Preston Dishman
Executive Chef, Viognier Restaurant

An accomplished chef with coast-to-coast accolades, Preston Dishman’s southern charm and culinary roots found him at an early age while growing up in the mountains of North Carolina.

At 14, he traded family farm work for the culinary world, serving hot dogs and ice cream at a local deli. Like many successful chefs, Preston Dishman says that a life in the kitchen seemed to choose him, not the other way around. He spent the next 13 years reading every cookbook he could get his hands on, while working through the kitchen ranks from dishwasher and prep cook at a local dive to Chef de Cuisine at the Eseeola Lodge, a Mobil 4-Star Resort.

He began to approach cooking seriously following college, and attended the French Culinary Institute in New York. He then ventured to a bigger playing field in New York City and staged at Bill Telepan's New York Times rated 3 Star Judson Grill. From New York, Chef Dishman moved to Southern Florida where he started his first restaurant - Dragonfly Bistro. At Dragonfly, he found tremendous joy in crafting guest-specific menus and sourcing the best seasonal products. Even vacations were an opportunity to learn more about cooking and restaurants for Preston, including stages at Frank Stitt's Highland Bar & Grill, Charlie Palmer's Aureole, and Restaurant Gary Danko. Today, Preston is Executive Chef at the highly acclaimed Viognier Restaurant in San Mateo, CA.