Chef Jean Alberti was raised in a family restaurant near Strasbourg, France. The rhythm of seasonal fare, wonders of fresh produce, and fine cooking of his Spanish grandmother were the ingredients in Jean's decision to make food his career.
After being anointed Best Cooking Apprentice in France, Jean trained under such renowned chefs as Albert Roux and Jean Louis Tabaillau. At age 27, he became executive chef at LA's The Tower Restaurant. During his tenure there, he was regularly named one of the best chefs in the United States.
Jean was later the founding partner of two iconic San Francisco restaurants, Evvia and Kokkari, both of which soon became Gourmet Magazine favorites.
Jean is a vigorous advocate of organic and heirloom foods. In founding Wild & Bare, Jean has committed himself to the preservation of tradition, culture, food biodiversity and sustainable agriculture.
Jean carefully studies the unique soil characteristics and production methods at each tea garden he visits. Guided by local artisans whose families have grown heirloom tea for generations, Jean has curated a line of organic Chinese teas of peerless quality and authenticity.
True master of quality, loose-leaf specialty teas are uncommon. As a measure of his commitment to procuring only the choicest teas, Jean Alberti works closely with three tea masters in evaluting & selecting tea offered by Wild & Bare. These are their stories...
Wingchi is the founding chairman of the Hong kong Tea Association, excutive director of the World tea Union and chief judge on the panel that appraises tea at the Hong Kong Trade Development Concil Tea Fair. He is an ardent tea fan. When China liberalized its trade policy in the 1980s, Wingchi hurried to vist mainland tea farms. In 1991, he started a tea shop in Hong Kong. He also operates a tea house at Hong Jong’s Museum of Tea Wares.
Lu was a tea drinker as a boy. As a young man, he attended tea-tatser training course and became a certified tea master. When Lu learned the industry was producing inauthentic pu-erh tea by leaving Arbor Tea trees out of the production process, he started a company to make this tea the traditional way. He also opened a tea store to introduce other to authentic traditional teas store to introduce other to authentic traditional teas and help artisan tea farmer in yunnan. His own pu-erh brand,”The Peak,” received a gold medal at the 2009 Donggunag Exposition.
As a girl, Jennifer enjoyed drinking strong green tea with her father while they talked about the tea industry. Her father spent a decade working as a tea seller, traveling across China to buy and sell unique teas, Upon each return to Zhangjing, he would share what he had learned with local farmers. Jennifer followed in her father’s footsteps. She, too, visted China’s tea regions, building relationships with growers. She beacame a certified tea master and opened her own tea store in Gungzhou.