Kurt D.

A fourth generation Puget Sound native and nascent New Yorker, Kurt has always felt passionately about authentic, full-flavored foods, free of artificial additives. Through his company, Sugar Mountain, Kurt is the owner and chef of a number of creative food brands and restaurants, from the award-winning Beecher’s Handmade Cheese to The Butcher’s Table, a swanky steakhouse that features Mishima Reserve, his luxury Wagyu beef brand. With each operation, Kurt’s goal is to demonstrate how quality ingredients make for delicious meals, without added food colorings, flavor enhancers, or preservatives. Beyond the retail world, Kurt is effecting change in people’s eating habits through The Beecher’s Foundation (501c3), founded in 2004. Through education and community engagement, the Foundation inspires people to eat real food and vote with every food dollar.