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Gary Rust, Chef
Chef Gary Rust was raised in Essex, Massachusetts, a town famous for their fried clams. From the age of 12 onward, Rust dug clams for pocket money and held clambakes and lobster bakes. It’s only fitting that he is now the chef at Yankee Pier at Santana Row, Lark Creek Restaurant Group’s sustainable seafood restaurant featuring the freshest fish and shellfish from coast to coast. Rust offers many of his favorite childhood dishes following the environmentally conscious and sustainable Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch Guidelines.
Rust was inspired to cook by his grandfather, who had a vegetable garden and would take him fishing, bringing home their catch to cook for dinner that evening. After he received a Bachelor Degree in Liberal Arts from the University of Massachusetts, Rust worked in sales for his family business and spent the summer months as a commercial shellfisherman. He moved to California to work in mortgage and loan brokerage until choosing to follow his dream by attending the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco. While in school, Rust held kitchen internships at some of the more prestigious restaurants in San Francisco, such as Boulevard with Chef Nancy Oakes and The Dining Room at the Ritz Carlton with Chef Sylvan Portay. With his degree in hand, he was appointed executive sous chef of Piatti in Mill Valley, where he spent a year prior to joining an established catering company as the chef de cuisine. Rust next excelled at Lark Creek Walnut Creek, Yankee Pier’s sister restaurant, for five years as sous chef. Prior to joining Yankee Pier Santana Row in November 2009, Rust held the position of Executive Chef of Epazote del Mar steakhouse in Del Mar, California.
“I am excited to once again be a part of Lark Creek Restaurant Group as the Chef of Yankee Pier Santana Row,” says Rust. “Bringing our guests sensational dishes using the freshest ingredients gathered in the most sustainable way is both inspiring and fulfilling for me.”
When not at Yankee Pier, Rust takes pleasure in cooking for friends, foraging for wild mushrooms, gardening, wine tasting, hiking and skiing. He also enjoys traveling and camping with his wife Tressa and children, Aubrynn and Keaton.
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