Meet our Chef!
Yutaro Tachibe - Starfield Vineyards' Executive Chef
With over 15 years of working in some of California’s most highly acclaimed Michelin star restaurants, Yutaro's skill, experience and creativity are the perfect pairing with Starfield Vineyards! Chef Yutaro joined our team June of 2021 and has been hard at work improving our culinary operations and creating amazing new menu items. He is an integral part of our team and now that he is all settled in, we are beyond excited to introduce him to you all!
Chef Yutaro is passionate about creating seasonal dishes that reflect our local El Dorado County micro-climate’s abundance of high-quality ingredients. El Dorado County offers a multitude of amazing local farmers, butchers and other artisan purveyors that afford us the ability to create a cornucopia of spectacular food items that pair with our wines. Growing up surrounded by culinary pioneers, Chef Yutaro has been immersed in culinary arts and fell in love at a young age. Upon completion of his culinary education at California School Culinary Arts in Pasadena, Ca, he continued to expand his knowledge and hone his craft working in some of California’s most respected and finest Michelin star awarded restaurants.
In 2006, Chef Yutaro joined the team at Santa Monica’s 2-star Michelin restaurant, Melisse, as Sous Chef. His experience at Melisse, taught him all aspects of menu development, recipe creation and kitchen management. Following his time at Melisse, in 2011 Chef Yutaro accepted the position of Sous Chef at Corey Lee’s highly acclaimed 3-star Michelin restaurant, Benu, in San Francisco. Under the tutelage of Corey Lee at Benu, he further expanded his knowledge of techniques and culinary logistics. While at Benu, Chef Yutaro specialized in applying an array of diverse techniques while using the freshest and most local ingredients to create 15 to 20 course wine pairing menus. In 2014, Yutaro continued his tenure with Corey Lee’s team with a promotion of Executive Sous Chef at Monsieur Benjamin and was an invaluable part of the opening and leadership team. In 2016, Chef Yutaro continued to work with Corey Lee’s team as Executive Sous Chef at In Situ in San Francisco. Chef Yutaro worked side by side with the Executive Chef and shared all responsibilities, in not only all daily operations but also the opening and culinary development of In Situ. Chef Yutaro and the team at In Situ, were awarded a Michelin star in 2017. In 2019, Chef Yutaro joined Tyler Florence’s team at Wayfair Tavern with a promotion to Chef de Cuisine.
As Executive Chef of Starfield Vineyards, Chef Yutaro oversees our entire culinary program starting from menu creation, program development, procuring locally crafted quality ingredients, and leading the culinary team with a hands-on approach to execution. Chef Yutaro is an amazing asset to the Starfield team. We are beyond excited to welcome his creativity and experience to the Starfield experience. Chef has begun to add his creations to the regular menus but we promise there are so many more exciting things to come. We have no doubt all of our members and guests will fall in love with his culinary creations!