meet the chefs
Professional Chefs
Nea Hahn, Executive Chef and Co-owner, Whisk & Arrow Sugar Studio
Nea returns for a fourth year to defend her title as Chopped Professional Chef Champion. Although trained in classic French pastry by the International Culinary Center in Northern California, her passion for the culinary arts shows as she competes against very talented local chefs each year.
Whisk & Arrow is a high-end, award-winning bakery that prides itself on their from scratch goodies and commitment to the community. You can find classics from French patisserie like macarons, or reimagined staples like their carrot cake or lemon meringue tarts.
Nea is Brazilian born and has called the States home for the last 18 years. When she's not at the bakery, she's home baking with her family, kids Sophia and Apollo and husband Pat.
Chef Matias Whittingslow , Co-owner, Author’s Kitchen + Bar
Matias fine-tuned his skills working around the globe in Argentina, Spain and the U.S. He has worked for Four Seasons Hotels and 2 Michelin starred restaurants. Consuming all the knowledge possible as he worked, Matias has come to have a unique style that keeps you guessing with flavors.
Matias was born in a small town outside Buenos Aires. He attended the Argentine Institute of Gastronomy and worked in Spain before relocating to Miami for a job in a hotel kitchen. He continued traveling and cooking in locations such as Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado and Four Seasons Hotel in Chicago. Each new experience has helped shape him as a chef. Fox Valley diners will see many of these global influences on the menu at Author’s Kitchen + Bar.
Peter Kuenzi, Chef and Owner, Zuppas
We are delighted to have Peter join us again in our Professional Chef Competition. He won our first Chopped competition in 2017 and served as a judge in subsequent years. Peter trained at the famed Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York. He developed his signature style while cooking at upscale restaurants in Marco Island, Florida, and Chicago in the late 1980’s. Peter returned to Northeast Wisconsin in 1992 to serve as executive chef for the Oshkosh Power Boat Club. With a loyal following of diners drawn to his unique offerings, Peter co-founded The Season’s in 1996 and later opened Zuppas, Italian for “soup", in 1999. Zuppas current home is in Neenah’s Shops at Mahler Farms on South Commercial Street.
Celebrity Chefs
Rayon Brown, Vice President for Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion and Regional Operations/CDO, Fox Valley Technical College
Rayon, 2021 and 2022 Chopped Celebrity Chef Champion, joined FVTC in 2004. Before being named Chief Diversity Officer in 2020, he held various positions including Director of Diversity & Inclusion, Manager of Multicultural Student Services, Intercollegiate Athletics/Student Life Coordinator and Student Life Recreation Assistant. In 2014, he served as Director of the Brother-to-Brother program, an initiative designed to increase retention rates of students of color.
Active in the community, Rayon chairs the Ryan Community Board of Directors, and serves on the NACCE Mentoring Council, Community Health Action Team (CHAT), Greater Fox Cities Area Habitat for Humanity, Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region, and Boys & Girls Clubs of the Fox Valley.
Kate Burgess and Tom Burgess, CEO/Owner and Founder/COO, respectively, Elevate97
In the mid-1990s, Kate and Tom Burgess earned their commercial drivers’ licenses and journeyed the country by big-rig, brimming with Midwest work ethic. That open-road freedom spoke to their entrepreneurial spirit. In 1997, a garage became home to their new fulfillment and direct-mail company. Six acquisitions and 25 years later, Kate and Tom are still leading the charge at Elevate97 in Green Bay. Elevate97 continues to expand and today offers a wide range of integrated or independent services that include print, fulfillment, technology, experiential graphic design, and commercial signage.
Kate and Tom believe in paying it forward and giving their time and resources to support and strengthen the communities in which their partners live and work.
Chris Dimmer, SVP, Retail Branch Network Director, Nicolet National Bank
Chris is a member of the Senior Management Team for Nicolet Bank, leading the retail staff and providing strategic oversight of the branch network. He brings leadership and a passion for serving to both the employees he leads and the wider communities he serves. He leads by example in service and sales by bringing his successful business development skills to all areas of Nicolet Bank.
Chris is best known for his positive attitude and enthusiasm for being an inspiring leader. As a community bank, Nicolet is involved in countless charitable endeavors, and Chris leads many of the efforts, especially in his home community of Neenah, WI. Chris and his wife Gretchen are enjoying their current chapter in life, as parents to two daughters in college.
