With 60 locations across the country, US Foods is one of America’s leading foodservice distributors, able to combine an expansive national presence with an emphasis on quality local product. It offers more than 350,000 national brand products and high-quality private label items, ranging from basic pantry items to locally sourced meats and produce.

Highland Park, founded in 1798, still makes Scotch with the same enduring belief and integrity, and according to the same exacting standards that have defined the brand for centuries. Its proud distilling tradition, exquisite attention to detail, and deep-rooted honesty combine to make Highland Park one of the most respected single malts in the world.

Steelite International is a world-leading manufacturer and supplier of award-winning, tabletop ranges for the international hospitality industry. The company’s core chinaware products are manufactured at its factory in Stoke-on-Trent, one of the most modern and efficient tableware production units in the world. In addition to worldwide geographical coverage trading with over 120 countries, Steelite International’s business spans a number of industry sectors. The company works exclusively for the hospitality and catering industry, giving it a full understanding of what is important to professionals, both practically and aesthetically.

From the fresh, open farmlands of New Zealand comes Cervena Natural Tender venison. To meet the Cervena standards, the farmed animals must meet specific criteria: they must be three years old or younger, and they must have been naturally raised. That means that every deer Cervena certifies roamed and grazed freely, was never given growth hormones or steroids, and was fed solely on grass, hay, and silage. Cervena venison is transported and processed according to strict quality-assured standards of the Cervena brand.

The water that is served with wine determines how we have the possibility to process and experience different tastes. For example, normal tap water, which often has a taste of earth, clay and chalk, makes wine acidic and harsh. The FRESH unit from Nordaq Fresh produces and purifies the water directly on-site. The water circulates through a cooler, is carbonated according to desire, and is then drawn into a specially designed glass bottle at a temperature of approximately 5 degrees Celsius. In just a few seconds it creates natural still or carbonated drinking water of the highest quality, with all the necessary salts and minerals preserved, but free from added chemicals or flavors.

Emmi Roth USA, a subsidiary of the Emmi Group, is a leading provider of specialty and artisan cheeses and premium fresh dairy products. Their expansive portfolio includes award-winning cheeses from Switzerland, Europe, and the United States, each crafted with pride from the freshest local milk. Key cheese brands include Kaltbach Cave-aged, Grand Cru and Buttermilk Blue. For all of its products, Emmi Roth USA balances tradition and innovation to deliver distinctive offerings of the highest quality to the retail and food service trades.

Wines from Spain is on a mission to inform consumers abroad about quality Spanish wines by providing industry pros and wine nuts with news, stats, and the nitty gritty on Spanish wines. Their website includes in-depth profiles of new wines, production and export figures, and offers consumers a chance to brush up on their Spanish wine knowledge, with history and info on winemaking areas, and Spanish varietals. Their database of Spanish wineries and wines is a fabulous resource for somms and winos alike.

Salt. Air. And time. The three vital ingredients that turn pig into nutty, tender, salty-sweet Prosciutto di Parma in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. Nearly a thousand years ago, Hannibal stopped just north of the city of Parma—it is said that the dinner of choice for him and his troops was local wine, bread, and Prosciutto di Parma’s ancestor. Today not much has changed. Every ham from the Prosciutto di Parma Consortium must meet their rigorous standards before being crowned—yes, they crown a ham. That’s how seriously they take it. Look out for a five-point ducal crown mark to differentiate the real thing from hammy interlopers.

With a fine wine, the terroir where a varietal is grown determines the taste of what you drink. An olive's fruit is also determined by the climate and region of where it is grown. From the southern olive groves of Andalucía to the northern region of Catalonia, Spain is the world's largest producer of olive oil. Spain offers the widest variety of unique oils that are as distinctive and diverse as Spain's multitude of micro-climates.

Fresh Origins Farm produces MicroGreens, PetiteGreens, TenderGreens and Edible Flowers in the North San Diego County town of San Marcos. Their ideal growing climate allows them to produce a micro green that is robust, healthy, and highly flavored. Combining the benefits of an amazing climate with a deep passion for quality and innovation, Fresh Origins has become the largest grower of MicroGreens and Edible Flowers in the country.

This Portland-based company has a mind-boggling selection of game birds and game meat, from rabbits and squab to quail and foie gras. What’s more, it’s all sustainable and free-range, so you know it’ll have the gaminess you’re looking for. If butchering’s your thing, most are available whole, but different cuts are available to make prepping a little more effective time-wise.

There is only one brand of dinnerware used for service at the 2011 StarChefs.com Rising Star Galas, and it's Verterra. While Verterra’s Fallen Leaves can't promise that your dish will be guilt-free, they can promise that your dinnerware will be. Their environmentally-friendly plates, bowls, and serving dishes are made from only two products: fallen leaves and water. They're non-toxic, biodegradable, compostable, durable, lightweight, convenient, and downright stylish.

Aspenware compostable cutlery are the perfect antidote to the billions of plastic spoons, knives and forks that end up in landfills all over the United States. The single use, disposable forks, spoons and knives are made of laminated birchwood (chosen for its fast growing properties and short life), that doesn’t splinter, and stands up to the toughest of jobs. What better complement to Verterra’s plateware?

