2019 Epicurea Chefs

Executive Chef Rhiannon Evans

Executive Chef Rhiannon Evans joins us from historic Quaker Ridge Golf Club in Scarsdale, New York. She grew up in Nottingham, England, where she gained her Bachelor's of Arts degree in Business and Hospitality Management.

During her studies she came to America on a culinary internship and has continued to

delight culinary guests:

Chef Rhiannon's career has included:

Sous Chef at Elmwood Country Club, White Plains, NY
Executive Sous Chef at Tamarack Country Club, Greenwich, CT

Chef Evans became Executive Chef at Quaker Ridge Golf Club in 2013 after a successful period working as Sous Chef at the club. Chef Evans enjoys cooking with seasonal ingredients, putting new twists on classic recipes and keeping things simple so that the food may speak for itself.

Executive Chef Kevin Furmanek

Executive Chef Kevin Furmanek joins us from The Cliffs at Mountain Park, South Carolina. Chef Furmanek's extensive culinary career began by studying with a classically trained French Chef in New Jersey, sparking a life long passion for food. A graduate of the Culinary Arts Program

at Johnson and Wales University, he has worked at locations such as the popular Kirkbrae Country Club in Rhode Island.

Chef Kevin's career highlights include:

Working with James Beard award-winning Chef Neatth Pal at Neatth’s New American Bistro.
Winning numerous “Best In RI” accolades.
Winning Golf Digest's "Golden Fork Award"
Winning first place in the Upstate SC - Western NC Regional Competing Dining Series

Chef Furmanek tends his own organic garden, cares for his own bees and enjoys freshwater fishing and picking wild mushrooms.

Exec. Sous Chef Manuel Gonzalez

Executive Sous Chef Manuel Gonzalez joins us from the Reef by CuisinArt where he is Executive Sous Chef. He began his career at Academia de Cocina Verde Oliva in Bogotá, Colombia, in 2007. He completed his education at Escuela Superior de Hosteleria Sevilla in Spain before joining Grupo Lezama as Chef De Cuisine. He advanced on to Sous Chef at the company's flagship restaurant in Madrid, Spain.

Chef Manuel's career achievements include:

1st - The National Championship of Cooks in Bogota, Colombia
3rd - Americas Cup 2009 Orlando, FL
Chef de Cuisine, The Spanish National Church of “Santiago and Montserrat” Rome, Italy and also worked in the Vatican City.
Worked at Michelin Star Martin Berasategui in San Sebastian, Spain and also worked with Michelin Star Chef Hemant Mathur in New York
Chef De Cuisine, Clarion Collection Hotel "Arvidsjaur", Sweden

Chef Gonzalez's concept of gastronomy is based in Latin American flavors mixed with Mediterranean influences and presented as an original avant-garde cuisine always created with the freshest products.

Executive Chef Alex Lee

Executive Chef Alex Lee learned about fresh ingredients and balancing flavors from his Cantonese grandmother. He then learned about classical French cooking from celebrated

Chef Daniel Boulud. A native of Long Island,

Chef Lee's career highlights include:

Executive Chef at Alpine Country Club in New Jersey.
Formerly executive chef at the Glen Oaks Club in Old Westbury, NY for 10 years
Studied under Chef Boulud at Le Cirque and joined the opening team for Boulud's Restaurant Daniel in 1992
Executive Chef at Daniel when the restaurant earned a four-star review from The New York Times
Twice nominated for a James Beard Foundation Award as Best Chef: New York City

Chef Lee enjoys growing his own garden and enjoys creating new twists on classic delicious meals favored by his members.

Executive Chef Tony Pope

Executive Chef Tony Pope, originally from Huntington, West Virginia, is the Executive Chef of the Dormie Network. He laid down his culinary roots in Charleston, South Carolina after graduating from Johnson and Wales University. Chef Pope trained under world renowned chefs including Michele Richard and Susan Spicer

before returning to the Low Country,

where he currently resides.

Chef Tony's career highlights include:

Executive Chef of the Dormie Network
Chef de cuisine Hanks Seafood, Best New Restaurant in Esquire Magazine
Executive Sous Chef of The Greenbrier Hotel in West Virginia
Chef de Cuisine at Bayonna Restaurant in New Orleans
Executive Chef at the Buckhead Diner in Atlanta, Georgia
Executive Chef at Chechessee Creek Club

In his spare time, Chef Pope enjoys traveling the world and furthering his culinary knowledge by immersing himself in different cultures.

Executive Chef Anthony Rabeni

Executive Chef Anthony Rabeni joins us from the Vineyard Golf Club on Martha’s Vineyard, beginning as Sous Chef and builting a prestigious career over the past 16 years. Known as the most organic and environmentally-sensitive golf club in the world, Chef Rabeni and his team's dining room enjoys a well-deserved reputation as one of the finest restaurants on Martha’s Vineyard. Executive Chef Rabeni knew at an early age that he wanted to study the culinary arts.

