Born and raised in the Napa Valley, Brett Walker grew up on small ranch that hosted alpacas, a vineyard, fruit orchards and vegetable gardens. His family’s closeness to their land and all it produced, created an appreciation for seasonality and cooking from an early age. Alongside his mom and dad, Brett learned to appreciate the combinations of fresh ingredients and flavors found around the property and in the region. Their family kitchen was the center of life, with family dinners, celebrations, and holidays marked by beautifully set tables and meals to which everyone contributed their own talents and ideas.
Brett moved from Napa to attend college at UC Davis, where he focused on a degree in International Development. The opportunity to travel that he received during his childhood developed a passion and intellectual curiosity for new cultures and culinary traditions. This passion led Brett to South America for several years during and after university, where he worked for NGOs on development projects like a reforestation project in Peru, and community development and greenhouse production in Argentina.
Brett’s introduction to the hospitality industry began while he was a freshman in college when he took a job as a busser and barback at a Chevy’s restaurant near campus. His relationship with restaurants would continue over the next 25 years through many different styles of food and levels of dining. From La Toque restaurant in the Napa Valley to his first bartending job at Mikunis Japanese restaurant in midtown Sacramento. From The Shady Lady Saloon where he began to learn about the craft of the cocktail from the bartenders and bar owners who were at the forefront of bringing craft cocktails to the Sacramento region. The passion sparked during this time led Brett to WM restaurant's first restaurant, Woodlake Tavern, where he began to learn how to conceptualize new drinks and shape entire cocktail menus. Next up, designing the bar program at Shangri La restaurant in the Sacramento region. This project helped Brett hone his craft and his approach to seasonality and locally sourced ingredients.
Brett is excited to return to the WM restaurants family to continue to refine his passion, and in his words, to learn and work alongside some of the most talented and creative people in the hospitality industry at Allora in East Sacramento. Brett’s love of the liquid expression of food and culture is rooted in bringing people together to celebrate, to strengthen bonds, to appreciate where we come from and what we are made of, and to build memories that are uplifting and last a lifetime.
Brett’s introduction to the hospitality industry began while he was a freshman in college when he took a job as a busser and barback at a Chevy’s restaurant near campus. His relationship with restaurants would continue over the next 25 years through many different styles of food and levels of dining. From La Toque restaurant in the Napa Valley to his first bartending job at Mikunis Japanese restaurant in midtown Sacramento. From The Shady Lady Saloon where he began to learn about the craft of the cocktail from the bartenders and bar owners who were at the forefront of bringing craft cocktails to the Sacramento region. The passion sparked during this time led Brett to WM restaurant's first restaurant, Woodlake Tavern, where he began to learn how to conceptualize new drinks and shape entire cocktail menus. Next up, designing the bar program at Shangri La restaurant in the Sacramento region. This project helped Brett hone his craft and his approach to seasonality and locally sourced ingredients.
Brett is excited to return to the WM restaurants family to continue to refine his passion, and in his words, to learn and work alongside some of the most talented and creative people in the hospitality industry at Allora in East Sacramento. Brett’s love of the liquid expression of food and culture is rooted in bringing people together to celebrate, to strengthen bonds, to appreciate where we come from and what we are made of, and to build memories that are uplifting and last a lifetime.
