Steven Catalano, Chef de Cuisine of Left Bank in Menlo Park, long aspired to a career in the culinary arts. His ambition to work hard, his down-to-earth spirit, and eagerness to learn sent him on an adventurous culinary path. A California native, Catalano spent a number of years playing soccer abroad and working in the snowboarding industry while also regularly cooking for family and friends. A trip to Paris further helped focus his passion for food and his desire to become a professional chef.

Catalano enrolled in and graduated from the California Culinary Academy, Le Cordon Bleu, in San Francisco, and subsequently worked at Chicago’s Charlie Trotter’s, San Francisco’s Jardinière, and Los Gatos’ Manresa. This experience afforded him the opportunity to participate in the Pebble Beach “Masters of Food and Wine” event, plus a Wine Spectator Magazine event, and to be featured on the KGO-TV (ABC) “View from the Bay” television program.