Seth Siegel-Gardner is a native Houstonian who started his culinary career at the age of 14 at Tony Mandola’s original restaurant rolling napkins. During highschool and college, Seth always maintained a foothold in hospitality, doing every restaurant job, but always landing back in the kitchen as his homebase. In 2003, Seth took a transformational role as a line cook at Marcus Samuelsson’s Aquavit, quickly moving to sous chef and over the next several years, helping to open several more of Marcus’ restaurants in New York and Chicago. In 2008, he opened Gordon Ramsay’s London Hotel restaurant in New York City as managing sous chef, earning two Michelin stars. In 2011, Seth spent time traveling and helped open Nuno Mendes’ Bethnel Green restaurant, Viajante and staged at Heston Blumenthal’s The Fat Duck. In 2012, Seth returned to Houston with two friends, Terrence Gallivan and Justin Yu, for a limited-run restaurant, The Just August Project, where a coursed menu changed daily, earning the team the best new restaurant in Houston, that year. Houston, is also where Seth and Terrence opened, owned and operated their first fine dining/casual hybrid restaurant in the original Antone’s warehouse, earning them a place on Bon Appetit’s Best New Restaurants of 2013. In 2019, after the closure of the restaurant Seth moved to Marfa, Texas where he opened two restaurant concepts and a distillery, The Marfa Spirit Company with partners Josh Shepard and Morgan Weber, and served as Culinary Director of the Southern Smoke Foundation. Currently Seth resides in Houston with his family, and is a part of the Local Foods, Eau Tour, Lee’s Den, Maximo culinary team.
Kent Domas
Executive Chef, Milton’s and Lee’s
With nearly 20 years in the industry and more than five as part of Local Foods Group, Executive Chef Kent Domas has spent time at The Classic, helmed the kitchen at Eau Tour, and driven menu creation for both Milton’s and Lee’s, earning him a 2026 James Beard Semifinalist nomination for Best Chef: Texas alongside Seth Siegel-Gardner.
When it comes to cooking, Domas grew up with strong family influences. His mother worked as the food service director for a San Antonio school district, which meant a lot of time spent in kitchens as a child. His grandfather on his mother’s side was a purveyor of fine dining and hosting, while his grandmother on his father’s side enjoyed a more traditional experience, serving up creole-style classics at home.
After college, Domas made the transition to Kendall culinary school in Chicago, later landing in Houston where he earned his first shot as a chef from Claire Smith at Shade. He credits Smith as a major influence on his career, and it was at Alice Blue where he first learned the craft of small-batch, hand-made pasta; something he continues to pursue and perfect.
As far as style, Domas’s influences range from classical French to Cajun, but his focus is on tradition and technique; he enjoys creating dishes that offer comfort, joy, and a sense of home. As a chef, he loves the freedom to express his creativity, try new things and learn from his mistakes. At Milton’s, he enjoys the teamwork and camaraderie, and putting in the hard work to see positive results.
Generously supported by Jordan & Dylan Seff