Jerry Regester

Owner/Chef, Spotted Duck Restaurant
Pacific Grove, California -

Born and raised in upstate New York, Jerry had the great opportunity to help his mother open her Diner while he was still in high school.

Taking that passion and life lessons he headed to Vermont to begin his consuming passion and formal career at the New England Culinary Institute. At culinary school Jerry fell in love with the intricacies and love of wine.

Following his dreams to work in the wine country, Jerry accepted a job at Domaine Chandon working under Chef Phillip Jeanty. This opened many doors, including working side by side Chef Cal Stamenov. Jeanty and Stamenov’s passion for the Food made a huge impression on Jerry and it all seemed to come together when he was given the opportunity to move to Carmel and work under Stamenov as his Chef de Cuisine at the Pacific’s Edge at the Highlands Inn.

This was the chance to work side by side some of the world’s greatest chefs at the famed Masters of Food and Wine, including organizing Chefs and all food related operations for the inaugural Pebble Beach Food & Wine.

  Selected as the opening Chef for the InterContinental The Clement Monterey, he went on to be the Chef at the Santa Lucia Preserve and later, Monterey Plaza Hotel.

Taking his passion and creating a following, Chef Jerry’s focus has always been to use quality ingredients and simple presentations to let the food speak for itself.

Chef describes his cooking style as rustic elegance with refined flavors. “Great cuisine starts with great ingredients, and that will always be my main focus” Regester says.

All the while his true dream was to have his own restaurant. Chef Jerry and his partner Gail Grammatico are now the Chef/Owners of The Spotted Duck restaurant in downtown Pacific Grove, located in the historic Holman Building.