Chef Mario Huante
Executive Chef, Owner
Photo by Tim Broyer

Chef Mario began his culinary career washing dishes at about the age of 14  in a small restaurant in Burlington, Vermont where he was born and raised. After the thrill of moving up from dishwasher to "putting the sauce on the spaghetti" wore off, Mario went to Culinary school at both Johnson and Wales in Providence, RI and finished his school education at the New England Culinary Institute in Essex, VT in 1989.

His initial career took him from Vermont, to Rhode Island, to Florida where he worked as a Banquet Chef and Supervisor and eventually to North Carolina where, after working for an upscale catering company, he had an entrepreneurial seizure and began his personal chef career in 1998.

He began just as traditional personal chefs do and brought all of his pots and pans into each clients home, prepared the weekly meals (always from scratch), and then departed, but as demand for his services grew, it just became impossible to cook for everyone he needed to cook for and in September 2002, he moved into a commercial kitchen in the lower level of a historic home in Cary, NC and became the ONLY personal chef service to deliver meals directly to their clients. As demand grew greater still, we moved into a larger commercial kitchen just off Lake Boone Trail and the beltline, down the street from Rex Hospital where we now operate a full Catering Business as well as Personal Chef Service since approximately August of 2005!
Chef Mario has always had a deep desire to help people maintain a healthy lifestyle through cooking and has since specialized in "Healthy Familiar Cuisine", which puts a healthy twist on old, familiar favorites (have you tried this man's meat loaf??!). Having always cooked from scratch, he simply doesn't know how to do it any other way. A man who even makes his own salad dressings and chicken stocks from scratch is precisely the man I'd want cooking for my family!
For more info on Chef Mario or Chef Mario's Inc, just give us a
call at 919-781-4141 or drop us an e-mail at www.chefmario.com

And remember, It Always Tastes Better When Someone Else Cooks!!
    
Darcy Brennan
General Manager
Photo by Tim Broyer

I am the other half of Chef Mario's Inc and the one who is usually taking care of the clients on the customer service end as well as playing marketing guru, website technician, office manager and anything else that pops up! It helps that I'm a complete control freak and I like to have my hands in everything to make sure it all goes off without a hitch! I came on board in 2005 and it has been quite a ride! Since my arrival, we have expanded into the Catering world and have been incredibly fortunate with our success and our absolutely AMAZING clients! We run the kitchen like we run our home- each and every client is a member of our family and we will try our butts off to make sure that every event, no matter how big or how small, is a raving success! There is no greater reward that fabulous feedback from someone who's event was more memorable because they allowed us to be involved with it. I am also the author of the articles in Cary Living and handle everything necessary to run the business, but I like to leave the kitchen to Chef Mario and let him focus on the food.
I graduated from NC State in 2000, Phi Beta Kappa Summa Cum Laude (which is a fancy way of saying I'm a pretty smart cookie) and ran my own successful business for 3 years before coming on board here. I had initially set out to lend a hand temporarily. I was impressed by the high focus on quality, creativity and dedication to excellence this company has always put fourth, but I fell in love not only with the company, but with the Chef himself (yes, we're a couple, and I'm VERY proud of that fact! :) ). I'm completely self-taught and home schooled in regards to the culinary end, but Chef Mario has taken me under his wing and it is just amazing how much I have learned simply by being in the presence of the amazing Chef Mario! I received my ServSafe Certification in March of 2007 as I believe strongly that in the food industry, safety supersedes all else. I believe highly in the importance of good- scratch that- exceptional customer service and am thrilled to be such a large part of this absolutely unbelievably amazing team!
Joshua Nichols
Apprentice

(Stay tuned for Josh's Bio!)
Kelsey Arp
Assistant to the General Manager

(Stay Tuned for Kelsey's Bio!)
David Bruneau
Roundsman

(Stay Tuned for Dave's Bio!)
Marcus Vicens
Roundsman/Dish

(Stay tuned for Marcus' Bio!)
Haydn Rowe
Roundsman

(Stay Tuned for Haydn's Bio!)
Jacob Barrett
Dishman Extraordinaire

(Stay Tuned for Jacob's Bio!)
Luke McMahon- Graduated!
AAA

Born in Pittsburg PA, he’s been a Raleigh resident for the past 15 years. He’s the oldest of three with a younger brother and sister. After studying Graphic Design at NCSU, he decided to make his lifelong love of cooking from a hobby into a career and joined the Apprentice program in April 2007. “I enjoy cooking for people and I saw the Apprentice program as the perfect opportunity to develop my culinary skills through hands-on training in a real world situation”, says Luke. “I’ve found that being in this business can involve some long hours, but when you love what you do, it doesn’t seem like work at all…it’s fun, and the time just flies by’, adds Luke.

When not in the kitchen, Luke enjoys playing basketball, watching baseball, football and going to Carolina Hurricanes games, and watching movies, both old and new, with favorites featuring either Al Pacino or Robert DeNiro. He’s also a lover of all types of music ranging from 2Pac toLed Zepplin. In addition to movies and sports, he’s also likes video games and exploring his artistic side with sketching or painting.
Gregory Gettles
Apprentice- granted early release from program due to opportunities that couldn't be passed up!

I LOVE food. I live it, breathe it, I cannot get enough of it. I love learning how to better myself with each and every new experience and new creation. My sisters strongly influenced my diet growing up and that lead me to a mainly Vegan/Vegetarian diet, which has given me a strong appreciation for cooking with fresh vegetables and fruits and utilizing the best ingredients I can get my hands on. I volunteer at local organic farms to learn more about where food comes from and gain access to the most beautiful seasonal organic produce North Carolina has to offer. My favorite cooking styles would include Vegan/Vegetarian menus, French Cuisine and Southwestern. Next to food, reading is the love of my life, followed closely by writing. I love to expand my mind whenever I get the chance and my favorite book to date is “The Tao”. I also love all types of music and have quite an eclectic musical collection which I am constantly adding too as well.
Throughout my life, I have been prone to allergies and believe in the healing power in good, solid nutrition. For me, all fresh and all natural cooking is not something that should be compromised. We are what we eat and we shouldn’t have to settle for less and I’m proud to have found a kindred spirit in Chef Mario’s, Inc.
Stacie Donaghy
Assistant to the General Manager

My passion for food began as a young child. I remember sitting on the kitchen counter every night and watching my mom cook our dinner. I also looked forward to every holiday knowing that the day before I would get to spend the whole day with my NaNa planning, creating and preparing the holiday meal for our family.
Born and raised on Oklahoma, I met the love of my life and had the opportunity to move with him while he was active duty in the Air Force and travel across the country. Our travels brought us to North Carolina in 2008 and joined the Chef Mario’s Team soon after!
I’m a fun-loving person who enjoys family and friends. I’m the kind of girl you will see wearing a ball cap and heels to go fishing. I love the outdoors, reading and good food! Food is my passion, it is more than a meal to me, it’s an art.