Sunday, October 24 – Sunday Suppers - 11:00am – 3:00pm
Free with Food Show Admission

A commitment to local food of the highest quality is a value shared by these top chefs from the Bluegrass Region. Over a series of four, 45 minute segments, each will inspire you with an innovative cooking presentation that features a progressive "Sunday Supper" menu incorporating locally grown, seasonal ingredients. All of these regional chefs were invited to Rupp's Sunday stage because of their commitment to supporting local farmers and food purveyors. They go above and beyond to find ingredients that are local and in season. Their wonderful meals are a testimony to the farmers they work with and quality of food we can all find at our local farmers' markets.

Thank you for coming out to Sunday Suppers! Click here for the recipes!
Click here to see video of each Sunday Supper show!

Sunday, October 24
11:00am	Allyson Buchta and Brad Mitchell Governors' Mansion Chefs
12:00pm	Edward Lee Chef/Owner of 610 Magnolia in Louisville
1:00pm	Ouita Michel Chef/Owner of Holly Hill Inn in Midway
2:00pm	Brigitte Nguyen Chef and TV Cooking Host

About the Chefs

Allyson Buchta
Born in Kentucky, Allyson Buchta was originally a dancer, not a pastry chef. Inevitably, she exchanged her ballerina slippers for chef clogs, turning her passion into profession at San Francisco's California Culinary Academy. Previously, Allyson flourished with John Ash's inspiration as pastry chef for John Ash and Co. in Northern California's Somona County and executive pastry chef and owner Phil's Cookshop on Romany. Currently she is the Chef for the Governor and the first family at the Executive Mansion in Frankfort Ky. Allyson has fine tuned her skills, at the Mansion making her newest position the most challenging and unique thus far. When Allyson is not contributing to bluegrass waistlines, she enjoys spending time with her husband and three Samoyeds.

Edward Lee
Edward Lee hoped someday to be the proprietor of a restaurant with the reputation of 610 Magnolia. It never occurred to him that it could happen when he was 31.

The New York City native began working in restaurants at 14, cooking in several restaurants in the newly built Trump Tower on 5th Ave. He graduated magna cum laude in literature from New York University but returned to the culinary world after a brief stint in publishing.

Lee trained with famed New York chef Frank Crispo and worked at several smaller New York restaurants. In 1998 he opened Clay, an Asian- inspired restaurant that prospered for five years in the NoLiTa section of Manhattan. Lee took a break from Clay in 2001 to travel throughout Europe and cook under the continent's finest chefs. When he returned to the U.S., he finished his education by visiting some of this country's legendary restaurants, including Napa Valley's French Laundry, Ryland Inn in New Jersey and Galileo in Washington D.C. His goal was to learn how the great cuisines of Europe were interpreted in the U.S.

Lee learned about 610 Magnolia when a customer at Clay told him about Ed Garber. Lee visited during Derby Week 2001 and returned in March 2003 to study under Garber for several months. Garber's approach mirrored Lee's involvement in the farm-to-table agricultural movement. And Lee was impressed with Kentucky's rich array of growers. Ultimately, Lee decided 610 Magnolia would be the perfect place to continue his culinary mission: cooking a New American cuisine globally influenced but utilizing local organic products.

Along with business partner Brook Smith, Lee is chef/proprietor of 610 Magnolia. He continues to travel worldwide in search of restaurants that raise the bar on fine cuisine.

Ouita Michel
Chef Ouita and her husband, Chris, own and operate the historic and critically acclaimed Holly Hill Inn in Midway, Ky., in the heart of Americaʼs Bluegrass horse country. Ouitaʼs cuisine is community farm-based, featuring imaginative dishes that pay tribute to the richness of traditional Kentucky cooking as well as a continental and modern style for elegant entertaining. The Michels also own the popular Wallace Station Deli and Bakery just outside Midway.

In 2009, Brown-Forman Corp. named Chef Ouita Michel as chef-in- residence for its Woodford Reserve Distillery outside Versailles, Ky. As Woodford Reserveʼs chef-in-residence, Ouita is the spokeswoman for the distilleryʼs culinary endeavors. Along with creating menus especially for Woodford Reserve events and private parties, Ouita initiated a calendar of special lunches, dinners and demonstrations at the distillery.

