LA Bonne Terre Restaurant at Chateau Faire Le Pont Winery

Chef Richard Kitos Bio:

Quick...what do you get when you pluck a chef from Kansas and abandon him in Europe for four years?  Give up?  Well, we don't know what to call the resulting cuisine either, but we can assure you that it tastes good!
 
The Kansan in question?  Former partner and Executive Chef of The Victorian Cafe, and Duck Duck Mousse Catering company in Santa Monica, California, Richard Kitos.  Born and raised in Lawrence, Kansas, he studied restaurant management at Kansas State University, and soon after began cooking without formal training.  After working at the ultra hot restaurant, The Crystal Pavalion, in Kansas City for an extended period in the eighties, he then moved to Switzerland, where he immersed himself in exciting culinary passions for four years and refined his rustic prairie tastes.  Returning to the United States a changed man, he ran Pastels Kitchen on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, The Palm Court Restaurant in West L.A., and Indigo Restaurant in L.A., before taking control of The Victorians kitchen and renovating the menu there.
 
Kitos' cuisine joins the best of two worlds.  While the European training added subtlety and refinement to his plate, Kitos has never abandoned his Midwestern respect for hearty, generous servings of old favorites.  Incorporating all kinds of influences-especially Asian ones-into essentially California dishes, he has found a happy medium between more "down-home" and "west coast" cuisine.  Certainly, his approach has pleased the critics at The Los Angeles Times, The Santa Monica Mirror, Gourmet Magazine, and numerous other publications.
 
During his sixteen year stint at The Victorian/Duck Duck Mousse, he grew the company into one of L.A. 's premire catering companies, doing parties in size from ten to three thousand five hundred.  The client list includes UCLA, The Ronald Reagan Hospital, The Los Angeles Clippers, top Hollywood producer Jerry Brucheimer, Cavalia Horse Show, The L.A. Zoo, MTV, Yahoo, Neiman Marcus, various movie premieres, and The Peterson Auto Museum.  He also created the Victorian Bakery which bakes all of the companies breads and desserts, teachs numerous cooking classes, developed a corporate team building training program, did numerous t.v. show appearances, and trained many cooks that went on to run some of L.A.'s well known restaurants, and catering companies.  He is best known as the "Omelette Guy", because of the omelette business which he created at the Santa Monicas Sunday Farmers Market.  
 
Richard and his wife Ashley recently opened The Ivywild Bed and Breakfast in Wenatchee, Wa.

Comments from the Chef..

I am excited to be a part of the Chateau Family. We will be expanding our hours and our menu. I use only fresh ingredients and try to use local as much as possible thus the name..La Bonne Terre..Good Earth