Perry Hoffman

A Napa Valley native, Perry Hoffman literally grew up in fine dining wine country kitchens, as his grandparents, Sally and Don Schmitt were the original owners of The French Laundry in Yountville. He first became interested in cooking by helping his grandmother in the kitchen, assisting her with tasks such as making croutons, roasting bell peppers and chopping parsley.

He took his first formal restaurant job working as a pantry chef at his neighborhood restaurant at age 15. Three years later, he moved to Anderson Valley to work as a sous chef at the Boonville Hotel, where he learned to cook seasonally, sourcing produce from the restaurant’s vegetable garden. From there, Hoffman became sous chef at Santé Restaurant at Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn, where he remained until getting courted by Chef Robert Curry at Auberge du Soleil in Rutherford in 2005. During his two years at Auberge, Hoffman helped the restaurant achieve its first Michelin star rating.

After joining the culinary team at etoile Restaurant at Domaine Chandon in 2007, Hoffman was quickly appointed Chef. There he captured critical attention in 2010, as the youngest American chef to be awarded a Michelin Star at age 25. Since then, etoile has maintained one Michelin Star for three consecutive years, in 2010, 2011 and 2012. Hoffman was also named a “Rising Star Chef” by the San Francisco Chronicle in 2010, and was a James Beard Foundation Semifinalist for “Rising Star Chef of the Year” in 2010 and 2011. In 2012, Hoffman was named one of Zagat’s “30 under 30,” and also received recognition from Food & Wine, as he was voted “The People’s Best New Chef: California.”

At etoile, Hoffman enjoys creating fresh, seasonally-changing dishes, drawing on the restaurant’s extensive gardens, located throughout the property’s 300-acre estate, which Hoffman describes as a “foragers dream of wild ingredients.” By drawing upon locally-grown resources to create etoile’s menu, “nature tells us what to cook,” he adds.  In crafting his dishes, Hoffman also pays special attention to wine pairings, yielding dishes that are balanced and harmonious. etoile’s unique position within a winery allows for daily interaction with Domaine Chandon’s winemaking team, resulting in truly innovative, wine-inspired cuisine.

Hoffman lives in Napa, Calif. Combining his passion for food with his love of the outdoors, when he is away from the kitchen he enjoys fishing and gardening.