September 26 ~ 28 2008
About The Mad Turk...
Chef/Owner Musa Alici of Alici’s Bistro, Brattleboro VT was born in Istanbul Turkey, 1965. Mr. Alici Began working in the food and beverage industry age 11 for several family owned restaurants in Istanbul. It was noted during his high school years, that he had a rather distinct style of cooking that had enhanced some of the local fare from that region. Mr. Alici studied Economics at The University of Istanbul, Business Management at Yidiz University and Hospitality Management at Pennsylvania University – eventually obtaining two college degrees in Business Management and Hotel/Restaurant Management.
Feeling it was important to understand the many facets of the food and beverage industry, he pursued positions with some of the most renowned chefs at that time. He has worked for the cruise ship industry, five star hotels, specialty resorts and country clubs around the world. Having always had a tenacious desire to learn and perfect upon, it is evident of his current success.
In 2000, Mr. Alici opened his first restaurant, The White Rainbow in Gloucester Mass. It did not take very long to be recognized and rated by Fodor’s, Zagats and Mobil, also receiving The Wine Spectator Award of Excellence. Published in the NY Times for being a great restaurant on the northeastern Jazz trail. The Boston Globe called The White Rainbow, the “Second Renaissance” and that “Chef Musa Alici has a deft touch with fish”.
In the spring of 2005, Mr. Alici had decided to go for a drive without any idea of where the road would lead him. He arrived in Brattleboro as the sun was setting and immediately fell in love. In 2006, he moved to Brattleboro and subsequently opened Alici’s Bistro and Martini Lounge. Musa Alici is renowned for his passion of cooking, life and love.
The Wilmington Inn, chef Susannah Walker Susannah came to the Wilmington Inn by way of Dallas, TX where she established a successful modern Italian restaurant called DiTerras. She is no stranger to Vermont winters however, as a graduate of the New England Culinary Institute, in Montpelier (class of 98'). Since then she has worked for Chef Massimo Riccioli in Rome, Italy where he ran La Rossetta, the oldest Michelin star rated restaurant in Italy. In addition Chef Walker worked in Venice for Chef and author Antonio Buffi at Bistrot de Venise and later at the Hotel Explora in San Pedro de Atacama in Chile. Her specialty is game and she returned to Vermont in order to create an all local, all organic, dining experience in a location where small farms and local procurement are readily available.
Chef Amy Chamberlain, The Perfect Wife, Manchester
Chef Amy Chamberlain owns The Perfect Wife Restaurant and Tavern in Manchester, Vermont. After graduating from NECI in 1990 Amy spent several years cooking in Aspen, Colorado. In 1996 she moved home to Manchester to open The Perfect Wife!
BIO: Tristan Toleno, Riverview Cafe,
Chef/Owner Tristan Toleno
was raised in Marlboro, 
graduated from
Riverview Cafe
will be preparing Sweet Tree Farm Steak Sandwich with Pesto Mayo, Sweet Italian
Peppers, and Vermont Tomatoes
Sharon Myers opened her own catering business in Brattleboro, VT in 1985. She has earned the Best of the Best Award in Brattleboro for Catering every year since 2004. 
Sharon Meyers Fine Catering
Sharon started cooking professionally at the Morning Glory Cafe on Nantucket Island in 1979 and traded art classes for cooking skills at the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts on Deer Isle, Maine. In 1983, she and a friend started The Elegant Caper, a catering company in Carlisle, MA.
A natural chef and baker, Sharon has continued to take classes in New York, Vermont, and Italy with many of today's well known chefs and bakers, including a few trips to Napa for the California influence.
Sharon is a graduate of Connecticut College and has a Masters in Aesthetic Education from University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Her love for form and color are obvious in her weavings and one-of-a-kind quilts. Her work has been seen in many publications and has traveled in group shows all over the world. Today, she continues to quilt and do portrait sculpture.
This love of color, form, and texture is as obvious in her food and presentation as it is in her art work, bringing her accolades and high praise. Today, Sharon and her staff travel as far as Boston and Albany, as well as catering to the more local New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Vermont areas. Sharon's many years of cooking, her background in the arts, and her experienced staff guarantee an exceptional event for both you and your guests.
Sharon Myers is available as a caterer or as a consultant. Feel free to contact her if you have questions.
For more information about our catering or to book an event, please call (802) 254-2480 or email srmcater@comcast.net. Sharon Myers Fine Catering is based in Southern Vermont and serves the northeast region.
Chef Ismail A. Samad . The Putney Inn has been under the
ownership of the Ziter family for more than thirty years. Located seven miles
north of
Guests
have written that we are “stunning”. Travel
& Leisure advises that, in any trip to
Refreshing in our good humor, attentive in
our good service, dedicated to good food, and boundless in our enthusiasm to
graciously accommodate whims and fancies, we are a gentle respite of sincerity,
genuineness, and quality.
Ismail A. Samad is the Executive Chef at The Putney Inn in Putney Vermont. A city dweller for his whole life, with dreams extending beyond skyscrapers and pavement, Ismail the Chef has truly embraced the beauty of Vermont and what the Localvore movement it has to offer. The experience of partnering and gleaning from the local farms in Southern Vermont, New Hampshire and Massachusetts, has added to the many inspirations that contribute to his culinary repertoire. With a background in the sciences his philosophy in the kitchen is one that approaches food not only as an art but as a science as well. This allows him to demonstrate culinary artistry coupled with a keener eye toward presentation, color palette, flavorful reactions, and insight into diet theory and food partnering.
At the age of twenty three, Ismail opened Crust and Crumbs Bakery and Cafe in Cleveland Ohio which became an instant favorite for diners in the downtown and surrounding areas. He also spent years in the kitchens of some of the Countries best restaurants including Charlie Palmers, Aureole in New York under Toni Aiazi, Moxie The Restaurant in Beachwood Ohio, under Jonathan Benet, and Hyde Park Restaurant Groups’ Metropolitan Café, under Michael Hirschman. In his young career he has played a key role in launching three restaurants creating new recipes and combinations that were well received by guests and food critics. Whether his hands are in the dough of his scratch made bread, on the phone with the local shepherd, or in the garden planted by him and his kitchen comrades, his goal is to provide a dining experience in which culinary art is reflected on his favorite palate, a plate.