Ouita has won acclaim in radio, television and print, including The New York Times, which wrote of the Holly Hill Inn as "a gem of a restaurant." She also has appeared in publications such as Bon Appetit, Food & Wine, Wine Spectator, Southern Living and on Martha Stewart Living Radio. Ouita was nominated for a James Beard Foundation Award in 2010 for the third year in a row, as Best Chef in the Southeast, competing against chefs in major metropolitan areas. Southern Living featured her in its May 2009 issueʼs Southern Chef Salute. Ouita was chosen to present an all-Kentucky feast at the James Beard House in New York City in 2004 and will return to prepare another dinner in March 2010. A former Madeleine Kamman scholar, Ouita was named one of "Forty Under Forty New Leaders for a New Millennium" in the state of Kentucky by the Shakertown Round Table. She has served as a Celebrated Chef for the National Pork Board and is a Chef Ambassador for the American Egg Board.

Active in her community as well, Ouita is a member of Slow Food Bluegrass and is a founder of Franciscoʼs Farm, an annual fine art and craft fair that draws thousands to the beautiful Midway College campus each June.

After earning a bachelorʼs degree, Ouita moved to New York and worked in several restaurants before enrolling in the Culinary Institute of America. She graduated with honors as valedictorian of her class. There she met her husband, Chris, also an aspiring chef. After Ouita returned to Lexington with Chris, she worked as a chef and manager for several restaurants. During a magazine interview in 2000, the writer mentioned that he was familiar with the Holly Hill Inn; unknown to Ouita, it was his familyʼs homestead. Ouita said she loved the inn and would like to own it one day. Having just heard from his father that it was time to sell the inn, the writer knew he'd found the next owner. Ouita and Chris moved quickly to purchase the inn that year, and have been proud keepers of its longstanding tradition as a hospitable gathering place in the nine years since. They and their daughter, Willa, live in a 200-year-old log cabin adjacent to Holly Hill Inn.

Brad Mitchell
After graduating from high school in 1986 in Louisville where he grew up, Chef Brad Mitchell attended the University of Kentucky before transferring to Sullivan College in 1989. Brad studied culinary arts and restaurant management while working under Chef Anoosh Shariat at a local fine dining restaurant, Remington's of Louisville.

After earning his degree in 1991, Brad worked for Phil Dunn's Catering Company on Old Vine Street and Romany Road in Lexington before it closed in 2002. While working with Phil Dunn, Chef Brad catered for many of Central Kentucky's horse farms and local businesses as well as many private residences.

Chef Brad worked briefly with Chef Michael Stoddart, owner of Seasons Catering, in Lexington before going to work for Governor and Mrs. Fletcher at the end of 2003 as Executive Chef of the Governor's Mansion in Frankfort. He has continued to work for Governor and Mrs. Beshear and enjoys serving them, their guests and the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

Brad lives in Versailles with his wife Debra, two sons Addison and Aaron, and his mother-in-law Patricia Watson.

Brigitte Nguyen
Growing up in a Vietnamese household, Brigitte Nguyen's warmest and most memorable experiences were built around meals. "Food is my mom's greatest passion and it has always been her way of bringing together family and showing us that she loves us," she explains. It's no wonder that food was an early love in Brigitte's life, whether she was baking with friends, watching PBS cooking shows, or exploring the local farmer's market.

After earning her bachelor's degree in Economics-Accounting and Spanish Literature from Claremont McKenna College, Brigitte spent 3 years working as a financial statement auditor. Her love of food continued to gnaw at her until she quit her job, moved across the country, and enrolled in culinary school. During the next 18 months, she finished her associate's degree in Culinary Arts from Sullivan University, worked as an assistant pastry chef at a country club, and completed an externship under one of Central Kentucky's most celebrated chefs.

As she continued to hone her culinary career path, Brigitte would compete and finish as runner-up in two national cooking contests, Sutter Home's Build a Better Burger and the Food Network's Ultimate Recipe Showdown. The third time proved to be a charm when she took home the $50,000 grand prize in the National Chicken Council's biennial cooking contest. Brigitte has also worked in the acclaimed USA Houses for both the Summer Olympic Games in Beijing and the Winter Games in Vancouver. This year, she appeared for the second time on the Ultimate Recipe Showdown. Brigitte currently works as a prep cook and baker, caters and teaches private cooking classes, and hosts a weekly cooking segment on the local news.