Featured Chef



Troy Louis Chandler
Executive Chef, Bonsai Bistro & Sushi Bar

Background Information

  • Born June 12th, 1967
  • Worked fast food restaurants as a teenager
  • Managed "Pizza & Pipes" South San Francisco at age 16
  • Florist for Delucci's Floral & Podesta Baldocci Florist San Francisco from ages 12-19.
  • Military Service, Army age 19 – 23 (Tiananmen Square, Honduras, First Gulf War, all Morse code intercept signal warfare intelligence).
  • Owned two floral shops in Portland and freelanced as a designer for all 5 Nordstrom's in the surrounding areas (5 years).
  • Freelanced high end floral design for hotel lobbies and restaurants 12 years in San Francisco and Portland.
  • Cooked under a different chef every year for five years instead of going to culinary school. This included French, Austrian, Thai, American and Chinese cuisine chefs.

As a Sous Chef

  • Le Bistro Montage Portland, OR
  • The Compass Café Portland, OR
  • Lucy's Table Portland, OR
  • The Four Season's Las Vegas, NV
  • P.F. Chang's China Bistro Las Vegas, NV

As a Chef

  • P.F. Chang's China Bistro Portland Pearl District, OR

As an Executive Chef

  • Gozzer Ranch Golf & Lake Club Harrison, ID
  • Yellow Stone Club Ski & Golf Resort Big Sky, MT

As a Chef & General Manager

  • Bonsai Bistro & Sushi Bar Coeur d'Alene, ID
  • The Beachouse Ribs & Crab Shack also Coeur d'Alene
  • Opened and trained 5 new restaurants

Personal Bio

  • 3 boys (2,5,10) with another on the way
  • Rides motorcycles 10 months out of the year
  • Hunting & Fishing
  • Skiing
  • Black Belt in Karaoke
  • Engaged to Jillian De Lallo

How it all began... "The Passion"

Growing up in San Francisco, Troy Louis Chandler was heavily influenced by "The Old School" chefs. This was a time before chefs had groupies and bands. Before there were catch phrases embroidered on cheap sweaters or kitchen equipment stamped with names of TV chefs that most likely have never seen, used or even touched such items of profit.

He would wander wide-eyed through China Town and skip merrily through the piers of the wharf, buying food items of different ethnicity. Troy would then make his way home, turn on the local PBS channel to whoever was cooking that afternoon; Martin Yan, Julia Childs, Jacques Pepin, the Frugal Gourmet… that's right I said it, even 'ol Jeff Smith. He would then prep and cook his little heart out.

I could give you the long boring and standard list of chefs and restaurants that he has worked for, but THIS is where "The Passion" began. THIS is what matters.

He was then swept away by his one and only mentor… Cap'n Congo Jack and his Magical Hot Air Balloon powered solely by happiness to be immersed in the dark culinary arts of the under world only to later return to the Inland North West to… well … cook, diner. That's right, let us remember… its just dinner…. TLC