This spirits and wines distributor is based in Orange, California and has a rich history starting with its founding in 1888. Since its mutton chop days, the company has spread its distribution area from Southern California to almost all of the United States, including Hawaii, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Idaho, Utah, Montana, and Wyoming.

Corfini Gourmet is a Pacific Northwest-based company dedicated to local and sustainable meat. They supply a lot of the locally grown game to Portland and Seattle’s restaurants and retail markets. This is the place for grass-fed, antibiotic-free, GMO-free beef and more, and a great way of supporting local farmers throughout the Pacific Northwest.

Northwest Premier Meats is a meat wholesaler based in Tualatin, Oregon that also has a small consumer following. If you’re looking for aged beef, Muscovy duck, or prime cuts, they’re your go-to distributor.

Nueske’s applewood-smoking recipes are traditional and delicious. They still import their spices and blend them by hand, and strive to use the leanest meat. Unlike other bacon producers, they don’t add water to up the price per pound, so the meat remains tender, moist, and full of the texture and flavor that all real bacon should have. Meticulous about loading their smokehouses correctly, they even go so far as to group product by weight and size for even smoking.

The OAC are champions of “troll caught” Albacore, a member of the tuna family that’s known by chefs for its pale flesh and mild flavor. A far cry from the environmentally damaging tuna industry in general, Oregon albacore are harvested from abundant stocks using environmentally conscious hook and line methods. Because they focus on albacore between 10 and 30 pounds, they are still young enough where mercury accumulation is not a concern, and they’re higher in omega-3 fish oils than their elders.

James Beard once spoke of Oregon Dungeness Crab as a “meal the gods intended only for the pure in palate.” Decades later, the Pacific Northwest's prized crustacean is still in high demand with chefs. Check the website to locate a commercial supplier.

The name doesn’t really do them justice—while they do stock silky, rich caviars, they also carry truffles, foie gras, gourmet salts, and a sundry of other luxury products.

A community company if there ever was one, Sunshine Dairy looks beyond their four walls to help support Oregon’s economy. They’re the minds behind Active Cultures Active Minds—a campaign to support their local cultural community through the sales of yogurt and sour cream. They’re also cultural partners with the Regional Arts and Culture Council's Work for Art program in Oregon, working to pass their contributions on to local arts organizations and other causes. One percent of sales from all purchases of the Low Fat Yogurt, Light Nonfat Yogurt, and Sour Cream goes directly to Work for Art!

Provvista is a premier Northwest specialty foods importer and wholesale distributor. Many of the staff are former chefs, and it shows. They’re constantly building their inventory of domestic and imported ingredients to cover a wider and wider range of product, from dried pasta, cured meats, and Italian spring water to artisan chocolates, dried beans, and washed rind cheese.

Archery Summit is all about Pinot Noir. Winemaker Anna Matzinger is responsible for their estate-grown wines, which are produced from old vines on south-facing slopes in the Dundee Hills, in Oregon’s celebrated wine region, the Willamette Valley. Matzinger earned her wine-making chops in New Zealand and Australia before coming to Oregon and its rich volcanic soil.

Cascade Brewmaster Ron Gansberg made his way to the beer industry from the wine industry. It’s not such a big leap when you see the beer style he’s become famous for: sours. With an abundance of local wine barrels and great regional fruit, sour beer seemed a natural for the brewery’s Portland home, and their success has led to Cascade Brewing being nicknamed the “House of Sour.”

This small Sonoma County producer is devoted exclusively to Pinot Noir. And it pays off. Restaurants that carry it read like a who’s who of the hospitality industry, from Charlie Palmer Steak in DC to L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon in Vegas and Tru in Chicago.

Logsdon is a traditional farmhouse brewery in Hood River County by David Logsdon and Charles Porter. Beyond just using locally grown whole organic hops, they also grow some of their own hops. And in true Oregon style, their spent barley, oats, and wheat double as dinner for their small herd of organic raised Scottish Highlander cattle.

Our very own Rising Star Brewer Brian Keilty pioneered the barrel-aging program here. Lompoc beers are aged in Bourbon and wine barrels, creating inventive and complex beers and opening up a whole new slew of possible flavor profiles.

This small-production Oregon winery specializes in Alsatian and German-style wines. Teutonic goes nuts for the low-alcohol, high-acidity wines that these two regions are known for, making them extremely food friendly. Their estate vineyard is in Alsea, Oregon, a cool-climate costal town, and they also source some additional fruit from local vineyards—but only if they have similar growing climates (and follow the sustainable, biodynamic practices they embrace).

This family-owned and operated estate vineyard produces Pinot Noir and Riesling in the heart of the Ribbon Ridge AVA. They also have a Coast Range estate in the Yamhill-Carlton AVA. Some of the wines they produce are such small production that they can only be found at the winery’s tasting room or on the winery’s website—another reason to visit the Willamette Valley!