Chef Anthony's career highlights include:

Augusta National Golf Club Chef Team Member for the 2019 Masters Golf Tournament
Degree in Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Management, University of Delaware
Degree from the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in Hyde Park, New York.
Continuous engagement in new culinary classes from CIA’s Hyde Park and Greystone campuses.
Team member at the Eastward Ho Country Club in Harwich, MA, and also at the Ritz Carlton in Tysons Corner, VA

Chef Rabeni and his family enjoy year-round island living on Martha’s Vineyard. He enjoys fishing the waters of the Vineyard and the game of golf.

Marchesi Antinori Wines

Marchesi Antinori Wines is and exceptional partner for Epicurea

providing delicious vintages for our culinary event. Master wine craftsmen pair Antinori vintages with each celebrity-chef dining experience during Epicurea.

Marchesi Antinori’s passion for viticulture is expressed through perseverance and their continuous pursuit for quality improvement even in the smallest details. Research and development are ongoing processes both in the vineyards and in the cellars.

The family’s heritage lies in their estates in Tuscany and Umbria, though over the 650 years of this business, the family has carefully invested in many other locations both in Italy and abroad that are well known for producing high quality grapes.

The Antinori family has remained committed to the art of wine-making for over six centuries (since 1385 when Giovanni di Piero Antinori became a member, of the “Arte Fiorentina dei Vinattieri”, the Florentine Winemakers’ Guild). All throughout its 26 generations of wine-making, the Antinori family has driven this business through innovative and sometimes bold management decisions while upholding the utmost respect for

it's traditions and the environment.

Past Epicurea Chefs 2018

Executive Chef Derrick Roberts

Chef Derrick Roberts joins us from Westchester Country Club in the Metropolitan Golf section. He is a graduate of The French Culinary Institute in New York City, Thailand’s Baan Thai Cookery School and Somphon Cooking School. Chef Robert’s professional journey began as a line cook at Tribeca Grill in New York City, and from there he honed his skills in kitchens across the globe in countries such as Sweden, Turks and Caicos, Denmark, St. Thomas in the USVI, Hawaii and most recently in the US in:

Florida ~ Chef de Cuisine of StripSteak restaurant in Miami
New York ~ Chef de Cuisine of Marriott Marquis Times Square

Executive Chef Carolyn Flinn

Executive Chef Carolyn Flinn joins us from Canoe Brook Country Club in Summit, New Jersey, Her exceptional culinary career has been perfected in some of the top kitchens in the world beginning in the Hotel Greenbrier in W. Virginia and then, under the tutelage of Chef Christian Albin and Seppi Rengilli, completing the Four Season’s formal apprenticeship program. Chef Carolyn took her career international at the five-star Hotel Scwheizerhof in Bern, Switzerland and then went on to study epicurean culture in Italy, France and Austria. Her career highlights have also included:

A 10 year tenure at Restaurant Associates
Managing the private dining room of the Time Life Building (NY)
Managing all food aspects of The Hemisphere Club and the world-class Sea Grill at Rockefeller Plaza
Designing and creating Authur's Landing Restaurant in NJ
Opening the state-of-the-art Trustees Dining Room at The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Serving as Executive Chef of the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC
Serving as Executive Chef at Deal Golf & Country Club

Chef Carolyn's talents have long been recognized by country club

members in The Met Section. She was a featured chef in

the Taste of the Met section of the Met Golfer Magazine

in the June/July 2015 issue.

Master Chef Christophe Muller

Chef Christophe Muller, protégé extraordinaire of “Chef of the Century” Paul Bocuse, has been at the forefront of French cuisine for more than 20 years.

Before joining Bocuse at L’Auberge du Pont de Collonges in Lyon, he trained under Yan Jacquot at Michelin-starred Taillevent and Le Toit de Passy in Paris.

Chef Muller was presented with Meilleur Ouvrier de France by the president of the Republic in 2000.

Executive Chef Philippe Lusseau

Chef Philippe Lusseau emerged as the most promising pastry chef in France in 1989 and has continued to bring his focus and passion of healthy diets, organic cooking, baking, ice cream and chocolate making to the industry.

Studied with top French chefs Alain Ducasse and Paul Bocuse
Manager of culinary research in the European Region for Cuisinart.

Executive Chef Vincent Russo

Chef Vincent Russo joins us from the Roaring Fork Club in Colorado. He possesses extensive experience in hotels, resorts, country clubs and free-standing restaurants. He is well versed in classical, fusion, eclectic and exotic cuisine. His amazing background includes early education in the heart of New York making pizza during his formative years and then graduating from the New York Culinary School. He continued his master of gastronomy journey at:

The Ritz-Carlton Hotel St. Thomas as Executive Chef
The Ritz-Carlton Hotel New Orleans as Executive Chef
Omni Severin in Indianapolis as Executive Chef