Executive Chef, JUSTIN Vineyards & Winery; Paso Robles, CA

Rachel Haggstrom is executive chef of JUSTIN Vineyards & Winery, where she leads a culinary team that services the Michelin-starred Restaurant at JUSTIN including all-catered events, galas, and weddings, in addition to the dining program at JUSTIN’s Tasting Room in downtown Paso Robles. Chef Rachel’s culinary journey began shortly after completing her degree from California Culinary Academy – Le Cordon Bleu in San Francisco and the past fifteen years of her career have been spent in some of California’s most reputable dining institutions. Post-graduation, Chef Rachel worked her way through the kitchens of various elite culinary destinations including The Dining Room, the one-star Michelin restaurant at the Ritz-Carlton San Francisco, the former Postrio by Chef Wolfgang Puck, and Thomas Keller’s The French Laundry, which has been awarded three Michelin stars. After years in the Bay Area, Chef Haggstrom relocated to Southern California in 2013 and accepted the sous chef position at the five-star St. Regis Monarch Beach. She quickly familiarized herself with large-scale hotel and banquet operations and in October of 2014 she accepted the position as chef de cuisine at Balboa Bay Resort. She quickly excelled and was promoted to executive chef of the resort in 2015. Influenced by growing up on her family’s citrus grove, the California native is best known for her upscale farm-to-table cooking style that draws influence from the state’s bounty of fresh, seasonal produce.