User:Steven james meese/sandbox

 STEVEN MEESE 

Steven James Meese 42, is an award-winning modernistic Greek American chef, TV personality, entrepreneur, and philanthropist from central Florida, presently living in northwest Ohio. He has trained under many of the industry’s most accomplished chefs including several James Beard Award nominees.

In the Midwest, Meese continues to climb the charts and break new ground. His New European influence, love of big flavors reminiscent of his Greek heritage and cutting-edge presentation set him apart from the other great chefs. His cooking techniques and unique style combined with his penchant for pushing the boundaries have set him on a path of reinventing traditional cuisine.

While living in Orlando, Meese had the honor of cooking for President George W. Bush, the governor of Florida, senators, the famous River Dancers, owner of the Pittsburgh Tribune, and top celebrities in the sports, entertainment and music industries.

During his tenure (10 years) at Disney World, Meese won the prestigious Culinary Competition (2002) and was awarded the Service in Excellence Award (2003). He also performed Disney’s world famous Wine and Food Festivals as well as its other major events. Meese was chef at The Boheme under James Beard Award nominee Robert Mason, at the Grand Bohemian Hotel, when he was named Top Chef (2004) in south Florida. Also the restaurant/resort received AAA’s Four Diamond rating and the restaurant was ranked one of the top 50 in the world by Zagat and Travel and Leisure magazine.

In 2010, chef Meese left Florida and moved to Ohio to be near his girlfriend. He took over as the executive chef at Toledo’s premiere Continental French restaurant, Fifi’s (the city’s only three star dining establishment), where he dazzled patrons with his sophisticated approach to food art. He launched Agora Creative Dining Events and performed the Gala Fashion Show and Toledo Restaurant Week (2012).

He has made chef appearances at Williams-Sonoma, Whole Foods, Macy’s, Dillard’s, the Palace at Auburn Hills, Amway Center, Full Plate Channel 13 ABC, Your Morning Saturday Channel 11 CBS, and Talk Back Fox Toledo. The chef has been featured in regional publications including Toledo Blade, Crescent-News and Bowling Green University Press.

Meese is presently working on a cookbook with the home cook in mind based on his concept of “healthy fine dining.” To achieve this end, he has revisited many of classic Italian, French and Mediterranean dishes and “deconstructed” the recipes by substituting selective ingredients for more standard fare – “unorthodox” by fine dining standards. He has effectively simplified the cooking process by editing steps along the way. In keeping with the healthy theme, Meese has used a light hand with dairy and also salt. All of his new classic dishes contain no more than 15 ingredients and can be made in 45 minutes or under – from prep time to the table.

Chef Meese is always searching for ways to give back to the community. He has been involved with the Boys and Girls Club of America, Big Brother and Big Sister, Cancer of America, and Feed the Children.

One of his goals is to motivate the youth of America to make healthier food choices by helping to reform school lunches. But the chef does not plan to stop there. He wants to take his approach to healthy fine dining to nursing care centers so that seniors have more fresh food options available to them, as well. Life and career

Chef Steven Meese was born in the Midwest in 1969 to Elizabeth Williams, a Greek-born airline stewardess turned model. Meese spent his first years living in Greece where he was steeped in the old world traditions and the vibrant cultural life of his mother’s native Thessaloniki. He later moved back to the U.S. to central Florida.

Meese had a humble start in the food service industry as a dishwasher in his uncle’s restaurant in Chicago. He then moved back to central Florida to become classically trained in the culinary arts and launch his career.

After his successful performance at Disney World, he spent a few years traveling around the country for the opportunity to work with top name chefs in California’s Napa region, Texas, Chicago, and then returned to central Florida.

Meese trained under Emeril Lagasse’s multi-talented executive chef Zachary Martin. He worked at Hilton’s private resort at Sunset Key and several of Westin’s top locations including Latitudes restaurant and The Grand Bohemian. He was the executive chef at the art gallery restaurant Bizarre and held the position of chef de cuisine under award winning chef Suzanne Peretto at the Jupiter Beach Resort. He moved on to the Diamond Players Country Club and within less than 12 months, revived the failing establishment in a struggling economy.

The chef’s passion for cooking techniques took him to the largest name in culinary retail, Williams-Sonoma. He performed cooking demonstrations and classes at the historic landmark location in Winter Park, Fla. The chef was rated one of the top Williams-Sonoma cooking instructors in the east coast.

Meese moved in 2009 to Ohio, where he now lives in the historic fort town of Defiance. He has a brother, Phillip Meese, a sister, Joy Williams, and a daughter, Stephanie, 17. His girlfriend is an attorney and also a singer/song writer and recording artist.

Acknowledgements

“Truly one of Orlando’s great chefs.” - Tara O’Keefe, French Culinary Institute

“I’ve traveled the world – Steven’s food style and flavors separate him from the other great chefs.” - Fifi Berry, restaurateur/entrepreneur

“Steven is spontaneous as a chef which makes his food simply amazing.” - Justin Murphy, Executive Chef Protégé of Norman Van Akan, creator of New World Cuisine.