Acquire

Chef's Corner

Charlie Palmer, Charlie Palmer Group

Over the years, Chef Palmer and his incredible staff have become great friends of ours.  He surrounds himself with a tremendously talented team of individuals to represent and carry out his vision at each of his fourteen restaurants around the country.  One of our favorites is our local Dry Creek Kitchen, which he opened in 2001 in Hotel Healdsburg, bordering the historic town square of Healdsburg.  We are honored to have him and his staff partner with us in our annual Pinot Retreat.  His Dry Creek Kitchen Chef de Cuisine, Dustin Valette has produced a savory recipe to pair with your favorite Kosta Browne Pinot Noir.  

Charlie Palmer

Since the beginning of his celebrated career, master Chef and hospitality entrepreneur Charlie Palmer has received critical acclaim for his signature Progressive American Cooking, a style built on rambunctious flavors and unexpected combinations with a deep and lasting infusion of classical French cuisine. Influenced by his childhood experiences working in his family's vegetable garden, Chef Palmer was an early advocate of farm over factory food.

Born and raised in upstate New York and classically trained at the Culinary Institute of America, Charlie Palmer first burst onto the New York dining scene in the mid-eighties when he was named executive chef at The River Café. He soon earned a prestigious three stars from The New York Times. It was also at The River Café where he hired, trained and inspired a legion of young cooks who have gone on to become some of America's leading chefs, from Diane Forley of Verbena in New York to Michael Mina of Aqua in San Francisco.

Over the years, Chef Palmer combined his creative cooking spirit and flair for business to open thirteen notable restaurants across the country, a growing collection of food-forward wine shops, and award-winning boutique hotels. But even today, the chef still steps in the kitchen with reinvention on his mind. "Without a doubt, people eat with their eye long before they put fork to food, so I continue to look for a playful yet respectful way to create excitement on the plate."

A frequent guest on NBC's Today Show, Charlie Palmer is also the author of four cookbooks, Great American Food, Charlie Palmer's Casual Cooking, The Art of Aureole, and Charlie Palmer's Practical Guide to the New American Kitchen. To learn more about Charlie and his restaurants, please visit www.charliepalmer.com.  When not busy with the demands of his restaurants, Charlie calls Sonoma County his home, along with his wife and two young boys.

Dustin Valette

Dustin Valette began his culinary career at Chateau Souverain, a Francis Ford Coppola Estate in Geyserville, California where he apprenticed under Executive Chef Martin Courtman.  Now, more than 15 years later, Valette finds himself back in Northern California’s wine country as chef de cuisine at Charlie Palmer’s Dry Creek Kitchen.

Valette honed his craft in some of the most celebrated restaurants on the West Coast, including the Michelin-starred Aqua in San Francisco and Napa Valley’s Bouchon.  Additional credits include Hokus at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Honolulu, a five-star, five-diamond property; the exclusive North Ranch Country Club in Westlake Village, California, and VOX Restaurant & Wine Lounge in Henderson, Nevada where he served as Executive Chef.

At Dry Creek Kitchen, Valette draws on the strong relationships he cultivated with local farmers and purveyors in order to provide the restaurant with the area’s freshest and most exceptional ingredients.  Originally from Sonoma County, Valette is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York.  He currently resides in downtown Healdsburg a block and a half away from the restaurant.

Fun Fact: During the summer months Chef Valette travels to the Healdsburg Farmer’s market and carries back the bounty of local produce in a classic Red Flyer wagon.  Dustin Valette is also an avid home winemaker of classic Bordeaux varietals, which he hand harvests from his uncle’s vineyard in Alexander Valley, though he will proclaim he is a better chef than winemaker.

Liberty Farms Sonoma Duck Duo

Riz Rouge, Pickled Dried Cherries, Toasted Almonds, Crispy Confit ‘Salad’

Charlie and Dustin created a special recipe to pair with your favorite Kosta Browne Pinot Noir. Please click here to download the recipe (PDF).