Chef Almir Da Fonseca is a professor of Culinary Arts at CIA at Greystone in St. Helena, CA. Chef Da Fonseca joined CIA in 2007 and over the years taught a broad range of courses, including Accelerated Culinary Arts Program Fundamentals, Meat and Fish Fabrication, Garde Manger, Euro-Mediterranean Cuisine, Gastronomy, High-Volume Production, À la Carte, Banquets, and Café Savory, but the course he teaches the most is Cuisines of the Americas as is his true passion and specialty with his in-dept research and knowledge of the Latin Flavors of the three Americas. From 2010 to 2013, he was executive chef and senior chef-instructor in the Wine Spectator Greystone Restaurant.
A native of the southeast region of Brazil, Da Fonseca has over four decades of experience in the foodservice industry. He transitioned to a culinary career from studying marine biology after finding his passion in professional kitchens. After an apprenticeship with Jacques Arpi, a Certified Executive Chef in French cuisine, Da Fonseca carved a professional path as an executive chef in restaurants and hotel kitchens as well as corporate, private, and winery catering chef positions. He owned and operated his own restaurant and today owns and operates his catering and gastronomy services company, Flavor Source Fonte Sabor.
Chef Da Fonseca has found great pleasure and a sense of service and responsibility as a culinary educator, with stops at the California Culinary Academy (CCA), Le Cordon Blue International before joining the faculty at CIA nearly 20 years ago. He has been selected to speak at culinary program graduations numerous times, including before CCA and Le Cordon Blue International students in 2006 and multiple times at CIA’s associate degree and Advanced Culinary Arts Certificate Program graduations at CIA at Greystone. He also has been invited to cook for dignitaries and numerous national and international special events and celebrations, as well as for the James Beard Foundation special dinner in Napa Valley.
For the past several years, he has been conducting in-depth research into the cuisines of his home country and has been sharing his work in periodicals and his website. He has lectured and presented his work on the national and international stage at multiple conferences and educational institutions of gastronomy. He shares his love and appreciation for the cuisines and cookery of Brazil in his award-winning book, The Brazil Project.