01/11 Michael D. Dellar, Leah Cecil, HEIDI BARRETT, STEVE EVANS

MICHAEL DELLAR - CO-FOUNDER/PRESIDENT LARK CREEK RESTAURANT GROUP

Michael Dellar is Co-founder, President and CEO of the $50,000,000, 13-property Lark Creek® Restaurant Group. Founded in 1989, the Group is dedicated to offering seasonal farm-fresh fare, extensive wine and spirits offerings, caring, professional service and excellent value.

The Group’s award-winning restaurants include: The Tavern at Lark Creek, a convivial gathering place offering a seasonally-driven menu with friendly pricing, opened in June 2009 in the space formerly occupied by the Group’s first restaurant, The Lark Creek Inn. Michelin-star One Market® Restaurant, voted San Francisco’s “Best New Restaurant of 1993” and Lark Creek Walnut Creek, opened in 1995. Yankee Pier®, a casual and sustainable seafood restaurant, opened in 2000 in Larkspur, 2002 at Santana Row in San Jose, 2005 at San Francisco International Airport, and 2008 in Lafayette. In partnership with Marriott Hotels, the Group operates Parcel 104® at the Santa Clara Marriott.LarkCreekSteak opened in 2006 and was named by Esquire as one of the top 20 new restaurants in America for 2007 and by Gayot as one of the 10 Best Steakhouses in the U.S. Summer 2010 saw the opening of Fish Story® in Napa on the river, Cupola®, an artisan pizzeria, opened at the Westfield San Francisco Centre in 2011, as did Lark Creek Grill at San Francisco International Airport. May of 2012 marked the unveiling of Wine & Wall, a retail wine and art space serving small plates from neighboring One Market Restaurant, and transforming into a private dining venue at night. In August 2012, Lark Creek Blue opened in the space previously occupied by Yankee Pier Santana Row in San Jose. Coming soon, the newest addition to the group: Lark Creek Newport Beach at Fashion Island, opening in Spring 2013.

Previously, Dellar served as an Executive of San Francisco based Spectrum Foods, Inc. and the The Clorox Company in Oakland. He was a founding Director of OpenTable.com and was a Director of Gelato Classico, and participated in the sale of that company to Baskin Robbins and Co-founder of Red Tractor Café, Inc. Dellar is also President of Dellar Restaurant Enterprises, Inc., a hospitality industry consulting firm.

He was named a James Beard Foundation Award Semi-Finalist in the category of “Outstanding Restaurateur” in 2010 and was nominated for Where Magazine’sLifetime Achievement Award in 2003. In 1994, Dellar was awarded the Restaurant Industry Achievement Award by the Anti-Defamation League. He acts as a Director for The Napa Valley Destination Council and as a member of the West Coast Board of Advisors to Culintro. Dellar served as a Director of the University of San Francisco’s Hospitality Management Program, the Anti-Defamation League, and as a Trustee and member of the Executive Committee of COPIA, the American Center for Wine, Food and the Arts. He has been a Director of the San Francisco Convention and Visitors Bureau, the California Restaurant Association, the Northern California Chapter of the American Institute of Wine and Food, the Oakland Symphony, and the Film Institute of Northern California. He is a member of the Restaurant Leadership Roundtable and the 100 Club of East Bay executives.

He received his MBA with honors in 1970 and his BS degree magna cum laude in 1969, both from the University of Southern California, and was elected to the academic honor societies of Beta Gamma Sigma and Phi Kappa Phi. Dellar lives in Napa Valley with his wife, Leslye, where he grows Cabernet Sauvignon grapes.


Leah Cecil - Miss California 2012

A native of California, she attends California State University at Fullerton and is projected to graduate this December.  She is an accomplished harpist, which was also her talent in the Miss California pageant.  She serves as the principle harpist for six symphony orchestras in the Los Angeles area.   She currently teaches high school music and hopes to teach at the college level.  She is passionate about helping others, making Compassion for the Convalescing her platform.  She also dabbles in graphic design and was once a contestant on the TV game show, “Wipe Out!”

Miss America serves as a role model to young and old alike, using her title to educate millions of Americans on an issue of importance. Over the years, Miss America has been intent on making a difference in people's lives through her charitable and community endeavors.

The Miss America Organization is one of the nation's leading achievement programs and the world's largest provider of scholarship assistance for young women. Developed by the Miss America Organization, the Miss America program exists to provide personal and professional opportunities for young women and to promote their voices in culture, politics and the community. Almost all contestants have either received, or are in the process of earning, college or postgraduate degrees and utilize Miss America scholarship grants to further their educations. Scholarships have been the cornerstone of the Miss America program since 1945 when Bess Myerson was the first Miss America to receive one. 


HEIDI BARRETT  - "La SIRENA"

Heidi Peterson Barrett is a winemaker who has been responsible for some of California's most notable cult wines, includingScreaming Eagle, Dalla Valle Vineyards, Paradigm Winery, Grace Family Vineyards, Amuse Bouche, Lamborn Family Vineyards,Showket Vineyards and Fantesca, is a consultant for Diamond Creek Vineyards and Niebaum-Coppola, and has her own wine label, La Sirena.  She is the daughter of California wine pioneer Richard Peterson, and is married to Bo Barrett, winemaker at Chateau Montelena of "Judgment of Paris", which was recently the subject of the motion picture Bottle Shock. Robert Parker has on several occasions awarded her wines 100 points and called her "the first lady of wine". She graduated from UC Davis in 1980 with a B.Sc. in Fermentation Science. Having experienced internships in both the German and Australian wine industries, Barrett became head winemaker for Buehler Vineyards in 1983 at age 25.[5] Following the 1992 vintage of Screaming Eagle, Barrett became a "winemaking star"  


STEVE EVANS - "THE MOVIE GUY"

GREAT MOVIES OPENING THIS WEEKEND AND BOX OFFICE PREDICTIONS AND HOPES. FIND OUT WHAT MOVIES ARE WORTH YOUR HARD EARNED MONEY. GET SET FOR THE WEEKEND.