When Brandon Crowell was a junior at the University of Nevada, Reno, he was not expecting to open a business with his family. However, when the opportunity arose he was not going to pass it up.

It all started with a spaghetti sauce. That got Sean Studds, executive chef of Homegrown Gastropub in Reno, into the kitchen at a young age. “I just thought, You know, I think I can do this better,” Studds says. “One day I said, look, Mom, step aside, I’m going to take this over.” From there, Studds started his journey to become a chef.

Nevada-born Chef Darrin McKillip started his career at age 17 as a busboy at the Mirror Montage. McKillip, who always had a natural talent for cooking, was eager to learn more. “I was bussing tables and I was bored to tears,” McKillip said, “I knew I was meant for cooking.”

For the last 18 years, Zozo’s Ristorante has been a staple in Reno’s Italian cuisine scene. From its opening in 2000, the Ashton family — consisting of Sid, Judy, and their son, Kevin — have worked hard to make Zozo’s a favorite among Reno locals, who in the 2017 Best of Reno contest conducted by Reno.com and RENO Magazine, voted it as the best Italian restaurant in the city.

Few pastry chefs can hold a candle to the number of culinary awards that Don Holtzer has garnered. Because his father owned a doughnut shop, Holtzer was long used to bakeries by the time he started his career at 18. “I did it because I wanted to meet girls,” Holtzer said, laughing. “That was the reason I started.”

Craig Rodrigue’s first job consisted of washing dishes at the Nugget Casino Resort in Sparks, The rest, as they say, is history.