Join us for a five course wine and food adventure! On Thursday, July 13, 2023, Willowbrook Mill will host this amazing gathering of five of the best winemakers in the region and a James Beard, Food & Wine award winning chef, Don Yamauchi!

If you've been lucky enough to attend a Willowbrook Mill Chef Dinner, you know that what we do is more than just a meal. It's Food Theater. Fantastic Food & Wine, lively presentations and conversations all in the gorgeous setting the award winning Willowbrook Mill Event & Wedding Venue in Northport, Michigan.

Five Phenomenal Vintners & One Amazing Chef. 

Wine and food pairings happen when someone creates a menu and then picks wines to pair with each course. We’re doing this backwards. There isn’t a wine maker anywhere who hasn’t tasted their creation and not thought, “This would be perfect with…” So that is where we are beginning the Vintners Pairing Dinner.  

We’ve invited five awarded local winemakers to pick a favorite wine they have made for a specific course and identify the main components of a dish they feel it would pair perfectly to. Then the winemaker collaborated with Chef Don Yamauchi to create a custom recipe for that particular wine. Clever. Right? 

Guests will enjoy a fabulous five course-paired meal created by our dream team!

Black Star Farms Winery- Lee Lutes, Co-Owner & Winemaker

45 North Winery- Jay Briggs, Winemaker

Bel Lago & French Valley Winery- Blake Loughheed, Head Winemaker

Left Foot Charley Winery- Bryan Ulrich, Owner & Wine Sherpa

Shady Lane- Kasey Wiersba, Executive Winemaker & General Manager

And creating the food magic- Chef Don Yamauchi. 

A little about Chef Yamauchi...

A native of Chicago, Yamauchi is the product of a true "melting pot." The son of a second-generation Japanese-American father and Filipino mother, Yamauchi spent his childhood near the Loyola

University campus on the North side. His interest in food came early, with the aromas and flavors of his mother’s cooking and the "exotic" flavors of Japanese cuisine from his father’s family—plus his own

all-American love of "fast food," a weakness with him to this day.

At 11, Yamauchi moved with this family to Skokie, known for its large Jewish community. Living next door to a rabbi and his family, young Yamauchi would often visit there to turn on the home’s stove

and electrical appliances for the family on the Sabbath, then return later to turn everything off. Along the way, he learned the flavors of yet another cuisine. From fifth grade on, Yamauchi enrolled in all the

home economics and cooking classes available to him.

Yamauchi’s parents wanted him to pursue a career in music, and by the time he was 14 he was what one calls a virtuoso, touring the country with his high school orchestra. He also enjoys martial arts; at age

19 he placed third in the U.S. National Championships.

With all of his life’s interests, his first love, cooking, called to him. After working in fast food places and TGIF Fridays, he enrolled in the Kendall Culinary College. Two years later he had his first "real" job

at the North Shore Hilton Hotel. His real training, however, started when he joined the staff at Carlos’ Restaurant, a highly successful four-star restaurant, where he worked under French (and Great) chef

Roland Liccioni.

Those were difficult years, he says, trying to learn all the basics of fine French cooking while awakening to the flavor combinations in the French tradition, and his own heritage. When Liccioni left Carlos’

to take over Le Francais, Yamauchi moved on to Le Mikado, an innovative spot where he tried his culinary wings. Don returned to Carlos Restaurant as sous chef under Gabriel Viti. When Viti left,

Yamauchi took over as Executive Chef.

Carlos Restaurant had a reputation for innovation and developing great chefs. Carlos Restaurant achieved four-star status, many honors and awards, including a "Top 25 Restaurants in the Nation" from Food

& Wine Magazine.

At Carlos Restaurant, Yamauchi also was named in the "Top Ten New Chefs in America" by Food & Wine Magazine. Another award - for the musician and martial artist who wanted to cook — was a Top

Five Rising Chefs in America award nominated by the James Beard Society.

Then it was on to Gordon Restaurant with one of the most innovative restauranteurs in Chicago, Gordon Sinclair. When Gordon decided to close his namesake restaurant, Yamauchi went to Le Francais

when Chef Jean Banchet retired. Yamauchi was selected personally by Great Chef Takashi Yagihashi to take over the kitchen at, Tribute Restaurant, in Farmington Hills, Michigan.

After a successful run at Tribute, Yamauchi spent time at the MGM Grand Casino in Detroit Michigan as the Executive Chef at Michael Mina’s Bourbon Steak and Salt Water, Executive Chef at Motor City

Casino, Belterra Park Casino in Cincinnati, Ameristar Casino in St. Louis Missouri, and Mountaintop Golf and Lake Club in Cashiers North Carolina. In December 2020, Don along with his wife Cleta,

Jeramie, and Debra Campana opened 400 Rabbits on 975 Rabbit Road, Sanibel Florida. It was a 250-seat Mexican-inspired menu. The restaurant was well received and was busy. In September 2022,

Hurricane Ian not only destroyed Sanibel but the restaurant as well.

Currently, Don is the Executive Chef at Palmetto Bluff in Bluffton South Carolina. Palmetto Bluff is a luxury private golf community. It sits on 20,000 acres. The club focuses on local meats and seafood, works daily with Palmetto Bluff Farmer, Shane, and focuses on farm-to-table produce. A unique property that is one of a kind

Grab a glass of wine and watch Don in the kitchens of Great Chefs of America - https://youtu.be/AAOkP1MylDI

Better than that, click the ticket link below and join us at Willowbrook Mill when we bring Chef Yamauchi together with these award winning vintners. You don't want to miss this event!

Tickets are $145 per person, Tax & Tip included.

Five Course Dinner with Wine Pairings for Each course.

Limited Open Seating.

Reservations for tables of eight only.

No menu substitutions.