At age 20, Robert Halpern left his native Philadelphia to begin his culinary career in the kitchen of the Moosewood Restaurant, a collectively owned natural foods restaurant in Ithaca, NY. From that first day on the line he was hooked, and spent the next 10 years traveling the United States to learn from chefs with wildly different styles. In Santa Fe, Halpern cooked under Mark Miller and Nuno Mendes at Coyote Café, before heading back east to spend a season at Shelburne Farms in Shelburne, Vermont. Later, he was chef de cuisine at Atlantica Seafood Bistro, just steps away from the sea in Camden, Maine.

Robert expanded his skills working internships alongside Chef Grant Achatz at Alinea in Chicago, Chef Kevin Binkley at Binkley’s Restaurant in Cave Creek, Arizona, and Chef Rob Evans at Hugo’s in Portland, Maine.  Pursuing his passion and dedication to serving the best quality ingredients while meeting his creative challenges, he returns to his native Philadelphia to continue his love of entertaining his guests with a unique dining experience.

Tony Maiale joins the Marigold Kitchen team after previous stints as chef de cuisine of 333 Belrose in Radnor, PA and Hudson’s on the Bend in Austin, Texas.  Most recently, Tony has studied under the tutelage of Michel Richard at Citronelle in Washington D.C.  Tony is a graduate of the Pennsylvania Culinary Academy.

Nina Santucci was born in Arlington, Virginia and raised in East Lansing, Michigan were she spent her summers on the family cherry farm. From a young age she learned about fine foods from around the world through her family’s farm and her father’s gourmet food supplier. Nina graduated from Villanova University with a degree in Communications and Business. While in college she worked as a waitress at various local restaurants as her passion for fine dining grew. After graduating from Villanova, Nina moved to Austin, Texas where she experienced corporate life working for Dell Computers and found her true passion was working in the hospitality industry. Nina brings over 10 years of experience in fine dining, special events and catering to the Marigold Kitchen.