THEY’VE GOT
THE CHOPS

Alex Seidel

Born in 1973 in Wisconsin, Seidel began his culinary career at 14, serving as sous chef at Racine’s Main Street Bistro by age 20. He attended culinary school at Western Culinary Institute in Portland, Oregon, finishing at the top of his class. Alex Seidel is chef-owner of Fruition Restaurant, Mercantile dining & provision, Füdmill and Chook.

Alex, Fruition and Mercantile have been fortunate to find themselves featured as Chef of the Year and Best Restaurant rankings in numerous local and national magazines and guides including Denver Magazine , 5280, Bon Appetite, Gayot , and Zagat, and alumni from the restaurants have gone on to receive similar honors. Seidel himself has been the recipient of many accolades, including Food & Wine magazine’s Best New Chef in 2010, Chef of the Year titles from local media including Denver Magazine and 5280. Seidel was awarded the 2018 James Beard Foundation Best Chef: South West. In addition to his restaurants, Seidel owns Fruition Farms Creamery, Colorado’s first artisan sheep’s milk creamery, located in Larkspur, Colorado. Seidel participates in numerous off-site events for both charitable and fine dining experiences.

He very much enjoys furthering the culture of cuisine all the while staying down to earth and championing such causes as food advocacy, mindfulness when it comes to eating habits and waste. Becoming a chef and a business owner has allowed him to hone his very impressive skills while controlling the ingredients and the sourcing of his provisions.

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Dana Rodriguez

If you met Dana Rodriguez on the street, you’d never know that she grew up on a farm without any running water or electricity, or that she helped her mother grind corn down to masa to make tortillas almost every day at mealtime. You certainly wouldn’t guess that she studied computers or owned her own clothing boutique in her native Chihuahua, Mexico. Indeed, Dana has made quite a journey.

What you WOULD know if you met her, is that she is immediately engaging—her friends and nearly everyone in the restaurant industry know her simply as “Loca.” Loca is the kind of woman who fills a room the instant that she enters it—her laugh carries above the noise, and you know immediately that you are in the presence of a salt-of- the-earth woman who knows above all else how to cook, and how to work hard.

After vacationing and visiting family in Colorado twenty years ago, Dana decided to stay in the state and applied for a job at Panzano, an upscale Italian restaurant in the Hotel Monaco. It was there she met Jennifer Jasinski, the chef who took Dana under her wing, focused on her strong work ethic and intelligence, and helped to develop Dana into the talented chef she is today. From dishwasher to prep cook, through pasta making and the bakeshop, and finally as a sous chef at Panzano, Dana worked her way through the ranks learning from Jasinski and others the skills necessary to excel at each job and how to manage staff.

Dana continued working with Jasinski and her partner, Beth Gruitch, for many years, going on to become a sous chef at Rioja and Chef de Cuisine at Bistro Vendome. It was in these roles that Dana learned what it was to truly run a kitchen.

In late 2012, Dana’s path crossed with Tony and Tabatha again (Tony and Dana had been friends for nearly fifteen years, since the days of Panzano), and Work & Class was born. In her role as owner and Executive Chef, Dana is excited about cooking food that reminds her of home—food that is close to her heart.

Matt Vawter

Matt Vawter was born and raised in Summit County, CO.  He recently returned to his former home in Breckenridge to open his own restaurant, Rootstalk, in December 2020.  Matt began his career cooking at the age of fourteen and graduated from the culinary apprenticeship program at Colorado Mountain College at nineteen years old. Post-graduation Matt remained in Summit County for several years working in local restaurants with a vision of elevating the culinary scene. After realizing he had learned all he could in the relatively small town of Breckenridge; Matt moved to Denver in 2008 and started working with Alex Seidel at the relatively new Fruition restaurant.  Matt cooked alongside and grew with Seidel at Fruition starting in the Garde Manger position eventually becoming the Chef de Cuisine. Together Vawter and Seidel opened Mercantile dining & provision as partners in Denver’s Union Station.  During Matt’s tenure with Fruition and Mercantile, he was recognized as Zagat’s 30 under 30, Star Chefs Rising Star, and Eater Young Guns.  In 2018, Matt was the chef de cuisine when Seidel won the James Beard Foundation Best Chef: South West.  Matt’s experience and the opportunities he was afforded during his time with Mercantile, Fruition, and Fruition Farms gave him the confidence to bring his family home to Breckenridge and grow new roots at Rootstalk.

