Cal Stamenov Speaker & Booking Information

Cal Stamenov has created an innovative culinary concept for Bernardus Lodge featuring California country cuisine in the main dining room, Marinus at Bernardus Lodge. Wickets the bar and bistro, features bistro-style cuisine in a light and casual setting. Upon graduating from the California Culinary Academy, Stamenov began his career in 1982 at New York's famed Four Seasons restaurant. He is steeped in the European tradition of culinary artistry and has spent years in the most demanding kitchens of the world's most renowned chefs. His stellar credits include working with Alain Ducasse of the three-star Michelin restaurant, Louis XV at the Hotel de Paris, Monaco; Pierre Gagnaire in St. Etienne, France; Masa Koboiashi at Masa's Restaurant in San Francisco; Jean-Louis Palladin at Restaurant Jean-Louis in Washington D.C.; and Michel Richard at Citrus Restaurant. Stamenov worked as Executive Chef for the Highlands Inn in Carmel, and served as Chef de Cuisine of the highly regarded Domaine Chandon Restaurant in Napa Valley. Marinus at Bernardus Lodge resembles an Old World wine country estate and is graced by a dramatic 12-foot wide European fireplace with a raised hearth, offering spectacular views of the garden, majestic pines and nearby California Oaks. An inviting outdoor terrace and fireplace offers guests a relaxed and scenic setting. Marinus at Bernardus Lodge has been enjoying high praise since the resort opened in 1999, and has won Wine Spectator magazine's highly coveted “Grand Award” for its wine cellar since 2001. Since 1981, only 89 restaurants from 12 countries have earned the Grand Award, an honor bestowed every three years. The cellar houses 1,850 different wines and a total of more than 35,000 premium bottles, including 10,000 bottles from the affiliated Bernardus Winery & Vineyard near the resort. Since 2001, the Zagat Survey has noted Marinus as one of the Top Restaurants and Most Romantic places south of San Francisco. Cal's philosophy and style of cooking, is built on three central pillars: the relationship between food and terroir, the superiority of handcrafted, artisanal products over mass-produced, and the common sense of glorifying food when its flavor is at its peak. The Central Coast provides him with access to an inspiring range of ingredients whose essence and flavor is appreciable in every bite. These come to him by way of the relationships he has forged with growers, fisherman and foragers. He also has his own organic herb and vegetable gardens, and vineyards at Bernardus Lodge. With a treasure trove of impeccable products, Stamenov is able to cook with the seasons and rarely has to look further than his own backyard for inspiration.