Chef Bill Briwa
Chef Bill Briwa, a 1980 graduate of The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park NY, moved to Napa Valley, CA to enjoy the grape harvest and he hasn’t left yet. He’s been working in the hospitality business for the last 33 years and is currently a chef instructor at the CIA-Greystone.
Bill was the resident-chef for the Hess Collection Winery in Napa, CA before becoming an instructor at Greystone. He owned and operated his own restaurant in St. Helena, CA. He worked at Thomas Keller’s French Laundry in Yountville, CA and served as the executive chef in the Wine Spectator Greystone Restaurant at the Culinary Institute of America’s Greystone campus. His experience has bridged the divide between sweet and savory having worked as a baker and a pastry chef as well as a cook. He has been teaching cooking and food and wine pairing full time for the last 15 years.
His video instruction – The Everyday Gourmet: The Lost Art of Cooking – have received critical acclaim and quickly became a best seller for The Teaching Company.
Chef Briwa is an active supporter of Farmers Markets and served as an officer on the board of the local market for three years.
He was Culinary Chair of the 2004 Napa Valley Wine Auction, raising over 5 million dollars for local health care.
His writing on food, wine and cooking has been featured locally and in Fine Cooking and Sunset as well as the trade journal Flavor and the Menu.
Bill has traveled to teach and learn across the USA, in China, Mexico, Europe and the around the Mediterranean.
In 2003 he was chosen as a judge for the American Cheese Society’s annual conference, and in 2005 he was a presenter at the annual IACP conference on Gastronomy. In 2005, again in ‘06 and ‘07 he was a featured presenter at IFMA’s COEX conference and in 2010 and ‘11 he presented at the Beyond Extra Virgin Conference educating attendees about olive oil.
Over the last quarter century of cooking and teaching, Bill has taken one 2 year break from the stove to become a puppeteer. He lives in Yountville, CA with his wife and a Border collie that thinks very highly of his cooking.