Rootstalk is set in an 1890’s Victorian home on Breckenridge’s Main street serving elevated everyday dining.  Rootstalk focuses on serving approachable seasonal food, thoughtfully curated wine and beverage lists, and creative and fun libations. Matt and his team pride themselves on genuine hospitality as they welcome people into their home at Rootstalk.

Logan Sandoval

Founder and Chef, Logan Sandoval is originally from Simi Valley, California. He studied Philosophy and Theology while pursuing a professional career of mixed martial arts in his younger years, but quickly realized his passion lied within the culinary world. He is classically trained, earning both an Associates and Bachelor Degree through The Art Institute- Los Angeles.

While attending culinary school, he worked at the Michelin rated Providence in Los Angeles, California before being poached into the hospitality industry by Hyatt Hotels & Resorts.

Seeing his potential, the company put him on the fast track to become a Chef. After being molded through Corporate Management Training in Columbus, Ohio, he went on to take his first Sous Chef position in Louisville, Kentucky. Something that would stick with him for the rest of his career.

A self taught pit-boy (he refuses to be called a “Pitmaster”), Chef Logan started not only pit smoking meats at work, but also in the back yard of his tiny apartment in downtown Louisville. His daughter was born in 2016, and he and his family headed back to California to the small coastal town of Monterey as Chef Tournant.

After a short stint in Monterey and an even smaller stint in San Diego as Chef de Cuisine at the famous sushi restaurant Japengo, he found himself in Chicago, Illinois as the Evening Banquet Chef, pumping meals out that ranged anywhere from 500-4000. Chicago was not only a shock, but also immensely inspirational to the Chef. Not feeling creatively fed, he began to stage at Michelin Star restaurants around the city while also selling pit smoked meats with Hispanic, Middle Eastern and Pacific Island flare out of his backyard in the neighborhood of Ravenswood during Cubs games.

Logan then relocated from Chicago back to Monterey, California as the Executive Sous Chef at the Hyatt Regency Monterey Hotel and Spa. When the Covid-19 pandemic swept across the country and decimated the industry that raised him, he once again relocated to his hometown of Simi Valley and created ZEF BBQ out of hard work and dedication.

Jackie Chang

Jackie Chang spent her childhood in Taiwan and South Korea, eating black market Kraft Cheese Singles and participating in beauty pageants. She moved to the United States in 1982, landing in Boulder, Colorado in 1989.

When Jackie visited Haystack founder Jim Schott’s dairy on a school field trip with her daughter, she fell in love – with the goats. Soon, she was spending her days at the dairy, caring for the goats and working in the cheese room part-time. Jackie developed her taste for the craft and the trade of cheesemaking took bloom.
As Haystack’s head cheesemaker since 2004, Jackie has developed many of the most popular and award-winning varieties including: Cashmere and Green Chile Jack. Her creations win top awards year after year from The American Cheese Society, World Cheese Awards and the World Cheese Championship Contest.

Jackie awes the Haystack team with her boundless optimism, energy, and unrelenting passion for cheese. Jackie has taken accredited courses to increase her knowledge of cheesemaking and affinage including the Vermont Institute Affinage 2011, Academie Opus Caseus Affinage and Cheesemaking with Ivan Larcher in France during 2015.  Her significant contributions to the cheese industry were recognized with her induction into the Guilde Internationale des Fromagers in 2017.

When not tirelessly working long days over a milk vat or on the production line, Jackie loves cooking elaborate Taiwanese feasts, as well as practicing yoga, hiking, cycling, swimming, and drinking wine. She dreams of one day running a food truck specializing in traditional Asian snacks…with cheese of course.