Chef Olivier Said

Co-founder/Co-Chef - Kitchen on Fire

Co-Host/Executive Producer - "Mastering Knife Skills" DVD

Author - CESAR: Recipes from a Tapas Bar and

Published by Ten Speed Press in Oct 2003

THE BAR: A Spirited Guide to Cocktail Alchemy

Published by Ten Speed Press in Aug 2005

The former co-owner and bar manager of Berkeley's acclaimed Cesar Tapas Bar, Said is one of the Bay Area's most respected culinary personalities. Born and raised in France, he is the descendant of at least five generations of restaurateurs dating back to the early 1800s. Said began his career at the age of 15 in his mother's Paris restaurant. He moved to Los Angeles in the early 1980s and worked at Ken Frank's La Toque, one of the first restaurants in the country to feature California nouvelle cuisine. In 1987, Said returned to Paris and opened his own restaurant, the very popular Texas Coyote, which included three sprawling bars and a night club. It had frequent reviews in the press such as Gault Millau, Vogue, Le Point, Le Nouvel Observateur, Le Monde, Paris Capital magazine, Liberation and Marie Claire. Olivier Said was a regular guest host on the number 2 national radio station in France, Skyrock, live from his restaurant.

After returning to the States in the late 1990s, he joined the management team atBerkeley's Cesar Tapas Bar, founded by three Chez Panisse alumni. The restaurant was an instant hit with both Berkeley food lovers and restaurant critics who raved about its unique Spanish-inspired menu and world-class wine-and-spirits list. The San Francisco Food Lover's Guide hailed it as "one of the greatest bars in the world in terms of quality of spirits, selection, and mixology." Among other accolades, it was voted one of the best restaurants in the Bay Area by the San Francisco Chronicle for eight years in a row, and featured in such national publications as Gourmet magazine.