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Robert Del Grande, Cafe Annie

Del Grande, originally from California, received his B.S. in Chemistry and Biology and his Ph.D. in Biochemistry before being drawn to Houston in 1981 by his (now) wife Mimi. Del Grande took a temporary job at the newly-opened Café Annie, owned by Mimi's sister Cadence and business partner Lonnie Schiller. His adventure grew into a long-term family partnership and Café Annie rose to the forefront of fine cooking in the Southwest, garnering many top honors and awards. Del Grande's twenty-five years of experimentation in the kitchen has made him a prominent figure in the historical revision of American cooking, as he has indelibly changed the culinary landscape with his expertise in tastes and flavors indigenous to the region. Del Grande is basking in the gushing review for his new reinvented RDG + Bar Annie.

Robert says he's never felt more performance pressure than when preparing to meet a classroom of nine-year-olds. As a founding member of the Chef's Advisory Board he was instrumental in helping us design the curriculum and as a PhD in biochemistry he always delivers a lively and interesting class. Every year he wants to adopt the whole room!