Eric Nelson Email & Phone Number

Willamette Valley Vineyards

An Oregon winery with four vineyard locations, 140 employees• Voted among the Top Five Chefs in the Willamette Valley, Willamette Living – June/July 2015• One of four featured chefs in a multi-course food and wine pairing dinner with Food Network star Simon Majumdar as the judge, June 2015• One of 75 chefs from around the world to participate in the 2014 Mid-Atlantic Food & Wine Festival • Led Oregon Governor’s Leadership Dinner – a 250 person plated food and wine pairing, Sept. 2013• Appeared in multiple local morning news appearances for Channel 12 “Out & About” segment• Hosted three weekly four-course food and wine pairing educational experiences (50-person seatings) • Developed and directed custom menus for cooking classes, food and wine pairings, concerts, BBQ’s, Festivals, Weddings, and Business Meetings ranging from 5-300+ across 13 banquet spaces• Designed, executed and photographed recipes to accompany wines for monthly wine club shipments• Managed a purchasing inventory of more than 35 local, sustainable food artisans• Coordinated equipment purchase and construction for a 1,000 square foot kitchen remodel, including a 300 square foot on-stage kitchen

Woodburn, Oregon

A wellness-oriented bistro owned and operated by a local health system• Envisioned and executed seasonal menu creations, featuring a healthy, fresh approach utilizing local products when possible• Created menu items that were within the guidelines of nationally renowned cardiologist, Dean Ornish, to help reverse heart disease• Negotiated contracts and supplies from local, regional and national food/wine vendors to ensure time and cost efficiencies• Conceived, created and marketed culinary experiences such as Metal Chef competitions, catering festivals, private dinners, holiday buffets and plated/passed hors d’oeuvres• Customized special event menus for large-group events up to 200 people• Managed front-of-the house and back-of-the house staff of 20 employees

Summit County, Colorado

A unique catering company with an emphasis on customizing a scenario to fulfill the client’s desired experience• Owned a high-end catering business which focused on creating personalized, theme-inspired culinary experiences• Events ranged from food- and wine-paired, multi-course extravaganzas to interactive cooking classes and in-home personal chef experiences• Entertained a local and regional following of repeat customers, who hosted everything from intimate small-group affairs in their home, to themed experiential culinary events with 150+ guests• Partnered with high-end kitchen showrooms to demonstrate their professional-grade kitchen ensembles to architects, interior designers, custom home developers, etc.• Acquired and increased sales of a daily burrito delivery business (The Burrito Bandito), serving customers throughout Summit County, Colorado

Served as the private chef for the consulting business, creating memorable experiences through food, as part of team that took the business to an INC 500 fastest growing small business within three years • Served as Executive/Experience Chef for all client-attended events, perfecting the art of the Starizon Experience and setting the standard of culinary explorations for guests• Catered to guest’s cuisine preferences with style and finesse (related to special needs, allergies, vegetarian/vegan diets and unique requests)• Contracted by clients on multiple occasions to create similar culinary experiences in their home town – including locations in South Carolina, Texas and Oregon• Organized and guided interactive cooking classes for clients, along with developing a unique user-friendly recipe subscription membership – complete with wine pairings for each course• Maintained an extensive wine and liquor preference bar to ensure guests have favorite beverages

Associate Of Arts And Sciences (Aas), Culinary Arts/Chef Training

Education record