Patch Picks: Top Chefs

If food television has you craving something spectacular, know that fine dining is around the corner.  Close your own kitchen and tickle your taste buds with a meal or snack prepared by one of these top chefs.

George Bumbaris and Sarah Stegner, “I really admire their commitment to local sources and super fresh ingredients,” says local cookbook author Heather Lalley, who studied at both Northwestern University and Chicago’s Washburne Culinary Institute. Bumbaris and Stegner work with mushroom grower River Valley Ranch in Burlington, WI, to supply the Northbrook restaurant. Lalley wrote about the chefs’ willingness to work hard and maybe pay a little extra to keep their menu fresh in her recent release, The Chicago Homegrown Cookbook.

Steve Skinner, Now executive chef, Skinner has been a part-timer in Viking’s Glenview classrooms for three years. He graduated from Kendall College and worked in Minnesota and Chicago kitchens (including Twin Orchard Country Club, Maggiano’s Old Orchard, and Wolfgang Puck’s Grand Café) before landing in Glenview. Here, Skinner said, he’s excited about teaching enthusiastic students all the tips and techniques he’s learned from his colleagues over the years.

Ric Munoz and Juan Luis Gonzalez, Mago Grill
Skinner says the short drive to Arlington Heights is worth it for the Mexican-Latin fare at this restaurant. Munoz is a former colleague whose work always impressed Skinner, and Gonzalez once catered a party at Skinner’s home—is there a higher complement among chefs? In particular, Skinner said to try the mole at Mago.

Martha Sutton, Sutton learned to cook with her family before her formal training in Paris and with some of Chicago’s finest chefs, including local favorite . But as executive pastry chef at this Waukegan Road favorite, . Sutton’s favorite dessert is chocolate pudding; find your own crave-worthy treat at the bakery.

Bonnie Brock, When Sutton thinks of local chefs, she thinks of chef/owner Brock’s passion for food. “She’s working all the time,” Sutton said. There’s the baking for the restaurant, the business of the restaurant, and also her booth at the . Brock said she also facilitates the 90-member culinary book club and sings at the restaurant’s Opera Night.  She learned to cook from her family, and most enjoys making cream pies (coconut, chocolate and banana) the way her Italian grandmother did: cooking down the milk and tempering the eggs. “No instant pudding,” Brock said with mild distaste.