Chef Mary Schaefer has over 18 years of culinary experience. She is a Certified Executive Pastry Chef with the American Culinary Federation. She has extensive training with culinary institutes such as The Culinary Institute of America, Notter School of Pastry Arts, The American Institute of Baking, and The University of Hawaii.

Her culinary experience includes pastry chef at The Sheraton Royal Hawaiian and Disney's Contemporary Resort and a pastry/catering chef for Disney's Coronado Springs Resort. Mary has appeared on the Do It Yourself Network, where she did a 30 minute show on cake decorating, and has appeared on several TV Food Network specials. Mary has taught culinary and baking classes in Guam, China, the Marshall Islands, Hawaii, and in Orlando, Florida.

Chef Phillip Brown, executive chef of The River Club, combines his classical French continental training from Newbury College (MA) with Asian and Italian cuisine influences. Brown has represented The Ritz-Carlton in such places as the Westbury Hotel, Dublin Ireland; James Beard House, New York, and Ritz-Carlton Hotels in Houston, TX, and Cancun Mexico.

He began his Ritz-Carlton career in 1983 in Boston as a line cook, saucier, café chef and banquet chef and worked as an executive sous chef and restaurant chef at the corporate headquarters in Atlanta.

Chef Bob Henry is a native of Bethlehem, PA. At the age of 17, he joined the Navy to further his experience and help finance his planned schooling. One of his assignments was to run the wardroom responsible for feeding all officers and their dignitaries. He hosted Bob Hope's 77th Birthday special.

Bob attended the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY. His externship was spent at the National School of Meat Cutting in Toledo, Ohio. Bob became an Executive Chef with Beacon Hotel Company where his responsibilities included opening five hotel operations in five years from Philadelphia to Detroit.

Bob and his wife formed a catering company. They provided services for all types of social events including weddings, golf outings along with events for the Philadelphia Eagles and Phillies. Bob relocated to Florida to become the Dining Service Director at Penney Retirement Community. He and his wife Linda have 2 sons.

After a stint in the U.S. Navy, Chef Paul Zito graduated from the Culinary Institute of America and then completed the Chef's Excellence Program at CIA, sponsored by Marriott Hotels & Resorts. He became Executive Sous Chef & Banquet Chef at Turnberry Isle Resort & Country Club in North Miami Beach, and then relocated to Las Vegas, Nevada, where he worked as Assistant Executive Chef at Caesar's Palace and Harrah's Hotel & Casino. He also helped open the Mirage Hotel and Casino as Executive Chef of the upscale restaurant Kokomo's and later moved to Ponte Vedra Beach for chef positions at the Plantation & Sawgrass Golf and Country Clubs. Chef Zito has also worked as Executive Chef and later Director of Food & Beverage at Marriott Hotels & Resorts Inc. before starting his own company, Culinary Creations. Most recently, he worked at the 5-diamond resort Ponte Vedra Inn & Club in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. He has a great passion for teaching and looks forward to playing a major role in the careers of his students.