Akira Back

Executive Chef, Yellowtail Japanese Restaurant and Lounge at the Bellagio Las Vegas

A Korean native and former professional snowboarder who was raised in Colorado, Chef Akira Back brings his sense of adventure and boundless creativity into the kitchen at Yellowtail, which opened in summer 2008 at Las Vegas’ Bellagio Resort & Casino. Back’s menu embodies classic Japanese cuisine, which features innovative creativity utilizing fresh ingredients from the world’s top purveyors. As a result, Chef Back was awarded the title of “Rising Star” by Restaurant Hospitality in October 2008. In addition, he had the distinguished honor of hosting a multi-course dinner at the prestigious James Beard House in December 2008 and March 2010.

Back spent his early years as a professional snowboarder, showing off his talents in extreme movies and garnering praise by industry magazines like Snowboarder and Transworld. To supplement his income, Back started cooking in local Aspen restaurants to earn extra cash. He soon realized that the adventure and thrill he experienced on the slopes also existed in the kitchen. After seven years on the professional snowboarding circuit, Back decided to pursue a full-time culinary career.

After graduating from The International Culinary Schools at The Art Institutes in Colorado, Back began his epicurean adventure in earnest in 1993 at Kenichi in Aspen. He was later recruited to expand Kenichi in Austin, Texas, followed by Kenichi in Kona, Hawaii.

Back’s love of travel and culinary exploration took him to Japan and throughout Europe, where he trained under the leading master chefs, including Masaharu Morimoto and Brian Nagao, and learned the value of using rare and exotic ingredients. In 2003, Back returned to Aspen and was hired as the Executive Chef of Nobu Matsuhisa’s namesake restaurant.

In 2008, Back appeared on an episode of the Food Network’s Iron Chef America and battled Iron Chef Bobby Flay. He is spokesperson for third generation Japanese knife company Suisin knives. Furthermore, he was featured on a prime time commercial for The International Culinary Schools at The Art Institutes in 2008 on the Food Network.

photo by J. Katy Vawter

Joanne Chang

Pastry Chef/Owner of Flour Bakery and Meyers & Chang

Fort Point Channel 12 Farnsworth St., Boston MA 02210

617.338.4333 Mon-Fri 7a-7p; Sat 8a-6p; Sun 9a-4p

South End 1595 Washington St., Boston MA 02118
617.267.4300 Mon-Fri 7a-9p; Sat 8a-6p; Sun 8a-5p

Central Square 190 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge MA 02139
617.225.2525 Mon-Fri 7a-7p; Sat 8a-6p; Sun CLOSED until Labor Day

An honors graduate of Harvard College with a degree in Applied Mathematics and Economics, Joanne left a career as a management consultant to enter the world of professional cooking.

She started as garde-manger cook at Boston’s renowned Biba restaurant, worked for a year assisting the owner/head-baker of Bentonwood Bakery in Newton, and in 1995 was hired as Pastry Chef at Rialto restaurant in Cambridge.

Joanne moved to New York City in 1997 to work in the cake department of the critically acclaimed Payard Patisserie and Bistro. Returning to Boston a year later with dreams of opening up her own pastry shop, she brought her French and American training to Mistral where she was the Pastry Chef until summer of 2000.

In 2000, she opened Flour, a bakery and café, in Boston’s South End. Flour features breakfast pastries, breads, cakes, cookies, and tarts as well as sandwiches, soups, and salads. In 2007 she opened a second branch of Flour in the Fort Point Channel area. Flour has been featured in Gourmet, Food&Wine, Bon Appetit, the New York Times, Conde Nast Traveler, Lucky Magazine, Inc. Magazine, and Boston Magazine and has received numerous Best of Boston awards. Flour was also featured on Throwdown with Bobby Flay on the Food Network in which Joanne’s sticky buns won over Chef Flay’s.

Joanne’s energetic commitment to excellence extends beyond the kitchen. She writes pastry articles and reviews cookbooks for Fine Cooking magazine. She teaches classes and advises pastry cooks both within the bakery and at area cooking schools. She opened a Chinese restaurant called Myers + Chang with her husband Christopher Myers in the South End neighborhood in the fall of 2007. An avid runner, she has competed in every Boston Marathon from 1991 – 2006.  She is currently in the process of writing a cookbook featuring the best pastries from Flour and her other experiences (follow the blog on the website on the “cookbook” link).

Urbanbelly
3053 N. California Ave, Chicago, Il 60618 (773) 583-0500

Belly Shack
1912 N Western Ave, Chicago, IL 60647 (773) 252-1414

Born in Seoul Korea in 1968, William was first inspired to cook by his mother. In 1991 Kim enrolled in the School of Culinary Arts at Kendall College (Evanston, Illinois). While there, he completed his first apprenticeship at Le Titi de Paris (Arlington Heights, Illinois) under Chef Pierre Pollin, who remains one of his biggest influences. In 1993 Kim graduated from Kendall and accepted a position as Chef de Partie at Ciboulette (Atlanta, Georgia) under the acclaimed Chef Jean Banchet. After a year at Ciboulette, Kim joined Charlie Trotters where he spent the next 2 years working his way up to Sous – Chef at Trotters four star restaurant in Chicago, Illinois.

After a year stint as Sous – Chef at Trio Restaurant in Evanston, Illinois, Kim decided to move out East. He joined Chef Susanna Foo at her acclaimed restaurant in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania as Executive Sous – Chef. During his tenure there the restaurant was awarded four bells by Craig LaBan (Philadelphia Inquirer) in 1998.

Kim decided to move to New York City and spend a year at Chef David Bouley’s prestigious restaurant Bouley Bakery as Sous – Chef where Kim was inspired by Bouley’s “delicate touch”.

Shortly after, Kim was persuaded to move back to Pennsylvania by a former colleague, Mark Dombkoski, to join him as Executive Chef/Partner of Inn on Blueberry Hill in Doylestown, PA awarded three bells (Philadelphia Inquirer) under the tutelage of Chef Kim. This opportunity allowed Chef Kim to finally “run his own show” after years of working under some superstar chefs. The Inn on Blueberry Hill closed after three years and Kim moved back to Chicago and accepted the Chef de Cuisine position at Charlie Trotters from 2004 – 2005.

In January, 2006 Kim became the Executive Chef at Le Lan Restaurant in Chicago and received 3 stars from Chicago Tribune food critic Phil Vettel.

In August 2008, Kim opened Urbanbelly in Chicago’s Avondale neighborhood. Urbanbelly is the noodle and dumpling restaurant concept that Kim has always dreamed of doing.

The latest venture Belly Shack opened in October 2009. Belly Shack is collaboration between Chef Kim and his wife Yvonne. The menu is a mix of Asian and Latin flavors that is a nod to his wife’s Puerto Rican heritage.

610 Magnolia
Louisville, Kentucky 40208
(502) 636-0783

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.

Discounts for NAC Subscribers
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