It’s not a typical morning that Brian Wright is home to make breakfast for his wife and their 3-year-old daughter, Kennedy, and newborn son, Conner. But when he is around, a breakfast that ordinarily consists of Cheerios and milk is effortlessly elevated to crab cake eggs Benedict and fresh-squeezed orange juice. “It’s a treat for us to share a meal with him,” says Chef Wright’s wife, Kelly, a special education teacher. An average day for Chef Wright begins at about 6:30 a.m. and can last until the final dishwasher cleans his station and closes the door in one of 11 restaurants he oversees. As Rosebud Restaurant’s Corporate Chef, he has the responsibility of maintaining the culinary and quality control of eight restaurants in the city and an additional three suburban restaurants, as well as Rosebud’s commissary kitchen, which produces all the Italian sauces and house-made pastas Rosebud has become famous for throughout Chicago. Despite his ability to keep several balls in the air, Chef Wright remains humble, sharing the credit with the talented chefs at each Rosebud Restaurant location. “I am blessed to have such a wonderful support team. My goal is to aid each chef, and in turn they will help Rosebud shine,” he says.

Chef Wright is often described by his co-workers as an organized, dedicated and assertive leader, qualities that no doubt helped him land the job of Carmine’s Executive Chef at the tender age of 23. He proved himself by running the kitchen at Carmine’s for five successful years before being promoted to Corporate Chef of Rosebud Restaurants. Carmine’s remains one of Rosebud’s most popular restaurants, serving as many as 800 guests on an average Saturday night.

Chef Wright received formal training at Washburne Culinary Institute, where he earned the coveted Escoffier Award for Excellence. This honor recognizes the top culinary student who best exemplifies the spirit of the gastronomic master and demonstrates a strong enthusiasm for teamwork. Chef Wright’s passion for cooking stemmed from his relationship with his grandmother, who ran a bakery out of her home and taught him to cook at the age of 5. His passion for cooking matured as he finished high school and made the decision to enroll in culinary school. “When I graduated from high school in 1992, aspiring to be a chef was not a well-perceived career choice. My high school guidance counselor all but laughed at me, saying there were far better options than a career as a cook,” he says with a smile. Ironically, the same man is now one of Chef Wright’s biggest fans, attending most of his cooking classes and frequenting several Rosebud Restaurants.

Chef Wright’s latest venture with Rosebud is developing a new concept restaurant, which he hopes to eventually expand throughout the Chicagoland area. “My greatest challenge when creating a new restaurant is to maintain the level of excellence that customers have come to expect at any Rosebud location. I do my research, finding the highest-quality products to create each recipe. I meet with vendors daily to sample new olive oils, fresh cheeses and breads. It’s actually a lot of fun,” says Chef Wright. “Most times when you ask a chef about their ultimate goal, they will tell you it’s to open their own restaurant. I’m fortunate that Alex Dana [owner, Rosebud Restaurants] has given me the freedom to treat his restaurants as if they are my own.”

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Donald R. Miller has been employed at the University of Notre Dame for the past 22 years. Currently the Executive Chef of the Notre Dame Food Services, he had been Executive Chef at The Morris Inn, the University of Notre Dame’s Conference Center Hotel, for 17 of those years. Previously, he was a tenured culinary instructor for five years and has also held numerous positions with hotels, such as the corporate headquarters of Holiday Inns in Memphis, Tenn., the opening of Opryland Hotel in Nashville, Tenn., and the opening of Sandestin Resort in Destin, Fla., as well as resorts and country clubs around the nation, for a total of 40 years experience in the culinary and hospitality field. Chef Miller earned his degree from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, in 1976.

He has been an active member of the American Culinary Federation since 1982 and his local South Bend Chapter since 1987. He holds current ACF certifications as Certified Executive Chef, Certified Culinary Educator and Certified Culinary Judge. Chef Miller has been the recipient of 11 ACF gold medals and numerous silver and bronze medals, and also holds several awards from NICA ice carving competitions, including 2nd place National Champion 1985. In 1990, he was awarded ACF South Bend Chef of the Year, and in 1990, was honored with the ACF National President’s Recognition Award by then-President Keith Keogh and again honored with national recognition in 2007 by current National ACF President John Kinsella. In 1996, he was invited into the American Academy of Chefs, the National Chef’s honor society, and in 2009, was inducted into Les Amis d’ Escoffier Society of Chicago. He has held the offices of President and Secretary in the local ACF chapter, was also Certification Chair and currently is Apprenticeship Chair.

