Brian Polcyn - Chef/Proprietor Award-winning chef Brian Polcyn is nationally recognized for his creativity and culinary talents, and as the visionary behind some of Detroit's most acclaimed restaurants. Polcyn's road to Five Lakes Grill has spanned several decades of devotion to culinary excellence. While still in his 20s, Polcyn honed his skills at two of Michigan's most prestigious restaurants, the Golden Mushroom and the Lark. He created three of Michigan's most notable restaurants before opening Five Lakes Grill, nearly a decade ago. In 1987, he debuted Pike Street Restaurant in Pontiac, Michigan. Within weeks, food critics were heaping kudos on Chef Brian and his staff. In 1990, he premiered Chimayo, Michigan's first restaurant featuring authentic Southwestern cuisine. Three years later, he created Acadia, an area trendsetter specializing in foods cooked over various hard woods. Polcyn's national reputation as a chef and restaurateur continued to grow, and so did his family. Now a father of five, he decided to move his family out to the quieter countryside and devote his time to a single restaurant endeavor where he could create and serve the kind of food other chefs can only dream about. To do so, he created, trains and personally supervises a peerless team of chefs, wine experts and service professionals. His vision for Five Lakes Grill has made it one of the country's most beloved restaurants. He is currently building a new restaurant in downtown Birminham, Michigan. The name has not yet been determined. Due to open in June of 2008! Chef Brian has been featured in local and national publications, including The New York Times, The Detroit News, Atlantic Monthly, Gourmet, Bon Appetite, Playboy, Detroit Hour Magazine, The Detroit Free Press and Wine Spectator. His numerous awards include three gold medals and a silver medal from The American Culinary Federation. The Hiram Walker Corp. recognized him as a "Rising Star in American Cuisine." In 1990, he was first runner-up in the semi-annual American Culinary Gold Cup Bocuse d' Or, a competition seeking America's top native-born chefs. He has cooked several times at the James Beard House in NYC and was prominently featured in Michael Ruhlman's widely read book, The Soul of a Chef: The Journey Toward Perfection. Besides operating his own restaurant, Chef Brian teaches charcuterie at Schoolcraft College. He has authored a book on the subject scheduled for publication in 2005. Metro Detroit viewers tune into Channel 7 to watch his weekly cooking show, and catch frequent sightings of Chef Brian working for many local charities, including Michigan Chefs Against Hunger and Share Our Strength. Steven Grostick - Executive Chef Steven Grostick, Executive Chef, is the chef behind the chef. He works at Five Lakes Grill almost every night the restaurant is open, supervising the kitchen staff and ensuring that Chef Brian's menu and recipes are perfectly executed. Chef Steven met Polcyn in the mid '90s, when he was a student in Schoolcraft College's Culinary Arts program. He quickly decided Polcyn was the chef that he wanted to work for - and Five Lakes Grill was where he wanted to work. Before coming to Five Lakes Grill more than ten years ago, Chef Steven worked at some of metro Detroit's best-known hotels and private clubs. The American Culinary Federation awarded him two gold medals for entrée development and preparation.