” Stevens is a Steamboat talent known for smoke, comfort, and local hospitality. Across Rhythm of the Ranch and Last Call, his cooking moves from fire-driven dinner to the kind of final-morning food that brings a festival weekend back to life.

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Aiden Tibbetts

Michelin Best Young Chef 2025 Aiden Tibbetts is Executive Chef of Wildflower, where he builds multi-course menus around Colorado seasonality. Trained at Johnson & Wales and École Ducasse, he pairs technical precision with ingredient-driven cooking.

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Matt Vawter

James Beard Award winner for Best Chef: Mountain, Matt Vawter is the chef/owner of Rootstalk and Radicato in Breckenridge and co-founder of Threefold Bakery. His cuisine is defined by refined technique, seasonal ingredients, and close relationships with Colorado producers.

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Lee Wolen

2025 James Beard Outstanding Chef semifinalist Lee Wolen is Chef Partner at Michelin-starred Boka in Chicago. A five-time Best Chef: Great Lakes finalist, his broader portfolio includes Alla Vita, GG’s Chicken Shop, Zarella, and Elliott Aster.

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