Chef Miller was named 2003 Chef of the Year for the central region of the American Culinary Federation (ACF) April 26, 2003, at the Westin Galleria in Houston, Texas, during the ACF Central Regional Conference and was a finalist for ACF National Chef in the same year.

He is co-founder of the American Culinary Federation South Bend Chapter Apprenticeship Program and was involved in producing the Apprenticeship Handbook adopted by the National Office and recommended for use by all ACF chapters.

Chef Miller has generously shared his time and skills with numerous local charity organizations, most notably, the American Heart Association, the South Bend Symphony, South Bend Civic Theatre, Fischoff, Ronald McDonald House, the Catholic high school’s annual Jubilee Dinner and other charitable events.

Jim Hoban’s diverse culinary career boasts a variety of successes: from Fine-Dining Executive Chef to Instructor; from General Manager to entrepreneur; from upscale caterer to his current role as an integral member of The Four Corners Tavern Group. Combining a thorough, grounded knowledge of the restaurant industry with his passion for the culinary arts, Chef Hoban oversees all aspects of restaurant operations for FCTG properties – including vender relations, menu creation, kitchen design and staffing.

Leaving a successful career in business to pursue his zeal for cooking, Chef Hoban graduated with honors from The Cooking and Hospitality Institute of Chicago in 1993. During his tenure as Executive Chef and General Manager of Bucktown’s Café Absinthe, he improved upon the eclectic restaurant’s already high ratings and grew business by 30 percent. As an entrepreneurial venture, he created a much sought-after in-home cooking class and upscale catering business. Profitable within its first year of business, the buzz surrounding “Chef Jim” earned him an appearance on the WGN Morning Show as well as inclusion in numerous articles, most notably a feature in The Chicago Tribune food section. Other contributions to the culinary world include teaching at the Calphalon Center, serving as an advisory board member of The Cooking and Hospitality Institute of Chicago and volunteering on the Chef Committee of Robert Morris College.

Chef Hoban joined FCTG in 2002 as Executive Chef of The Schoolyard Tavern and has been instrumental in the launch of The Gaslight Bar and Grill, The Brownstone Tavern, Sidebar Grill, Kirkwood Bar and Grill, and WestEnd Bar and Grill. He lives in Chicago with his wife and two children.

John Reed is a professional chef with more than 27 years experience. He is presently the owner of Customized Culinary Solutions, a culinary consulting firm that works with restaurant, catering and foodservice companies to provide the highest-quality food possible.

An active member of the ACF Windy City Professional Culinarians, Chef Reed is both a Certified Executive Chef and Certified Culinary Administrator. He has competed many times in culinary competitions around the country and was named the WCPC Chef of the Year for 2007. He is also a member of the Research Chefs Association and Foodservice Consultants Society International. He also participates in industry advisory boards and focus groups.

His work experience has taken him around the country, from Massachusetts, to Florida, to Chicago. He has worked internationally in Switzerland and England. He has worked in premier hotel companies such as The Four Seasons and Swissôtel, multi-unit and privately owned restaurants and most recently Food For Thought in Lincolnwood, Illinois, where he spent nine years as both Executive Chef of Catering and Divisional Executive Chef of the Foodservice Management Division.

Chef Reed is also an active Culinary Educator with five years experience at Johnson & Wales University in North Miami, Florida. and presently an adjunct faculty member in the Hospitality Department at the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, Illinois.

Recently Chef Reed spent time with the Navy’s Adopt-a-Ship Program, supporting the culinary divisions on board both the USS Stethem (DDG-63) and USS Fitzgerald (DDG-62) off the coast of Japan while both ships were in active forward deployment.

He is a family man with two young chefs in the making at home. His wife Rosemary is also a trained chef. His passions include charcuterie, gardening, golfing and collecting cookbooks.

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For Kristine Subido, Executive Chef at WAVE, the key to cultivating a productive and energetic kitchen is all in the family. The Subido clan was a community of ardent food lovers, a unit that instilled early on the pleasures of sharing and interacting with food. Calling upon those early lessons, Chef Subido has lent a sense of intimacy to each kitchen she has encountered as she worked toward success in a rarefied and male-dominated industry.

