Culinary Expertise

Jamie Samford
Vice President of Product Development
and Corporate Chef

Jamie Samford
Vice President of Product Development and Corporate Chef

• 19-plus years’ experience in the food and hospitality industries
• 3 year chef apprenticeship sanctioned by the Culinary Program of El Centro College, Texas Chefs Association and American Culinary Federation at the Double Tree Hotel Lincoln Center in 1988 – 91
• Stints with Baby Routh under the tutelage of Stephan Pyles and Kevin Rathbun, Dean Fearing at The Mansion on Turtle Creek, Bristol Hotels & Resorts as Executive Chef and F&B Director, Executive Sous Chef at Rosewood’s Hotel Crescent Court, Chef de Cuisine for Clark McDaniel at Angeluna in Fort Worth, opening Chef for Lola, The Restaurant
• Lola was recognized as one of the “Top 10 New Restaurants” in Dallas, a four-star restaurant by The Dallas Morning News and well reviewed by Texas Monthly, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, and The Dallas Observer
• Opened Central Market’s Dallas location as Executive Chef, where he led an 80-member culinary team in preparing restaurant-quality food, developed recipes and was an expert commentator for television and print news reports 
• Published in Food and Wine, Southern Living, Dallas Morning News and Ft. Worth Star Telegram, among others.

Mark Ecton
Sales Manager, Austin/San Antonio

Mark Ecton
Sales Manager, Austin/San Antonio

• Graduate of the San Diego Culinary Arts Academy
• Personal chef to an admiral in the U. S. Navy and a Captain for the Western fleet in Seattle
• Chef to President Bill Clinton at Camp David for eight years where he served Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian Leader Yasser Arafat  as well as director Stephen Spielberg, actors Tom Hanks and Matt Damon, during a special screening of Saving Private Ryan.
• Executive Sous Chef at the premier resort The Cloister at Sea Island, Georgia

Michael Pearce
Sales Representative, Austin/San Antonio

Michael Pearce
Sales Representative, Austin/San Antonio

• A graduate of the acclaimed Texas Culinary Academy
• Worked under the tutelage of renowned Executive Chef David Bull at the historic Driskill Hotel’s 1886 Café
• Mike was executive chef at Hill Manor in Fredericksburg, a sophisticated and luxurious restaurant set against the beauty of the Texas Hill Country
• Published in Bon Appetit and Bride’s Magazine

Stephen Bourgeois
Sales Representative, Houston

Stephen Bourgeois
Sales Representative, Houston

• Graduated from the prestigious Culinary Arts Institute of Louisiana in Baton Rouge
• Lead grand opening culinary teams for major industry leaders Sullivan’s Steakhouse and Chicago’s Steakhouse
• The Four Seasons Hotel in Houston recruited Stephen to serve as Sous Chef
• Served five-star meals to heads of state, presidents, princes, kings and other world leaders.  He had the honor of cooking for President Bill Clinton in 2001 at the Four Seasons, and under his tenure the hotel was listed as “number one” hotel in Zagat for four years
• Aramark recruited Chef Bourgeois as Executive Sous Chef at Reliant Stadium in Houston.  Stephen helped lead the culinary team for the grand opening of this 70,000-seat facility
• Hosted events such as the Super Bowl in 2004, as well as the 2003 World Series, 2002 Women’s World Cup Soccer and the Major League Baseball All-star Weekend in July 2004 
• Hosted President George Bush for his 81st Birthday party, at which President George W. Bush was a guest as well

Steve Stumpf
Sales Manager, Dallas/Ft. Worth

Steve Stumpf,
Sales Manager, Dallas/Fort Worth

• 30-year career in the food business
• Studied at the University of Houston
• International and national restaurant and importing experience from Munich to France, California, Colorado, Ohio and Texas

Jose Vargas
Sales Representative, Dallas

Jose Vargas
Sales Representative, Dallas

• 10+ years in the Food and restaurant industry
• Sous Chef for Bristol Hotels and Resorts, Star Canyon and star chef Stephen Pyles
• Executive Sous Chef for Dallas Central Market and Executive Chef for Central Market, Fort Worth
• Worked with Doug Brown at Amuse

Gary Grady,
Vice President of Sales and Marketing

• Certified Culinary Professional; trained at the prestigious Culinary Institute of America in New York
• 33 years of experience serving the fine dining, retail and food service business, with particular emphasis on protein
• Over 20 years with Cargill Meat Solutions directing wholesale programs for center-of the-plate purveyors and distributors for the food service segment and retail programs for many grocery chains around the country
• Initiated and conducted training initiatives and marketing campaigns for Cargill meat brands throughout the Southwest

Mark Tilley,
Key Accounts Specialist

• Graduated from the University of Texas- Arlington in 1989 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Communication (Radio/TV Performance)
• Started in the restaurant business in front of house management with Harrigan’s in 1991 followed by Tony Roma’s
• Has been selling proteins  since 1995
• Works with Ben E. Keith houses in 4 states providing Winn Meat products to their customers
• Has published several culinary articles in various publications
• Works closely with the Texas Chef’s Association in both Dallas and Fort Worth
• Voted Purveyor of the Year by the Texas Chefs Association for 2007
• Is on the Advisory Board of two Culinary Schools in the D/FW area (Tarrant County College and AIMS Academy)