Chef Damian Mandola

Damian opened his first restaurant, Damian’s Fine Italian Food,  in 1975 at the age of twenty-two. He founded Damian’s Cucina Italiana in 1984, which has maintained its name and is celebrating its 35th anniversary this year. He then co-founded Carrabba’s Italian Grill in December of 1986. There are currently 240 Carrabba’s Italian Grill locations around the United States.

In 2001, Damian hosted the nationally syndicated PBS series, “Cucina Amore”.  In 2006, Damian opened Mandola’s Italian Market in Austin, then Mandola Estate Winery and Trattoria Lisina in Driftwood.  Damian has been traveling extensively to his grandparents’ native Italy and throughout the United States for the past 40 years in search of unique Italian dishes.

Chef Sibby Barrett

Sibby Barrett is the founder of legendary 35-year-old bakery, Dallas Affaires Cake Company, and ringmaster and hostess of hundreds of celebrated events at Onion Creek Kitchens at Juniper Hills Farm. She brings her forty plus years of experience in the restaurant, bakery, floral, catering and event planning businesses to her skills as a culinary teacher. She is currently authoring a cookbook of Juniper Hills Farm Cooking Class Favorites and has released several packaged food products under the Onion Creek Kitchens label.

Chef Rachel Emry

Chef Rachel Emry graduated from Le Cordon Bleu Culinary Academy in 2004. She also became a Cooper Certified Personal Trainer in 2011. Rachel is a fantastic and interactive teacher. She wants to take the fear and uncertainty out of the kitchen and empower you to take reach your full wellness potential without sacrificing flavor or the joy of delicious food. She has a specialty as a seasoned pastry chef. Pastries are made fresh daily in her bakery at Blanco Brew where she is the owner and executive chef only one mile from The Bell House!

Chef Silvia Reyna

Silvia’s passion for cooking Mexican cuisine is rooted in her upbringing in Mexico until the age of 12.  “My best childhood memory takes me back to helping my abuela (grandma) in her rustic kitchen at the ranch, cooking in a wood burning chimenea, making delicious food and always serving it with love.” She studied the culinary arts in Oaxaca, Mexico. 

13 years ago she opened and still runs what she describes as her “little piece of heaven restaurant", Dvine Home Cooking in Canyon Lake. She credits her success and passion for cooking to the heart God. He instilled the desire in her to “serve as she would like to be served, un plato a la vez”…one dish at a time!”

Chef Sam Blumenthal

Chef Sam is a registered dietitian and popular culinary instructor at Miraval Spa and Resort in Austin. In this beautiful setting, she helps others discover how to cook healthy & flavorful food. She invites her participants to explore the intersection of how ingredients and whole foods can benefit the mind & body. She sees food as her vehicle and truth as her message. Her goal is to create a safe space to nourish, spark culinary creativity, and support your personal evolution both inside and outside the kitchen. Chef Sam is dedicated to helping you explore the value of reconnecting with food to enhance and strengthen your relationship of body and mind. Sam's culinary classes empower you to understand the true difference between feeling full and feeling fulfilled. 

Chef Mark Grimes

 Chef Mark Grimes is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America and has a 30-year career that has taken him across the country and throughout Europe. He is not only a fantastic chef, but a leader and brilliant mind sought out for his culinary expertise. His work resume includes The Windsor Court Hotel and The American Club both 5 Diamond properties, Corporate Chef for The Walt Disney Company, just to name a few. Mark and his wife Kimmie are now back home in Wimberley, Texas and his latest innovations are The Roosevelt Supper Club of Wimberley, The Carvery and The Videre Event Venue.

Chef CJ Jacobsen

CJ Jacobson has been seen on Bravo’s Top Chef and more recently on Top Chef Masters as a sous chef to Michelin-starred chef Michael Chiarello. His style is hyper-seasonal with local ingredients and where foraging plays a main part in the flavor profiles that he creates in his kitchen. Before his TV notoriety, He enrolled at the Le Cordon Bleu-affiliated College of Culinary Arts in Pasadena, graduating in 2004 he worked with columnist Arianna Huffington as a personal chef, and the Marciano Family of the Guess Corporation. CJ has cooked for Axe, Wolfgang Puck Catering and Companile.

Jacobson is now the Chef Partner at Ēma and Aba . The restaurant concepts focused on light, Mediterranean-style cooking. Aba opened on South Congress in Austin in 2020 and is one of Austin’s hottest new restaurants.  Jacobson has curated menus that pay homage to his roots in California, incorporating healthful and unique spices and ingredients

Chef Ashley Casebier

Chef Ashley is a graduate of the Escoffier School of Culinary Arts and Executive Chef and owner of Southern with a French Twist. Her life’s work is to help others prioritize gathering around the table to connect with one another over a meal. Her company specializes in weekly customized prepared meals, private dinner parties, cooking classes, and personal chef services. 

Chef Ashley describes her food philosophy as approachable but with an elevated touch - Southern with a little je ne sais quoi. “Everyone should feel welcome around the table, but I like for the experience to be special.”

Chef Stef Immel

Chef Stef believes food is best when it is raised and grown in harmony with nature. Farm-to-table is her lane. She draws inspiration for meals from ingredients that are local, in season and organic. Throughout her career, she has had the opportunity to work under many prominent Chef's from the Texas Hill Country, Colorado, Montana, Boston and New York.

She was the Executive Chef for a 5-star glamping retreat in Texas and Montana giving guests Farm-to-Table personal dining experience with discussions about the food and region which it came from. Featured in Texas Monthly for hands-on cooking classes with focus on farm fresh ingredients. From there she went on to help open and develop a new restaurant in the exclusive Yellowstone Club while providing personal Chef services for residents of the Yellowstone Club.

Going back to her roots in the Texas Hill Country, she started her own personal chef culinary services with Love Grows and has cooked for many prominent figures and catered many different events throughout.

We look forward to her expertise in menu development that will surely create a fantastic culinary experience.

Chef Ryan Hildebrand

Chef Ryan attended the Culinary Institute of America in New York in 2000.  He returned to Houston to begin his career. He was an executive chef at Patronella's, Bistro Provence, and Bistro Don Comillo before helping launch the Rockwood Room in 2009.  Next came Triniti, where he delivered local, organic, and seasonally inspired cuisine. The restaurant also featured an exclusive chef's table and exhibition kitchen - where chefs served food personally and interacted with guests.  Before his moving to Wimberley, Chef Ryan opened FM Bar + Kitchen. 

Currently, Hildebrand is the owner/operator of the new casual Hill Country restaurant Hildee’s Dine-Inn on Winters Mill Parkway in Wimberley (opening in January 2022).  The restaurant menu focuses on Hill Country and Southern dishes.  Expect more Hill Country fare as Chef Ryan closes out 2022 for The Bell House Wimberley’s cooking class season.