Chef Subido considered a career in professional dance before yielding to the allure of the culinary world. Piqued by the culture surrounding Mediterranean food after a stint at a local Israeli/Moroccan restaurant, she headed to Israel, where she mixed with a cast of young Kibbutz workers and Yemenites – all would serve as the early inspiration for her work at WAVE. Her formal culinary education began at Kendall College in Evanston, Illinois. Mastering the necessary foundations, she sought out a mentor. She found one in Steve Chiapetti, the reknowned Chicago-area chef. Under Chiapetti’s tutelage, Chef Subido moved through Garde Manger to fish and meat stations during her nine-month externship at his Chicago eatery, Costa d’Oro.

After her graduation in 1993, Chef Subido worked the line at Spiaggia, where she absorbed the nuances of Italian food. She then joined Chiapetti again, this time at the newly opened Mango where she was ultimately named Sous Chef. Her next post at the European-inspired eatery Rhapsody would further prepare her for her next challenge as Chiapetti’s sole assistant for his two bids to win the international Bocuse d’Or. She was part of the team that earned a 7th-place finish at the Lyon, France, competition.

The experience prompted Chef Subido to stay in Lyon to stage at Le Sud, Paul Bocuse’s North African eatery. She became quickly accustomed to the challenges of working in a predominantly French kitchen and further developed her affection for the savory tagines and flaky b’steeya that populate North African cuisine. She brought her newly sharpened skills back to Chicago, first as Chef de Cuisine at a Tunisian and Moroccan restaurant, Grapes, and later at Chiapetti’s celebrated modern French eatery, Mossant. She stayed on for a year and a half before beginning talks with Cornerstone Management. Eager to begin work with the company, she accepted a position as Banquet Chef and was quickly promoted, first to Executive Sous Chef and later to Executive Chef.

Committed to stimulating an environment of education and comfort within the WAVE kitchen, Chef Subido has implemented a number of activities that call upon the individual skills of her team. She introduced a weekly culinary competition that gives the winner the opportunity to have a featured special – an activity that not only encourages a sense of ownership among her cooks, but also gives her the chance to observe and respond to the unique abilities of her staff. When not in the kitchen, Chef Subido is focused on sharing her unique knowledge with her 4-year-old son, Kamlin. “It’s so fun for me to watch his taste buds develop,” she says.

Succeeding in the restaurant industry has been a welcome challenge for Chef Subido, whose contributions to WAVE have earned the restaurant the 2008 Rising Star Chef Award and accolades from critics and diners alike. “Everything I serve has a lot of flavor and a lot of integrity,” she says. “For me, that’s what it’s always been about.”

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Peter Sexton attended one of the top culinary schools in Europe, The Rockwell Hotel School in County Tipperary, Ireland. After receiving his City & Guilds of London Certificate as a Chef, he continued his education as an apprentice in some of the top hotels in Ireland, as well as a six-month apprenticeship in Switzerland.

In 1987, Chef Sexton immigrated to the United States to work for The Hilton Corporation in Chicago. There he facilitated the opening of Kitty O’ Shea’s. While at The Hilton, he also worked in Buckingham’s, a 4-star fine-dining restaurant.

Chef Sexton was hired as Executive Chef at The Executive House Hotel in 1989 and worked there for two years. He wished to return to freestanding restaurants, rather than hotels, so he joined Trattoria #10 as a Sous Chef and was later promoted to Executive Chef. There, the company, which owned Trattoria #10, applied his managerial and culinary skills to open up a new concept of fast, upscale casual restaurants. He opened the first Sopraffina Marketcaffè and in the last 15 years with the company has opened and established five very successful Sopraffinas in the Downtown Chicago area. Currently, he is a Chef and General Manager of the original Sopraffina at 10 North Dearborn in Chicago.

Jill Van Cleave’s culinary career began in 1973 as an Apprentice Chef – and first woman – in the kitchen of Maxim’s de Paris in Chicago, at that time the only branch of the world-famous restaurant.

She honed her craft by cooking in restaurants in Florida and New York City and serving as Charcuterie Chef for a Chicago gourmet food and wine shop. She became Test Kitchen Chef for public relations firms in Chicago and New York. In this role, she developed recipes for clients, became skilled at food styling for photography and appeared on radio and television during media tours.

In 1986, Chef Van Cleave formed her own consulting business and began advising restaurant and food manufacturers on updating or introducing prepared fresh foods. She accomplished this by providing clients with recipes, product information and advice on quality control and food presentation.

Chef Van Cleave is the author of Icing the Cake (Contemporary Books, 1990), Big, Soft, Chewy Cookies (Contemporary Books, 2003-1995-1991) and The Neighborhood Bakeshop (William Morrow, 1997).