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Cooking Demonstrations
Presented by 


Each of the demonstrations will be held on the Food Court Stage.
Show Floor Map

Wednesday, April 23, 2008
11:30 a.m.
Chef Michael Nook, Corporate Chef Nicholas & Company
Served an apprenticeship at the Playboy Resort and Country Club in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin before moving to Utah. Since moving to Utah, Michael has served as a Sous Chef at the prestigious Hotel Utah, Executive Chef at Willow Creek Country Club, Chef D’Cuisine of the Wildflower Restaurant, Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort, Executive Chef Woody’s Wharf Private Club and Executive Chef at the University Park Hotel. For the past 18 years he has been among other positions the Corporate Chef for Nicholas & Company. He is also co-author of a cookbook entitled Grilling with Broilmaster which is distributed with all Broilmaster Grills.

Wednesday, April 23, 2008
3:30 p.m.
Chef Adam Vickers, Tuscany Restaurant
Adam Vickers has become well known for continually creating new and delicious dishes to delight his patrons. His love for food began at a very young age in his mother’s kitchen. This love led him to many small jobs in family style restaurants, cooking all through his teens. 

Chef Vickers found new ventures on the slopes of Utah while snowboarding. Vickers first break cooking professionally came at the age of 18 when he took a job at a local ski resort. This experience opened new doors for Vickers in the Salt Lake Valley. Here he has been fortunate to work under well known Executive Chefs that have helped mold his future.

Young, but none the less experienced, Vickers became the Sous Chef of L'Avenue Bistro and has been Executive Chef of Tuscany for the past three years. He shares his inspiration and passion of food with his 18 month old son who is already following in his father’s Chef shoes.

Thursday, April 24, 2008
11:30 a.m.
Chef Chris Durfee and Chef Justin Shifflett, The Metropolitan

Chef Chris Durfee
Born and raised in the Salt Lake area, Durfee knows his clientele. His culinary education comes from working alongside some of Salt Lake’s best chefs and cooking in exciting local venues. 

Originally lured into the idea of cooking to earn a season ski pass, Durfee managed Snowbird’s Keyhole Junction kitchen for years. He made a high-altitude change to sous chef at The Canyons Lookout Cabin, a gourmet ski-in spot located at 9,000 feet. During the summers, Durfee was a chef for Diamond Creation, a catering company for big name bands and sports teams visiting Salt Lake. 

Throughout his resort tenure, Durfee learned from Sabastian Lizarzaburu and Todd Mark Miller, with whom he reunited in Metropolitan’s kitchen. Durfee has been an integral part of Metropolitan’s kitchen staff for almost a year and sees the Culinary Team concept as a great opportunity for a collaborative creative effort. 

Chef Justin Shifflett
Due to his dad’s job in the Air Force, Justin was born in Denver, lived in Germany for three years then grew up in Layton, Utah. Justin’s mom likes to tell him his career as a chef began with his childhood cookset. Justin begs to differ, hopes he never had a cookset and gives his father credit for his embrace of a culinary profession. Justin’s grandfather encouraged him to go to culinary school after seeing his grandson’s passion for cooking at Staja, a restaurant that saw great success before and during the 2002 Winter Olympics. After a stint cooking at a retirement home in Sandy, Justin agreed. 

He was off to the Atlantic Culinary Academy in Dover, New Hampshire, where he took initiative to get as much out of school as possible. He entered the Ice Carving Club and catered local events. His post-grad internship took him to the Red Mountain Spa in St. George, Utah. While he appreciated the healthy menus, it wasn’t quite the atmosphere he was looking for and Justin sought a new restaurant to finish his internship. Metropolitan took him in and about a year ago he began working with his current Culinary Team members. Thriving on the creative synergy in the kitchen, Justin is very happy with the path that brought him to Metropolitan.

Thursday, April 24, 2008
3:30 p.m.
Chef Bernhard Götz, Little America Hotel
Since beginning formal training in 1968 in his native Germany, Chef Bernhard Götz has forged a remarkable career; with accomplishments ranging from ice carving awards to being featured in the PBS “Great Chefs of America” series.

After his training and apprenticeship in Germany, Chef Götz founded several restaurants in Bermuda and South Carolina. He joined Sheraton in 1980 and has worked at several different Sheraton hotels in the past 25 years, expanding his culinary resume with each regional cuisine: South Carolina, Utah, Louisiana and New England. Chef Götz joined the team at Little America Hotel in October 2004 and as the Executive Chef having responsibility for the entire kitchen operation and food service for all hotel outlets.

Chef Götz’s leadership ability and excellence in the field has earned him much recognition over the years: twice named Federation Chef of the Year by the New Orleans Chapter of the American Culinary Federation, and twice elected as president of the Chapter; Sheraton Executive Chef of the Year; Sheraton representative at the International Tourism Business Exchange in Berlin, Germany, the largest travel trade show in Europe; and many other industry and local awards and accolades. Chef Götz has also been very active in community and local charity events, lending his leadership and skills whenever possible.