Scott Wittkopf

Scott Wittkopf is a French-trained Chef with over 30 years of professional experience in the culinary arts. Scott studied and worked in Paris for a year in 1991 at the prestigious Ecole de Gastronomie Francaise Ritz-Escoffier where he had the opportunity to train with two MOFS (Meilleur Ouvrier de France), Guy LeGay and Christian Roque. His work culminated in a professional degree in both culinary and pastry arts, as well as a two-month stage at "Espadon" (Michelin Two-Star). After returning from Paris, Scott's career highlights include running top restaurants in his home state of Wisconsin including L'Etoile (Madison) and The Wisconsin Room at The American Club (Kohler). As a Chef, he has opened a hotel (Hilton Madison) and three restaurants (Ovens of Brittany Mineral Point, Main Street Cafe Hartford, and Griglia Tuscany Madison). Most recently in Chicago, Scott has worked as Pastry Chef at Lea French Cafe, Maison Parisienne, and Claremont Diner. Currently, Scott has committed his career to training the next generation of culinarians as Head Chef Instructor for Inspiration Corporation's Food Service Training Program at Inspiration Kitchens in Garfield Park. There, Scott and his colleagues train people to enter the workforce as cooks in Chicago. Participants in the training program are coming from highly disadvantaged life experiences such as homelessness, extreme poverty, incarceration, domestic violence, etc. Scott is committed to passing along the knowledge and experience he has been fortunate enough to have, in order to benefit the future generations of culinarians, and continue a long tradition of authentic cuisine in the world.