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Having demonstrated his culinary talents in such heralded kitchens as Lake Tahoe's PlumpJack Squaw Valley Inn and San Francisco's 42 Degrees, Chef Mark Sullivan is relishing his chance to toy with customers' expectations of a pub menu as executive chef at The Village Pub. Selected by Food & Wine magazine as one of "America's Best New Chefs of 2002," Sullivan is making his mark in the culinary world by showcasing the flavorful results of his lifelong interest in cooking.
Growing up in a family of home cooks and "foodies" where even the tiniest chefs were welcome in the kitchen, Sullivan was flipping omelets by the time he began grade school. At age seven he asked his parents to turn the living room into a prix fixe restaurant with him manning the kitchen. Denied this opportunity, he looked forward to his first restaurant job at 16, and continued to work his way through high school and college, attending class during the day and honing his talents behind the stove at night.
Sullivan graduated from St. Johns University in Minnesota in 1990 with a Bachelor's Degree in Philosophy. Realizing that waxing poetically about Nietzche and Jung didn't pay the bills, he again found himself in the kitchen, this time at Sol Y Luna in San Francisco. Offering to work for free on his days off in order to expedite his learning process, Sullivan worked his way up from Prep Cook to Head Line Cook in just eight months.
After several years in the restaurant scene, Sullivan left for Europe to further develop his skills in Mediterranean cooking. His work abroad included stints at Brunel, a small French restaurant in Provence, Café Vic in the Pyrenees in Northern Spain, and Chez Madie, a seafood restaurant in Marseilles.
Charged by his culinary adventures overseas, Sullivan returned to San Francisco and joined the Slow Club where he took over as chef within six months. When Slow Club owner Jim Moffat was looking for someone to head up the kitchen at 42 Degrees, Sullivan was the logical choice. Sullivan received national attention during his reign at 42 Degrees, including a glowing review in Gourmet Magazine and several awards including "Best Bay Area Mediterranean Restaurant" by San Francisco Focus Magazine.
Sullivan then headed to North Lake Tahoe, where his efforts as Chef de Cuisine put PlumpJack Squaw Valley Inn on the culinary map. It was during a well-deserved hiatus from the kitchen when Sullivan received the call from Village Pub owner Tim Stannard. He knew that this was the opportunity of a lifetime so he packed his things and returned to Northern California to open the Village Pub.
As Executive Chef at The Village Pub, Sullivan's innate talents and years of dedication have come to fruition. Building on Old World technique and tradition, Sullivan maximizes the flavor inherent in each ingredient by focusing on quality and technique. He begins by hand selecting the finest organic produce from local growers and farmers.
"Some of the finest ingredients in the world are found within miles of the Pub," said Sullivan. "Niman Ranch in Bolinas is producing hormone and antibiotic-free lamb, beef and pork that is some of the finest tasting meat in the world. Why look any further?" says Sullivan.
"The Pub's menu is comfortable, nothing overwrought. It is Contemporary American with classic French roots. We have put our personal touch on everything. We are casing our own sausages in-house, as well as making our own pâtés and terrines," says Sullivan. "When people come to The Village Pub, we want them to feel as relaxed as if they were in their living room at home."
Chef Sullivan writes a bi-monthly column on cooking technique for the Food Section of the San Jose Mercury News, which features recipes from The Village Pub.
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