THE TEAM

Executive Chef Mark Ladner opened Del Posto with Mario, Joe and Lidia in the fall of 2005. The restaurant received a four-star New York Times review in 2010 and was recently honored with a Michelin star, the Relais & Chateaux Grand Chef distinction, The Grand Award from The Wine Spectator and the Five Diamond from AAA.

Chef Ladner's education began in Cambridge, MA at independently owned and operated pizza counters, followed by formal culinary schooling at Johnson & Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island. He moved to NYC in the early 90's and worked with several well-regarded restaurateurs, before meeting Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich and opening Babbo Ristorante as Sous Chef in 1998. Ladner has since opened Lupa Osteria Romana (1999), Otto Enoteca Pizzeria (2002) and Del Posto (2005) as Chef/Partner at each restaurant. Mark co-authored of Molto Gusto (Ecco,2010) with Mario Batali.

Jeff Katz has been working in Italian restaurants since he was fifteen. His first job at Pellino's, a family owned restaurant in Marblehead, (MA) set the foundation for the rest of his career. Katz attended Babson College and majored in Marketing and Entrepreneurship. After graduating from Babson in 2004 he opened La Morra Restaurant in Brookline, Massachusetts, as Beverage Director. Thereafter, he relocated to New York where he worked in sales for Domain Select Wine Estates and then for the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Battery Park. In February 2006, Katz joined the team at Del Posto. He moved quickly through the restaurant's ranks: starting out as a Dining Room manager, then Private Dining Manager, and finally, in late 2009, General Manager. Under Jeff's guidance Del Posto received a four-star review from The New York Times, the prestigious Relais & Chateau Grand Chefs distinction, and the Five Diamond Award from AAA.

Brooks Headley Brooks Headley has been the executive pastry chef of Del Posto since March of 2008. He prefers the title "the guy who makes the food at the end of the meal" rather than PASTRY CHEF. Previously Headley spent time at Campanile in Los Angeles and Komi in Washington DC, with a brief eight months at a Ritz-Carlton Hotel. He considers his dessert style to be feminine, BA-Italian, highly seasonal, and nonna-channeling.

Jeff Porter was born and raised in Texas. He became interested in wine at his first restaurant job in Austin. Desiring to learn all that he could about wine, Porter eventually took a stocking position at one of Austin's best wine shops. He excelled there and was soon buying wine for the shop and traveling throughout Europe. Porter then moved to the West Coast where he first worked for a wine distributor in the Bay Area and then served as Wine Director at Tra Vigne Ristorante in St. Helena, where his passion for wine and hospitality took off. Most recently, Jeff held the positon of Beverage Director at Osteria and Pizzeria Mozza in Los Angeles. He moved to New York City in March of 2011 to head up the beverage program at Del Posto. He is recognized as an "Advanced Sommelier" by the Court of Master Sommeliers and is currently a candidate for the "Master Sommelier" designation.