Chef Birnbaum was  featured in: -The Wall Street Journal -Gourmet Magazine -The New York Times -Julia Child's Master Chef series on TV -As well as on CNN Chef Birnbaum awards: -Conde Nast Traveler's Distinguished Restaurant Award (three-time recipient) -Food & Wine Magazine's "Top 25 Restaurants in America" Designation Chef Birnbaum donates time to: -Meals on Wheels -Hearing Society Dinner -Haight Asbury Kitchen -James Beard Foundation -Project Open -AIDS Emergency Fund -American Heart Association -March of Dimes

Jan Birnbaum It's not an exaggeration to say that Chef Jan Birnbaum gets fired up about the subject of food. In fact, a main feature of his restaurant, Catahoula, in Calistoga, CA, is the old-style brick ovens, which he designed and in which he makes every kind of dish from slow roasted turkey to traditional gumbo and inventive pastas. Having a degree in engineering helps with the mechanics of brick oven cooking. But it's Chef Birnbaum's heritage of southern family cooking and his solid training as he's worked with such noted chefs as Bradley Ogden, Jimmy Schmidt and Paul Prudhomme, that have put him on the culinary map. Catahoula Restaurant & Saloon (a tribute to Chef Birnbaum's birthplace as Catahoula is the state dog of Louisiana) is located in the rolling hills of the Napa Valley. There Chef Birnbaum, in partnership with his wife Linda Giglio, continues to add to his reputation as master of a unique Southern-inspired, American cuisine. Chef Birnbaum's cooking can also be sampled at Sazerac, a "destination" restaurant in downtown Seattle, where he also serves as chef.