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I began my career in 1971, at the age of fourteen, as a dishwasher at a small Country Inn in New Hampshire where I grew up.  In 1977, I went through "basic training" at Johnson and Wales Culinary Institute in Providence, Rhode Island, but did not finish the program for financial and personal reasons. Upon the advice of one of my J&W’s instructors, I moved around from job to job absorbing as much information and technique as possible.

In 1983, I settled in Steamboat Springs, Colorado as the chef and general manager of the Pine Grove Restaurant until late 1989. After that I was a general manager at La Montana restaurant in Steamboat Spring until an opportunity arose to run a restaurant as a partner in Breckenridge, Colorado. That turned out to be a bit of a scam and I returned to Steamboat to open a real Texas style smokehouse restaurant.

During this time I continued my education in a Resort Management program in the local branch of The Colorado Mountain College system and ultimately ended up as a part time instructor there. Certified as an instructor with AH&MA, I taught courses in Food Production, Food and Beverage Control and Purchasing for the Hospitality Industry. I also served on the Advisory Board as an industry representative to provide expertise and guidance in the development of the Resort Management Degree Program.

In 1991, I left the kitchens for a few years and became a corporate chef/sales associate, specializing in the sales of wild game and specialty foods. This opportunity allowed me to travel around the country meeting chefs from all types of restaurants. I began using the name “Chef2Chef” back in these days for a weekly newsletter that I and my wife Pam sent out by fax to our customers. FAX!!! Yeah…I know!

I have taught cooking classes, been a guest chef in various parts of the country, given seminars on the benefits of serving wild game at Colorado State University, and have won numerous cooking competitions. My credits or recipes have been acknowledged in national and regional publications, such as Cooking Light magazine, Restaurant News of the Rockies and Food Arts. I had two wild game soup recipes published in Janie Hibler's cookbook, Wild about Game and have recipes published in Americans Cook Cookbook, Steamboat Entertains Cookbook, Steamboat Seasons Cookbook and on numerous websites.

Chef2Chef took on a new vision in 1999, when Pam and I and our partners Fred and Margie Roosli, co-founded, Chef2Chef.net, the Internet’s largest Culinary Portal. In a little over seven years, our team built the site to over 800,000 pages of culinary content and made Chef2Chef.net a brand name in the industry. The team and chefs from around the world helped form the Chef2Chef Culinary Scholarship Program, which now operates under the name Chefs4Students.org.

My  wife Pamela and I still continue to raise money for culinary students in the U.S. and abroad under the new name. We and chefs from around the globe find creative ways to raise money through fund raisers, auctions and more. We try to disperse grants twice a year. Visit Chefs4Students.org for more details.



Chefs4Students.org was formally known as the Chef2Chef Culinary Scholarship Program.

About Chefs4Students.org

C4S is a not-for-profit organization founded by dedicated chefs committed to giving back to the future of the industry. Chefs from all over the world come together and raise money by booking out their restaurants for food and wine pairings along with silent auctions. It has also been funded by generous like-minded culinarians in many forms including cash and product donations for auctions, cookbook donations and more. The program is overseen by Chef David and Pamela Nelson from Steamboat Springs, Colorado. They can be reached from the contact page on this website or by mail at:

David and Pamela Nelson
Chefs4Students.org
1360 Indian Trails #13
Steamboat Springs, CO 80487

All proceeds raised at events, auctions or cash donations go into a fund set-up under the umbrella of the Yampa Valley Community Foundation located in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. This foundation over-sees all funds and disburses the money as advised at the time of grant awards. To learn more, go to YVCF.com. Chefs4Students.org and its administrators do not profit from this program.

Currently I am a Private Chef and am still based in Steamboat Springs. Colorado. I  teach cooking classes at the Homesteader Gourmet Kitchen Store and Market when not taking care of my clients. I am fully insured and bonded with Hartford Insurance and am a licensed caterer in the State of Colorado.



In the summer of 2009, my wife Pam and I launched a new side business based on a seasoning blend that I have been producing for nearly 20 years. We call it Naughty Nelly's Fiery Foods. The original product is a spicy blend we call Naughty Nelly's Deadly Twelve Pepper Blend, but we have added about 15 other blends, dip and chile pepper powders. We also sell heirloom pepper and tomato seeds on the site. Visit NaughtyNellys.com and see for yourself.

Our latest Internet projects include the recent launch of CulinaryHallofFame.com and CulinaryBytes.com. These projects will keep us quite busy for years to come!