Executive Pastry Chef
Executive Pastry Chef
A native of Texas, Ricardo "Ricchi" Sanchez was born and raised in Beaumont. After culinary school, Ricchi took a position in the Phoenix/Scottsdale area, followed by a move to Las Vegas where he was part of the opening team for The Mandarin Oriental Hotel, working for five years at Twist by Pierre Gagnaire as the Head Pastry Chef.
Ricchi also received training in Paris, France at the noted Pierre Gagnaire restaurant at Hotel Balzac. Following his time at Twist, he worked for two years at the Nobu Hotel and Restaurant at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, as Executive Pastry Chef. Ricchi returned to his home state of Texas to open Flora Street Café by Stephan Pyles as Corporate Pastry Chef.
Chef Ricchi and the Flora Street Café team received a James Beard Foundation Award Nomination for Best New Restaurant in the United States, he was awarded Best Dessert in Dallas by D Magazine, and the restaurant also received a 5-star review from The Dallas Morning News.
Beverage Director & Sommelier
Beverage Director & Sommelier
Andrew Schawel was born and raised in Chicago, and his food and beverage career found its roots as a young boy. Some of his most treasured childhood memories were watching his grandmother rolling out dough at the kitchen table and the satisfaction of bringing a tray of ice water to house guests on a hot summer day.
Six years into the coffee industry, Andrew found himself managing a coffee shop at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco. During this time, he participated in weekly tastings with winemakers from Napa and Sonoma, an experience that sparked a love and appreciation for wine. As he contemplated his next move, Andrew reached a crossroad, and instead of taking a job as a coffee roaster, he moved to Seattle and began a career in restaurants.
The full immersion into the restaurant industry exposed Andrew to every position in the front of the house from busser to host, and server to bartender. Realizing that wine and beverage were his main motivation, he enrolled in classes with the International Sommelier Guild and applied for a job at Canlis Restaurant in Seattle, working his way from barista up to lead server over the course of three years.
Making the move from the West Coast to New York, Andrew sat for his certified sommelier exam and received the Walter J. Clore Scholarship for the highest score in his class. Andrew soon joined the team at the original Union Square Cafe in New York City where he piloted the restaurant's first sommelier position, eventually working his way up to wine manager.
When the original location closed, he moved to the two-star Michelin restaurant, The Modern, as a sommelier and contributed to the wine program that attained the Wine Spectator Grand Award.
Before joining the team at Bullion, Andrew had been involved with wine list development, staff education, and operational consulting for restaurants in New York City.