I’m Chuck Manos. I spent the first half of my life in the food service industry in one form or another. My grandfather had a restaurant in Phoenix which was the most interesting thing in the world to me as a kid. I have tended bar, worked in a commercial kitchen, and finally I decided I wanted to further my culinary career.  While working at Malee’s in Scottsdale as a bartender, I enrolled at the Scottsdale Culinary Institute.  I continued to work full-time and went to school. Although my true aim at the Institute was to become a Pastry Chef, I was hooked on the program as a whole.  At 38 years old, I graduated with the Highest Honors, Alpha Beta Kappa.  I continued with Malee’s but in a different capacity in the kitchen under Chef Phanee Plabprasit, where I learned the techniques of Thai Food.

After that, my career took me in a different direction, from being a Personal Chef and Estate Manager in Columbus, Ohio, to serving as Executive Chef in two operations, one in Columbus and one in Tempe, when I returned to Arizona.