Patch Picks: Top Chefs

If youʼre a food lover, youʼll be happy to know there are great chefs working in nearby establishments. Patch asked five fun questions to get to know them better.

Top Five Area Chefs

1. John Schlitz, Lake Elmo Inn, Lake Elmo

2. Chef Ron Bohnert, Dannyʼs Bar and Grille/StoneRidge Golf Club, Stillwater

3. Chef Marc Paavola, Current Restaurant/Afton House Inn, Afton

4. Executive Chef Ben Bruno (Woodbury resident), St. Croix River Inn, Osceola, Wis.

5. Pastry Chef Steve Conway, , Woodbury

Patch: Whatʼs your favorite guilt food?

Schlitz: Haagen-Daaz chocolate-chocolate chip ice cream.

Bohnert: A Chicago dog with jalapenos, cheddar cheese and kettle chips.”

Paavola: A tortilla with cheese and any random filling I can find in the fridge.

Bruno: In-N-Out Burger, their Double Double with grilled onions. The good news is this chain is only on the West Coast for now, so I donʼt have access to them on a regular basis!

Conway: Any chocolate, but preferably, warm chocolate chip cookies right out of the oven.”

Patch: Ingredient or cooking utensil you would never go without?

Schlitz: Mother Nature gave us three wonderful things: butter, cream and salt. These things, used in moderation, can greatly enhance foods.

Bohnert: Kitchen tongs and cracked black pepper.

Paavola: Oil, salt and pepper. I know thatʼs three, but I use them more as one, all the time.

Bruno: Extra virgin olive oil.

Conway: Flour and sugar.

Patch: How long have you been in your current position?

Schlitz: Iʼm in my 28th year at Lake Elmo Inn.

Bohnert: I have been at StoneRidge Golf Club since 2000.

Paavola: Been at the Afton House Inn since 2010. My first chef position was in the early 2000s at the Vintage Restaurant and Wine Bar. Iʼve been in the kitchen for over 20 years now.

Bruno: I am the owner and executive chef at the St. Croix River Inn for over eight years now.

Conway: At Dorothy Annʼs for 29 years.

Patch: Favorite food and drink pairing?

Schlitz: Diet Coke and anything.

Bohnert: Grey Goose vodka on the rocks with seared Ahi Tuna served rare.

Paavola: I love to finish meals with espresso and Grappa. Itʼs such a classic finishing statement.

Bruno: Last summer I made white wine mojitos and paired it with southwest salmon cakes and chipotle aioli. It was over the top!

Conway: Grilled steak and shrimp with an icy cold beer.

Patch: What is your most memorable chef moment (good or bad)?

Schlitz: When I first started out in my career, I was working for Hyatt Hotel Corporation as a chef. At the young age of 25, I received the Hyatt Hotels Don Pritzker Award of Excellence, which is top award. For a young American, working in a corporation filled with award-winning European chefs, to win it at such a young age, was a real honor.

Bohnert: I was the chef at Curt Carlsonʼs 50th anniversary, cooking for 6,000 people. Bob Hope was the entertainment.

Paavola: Setting up the Landʼs End kitchen in Homer, Alaska, with my now sous chef, Ryan Kaliher, and John Bruce Hasslet. The hotel set out about two miles into the Kachemak Bay off the Cook Inlet. Salmon, halibut and oysters anyone?

Bruno: I catered a grooms dinner the first week of October that was outside in a tent. As luck had it, we had an early snowfall. Grilling salmon filets and bacon-wrapped tenderloins with falkes falling, keeping the food and guests warm and ice cream bar cold was "extreme" catering!

Conway: Hosting ʼs campaign kickoff. It was an honor and thrill to host a congresswomanʼs entourage. The national coverage we are still receiving from that visit (as they show dated clips of her), is amazing.

If You Go...

• Lake Elmo Inn, 3442 Lake Elmo Ave. N., Lake Elmo, MN, 651-777-8495, www.lakeelmoinn.com
• , 3291 St. Croix Trail S., Afton, MN, 651-436-8883, www.currentrestaurant.com
• StoneRidge Golf Club, 13600 N. Hudson Blvd., Stillwater, MN, 651-436-GOLF, www.stoneridgegc.com
• St. Croix River Inn, 305 River Street, Osceola, WI, 715-294-4248, www.stroixriverinn.com
• Dorothy Ann Bakery and Cafe, 710 Commerce Drive, suite 100, Woodbury, 651-731-3323, www.dorothyannbakery.com