His lobster risotto beat Bobby Flay, and his new gourmet delivery meal business, Your Farms, Your Table, has played strong defense to the battle COVID-19 has wrought on the restaurant industry.

Chef Sam Diminich has accomplished what many chefs dream but the road hasn’t always been easy. 

Growing up in the restaurant industry, Diminich learned to love the work ethic and hustle it took to run a business.  

He enrolled in the culinary program at his community college and began working at a seafood restaurant.  He soon realized that the restaurant industry was where he was meant to be.  

Around 1995, he entered into a sous chef competition where the first-place winner earned a free semester at the Culinary Institute of America.  

Sam won.  It was the start of a great career for Diminich, but the journey was not without hardships. Diminch is open about the ups and downs he’s faced, battling alcohol and addiction.

Throughout it all, he continued to climb the ladder in the restaurant industry, eventually becoming Executive Chef of the restaurant Upstream in the posh South Park neighborhood of Charlotte, N.C.

But when the pandemic hit in 2020, Upstream made the tough decision to shut down.  Out of work, Diminich got innovative to create income for himself and to help local farmers who had crops with no restaurants to supply.  

Your Farms, Your Table became the solution.  Diminich’s new business supports local farmers by using seasonal produce for an ever-changing menu of gourmet meals to-go.  He cooks and delivers the food to homes all over town and hasn’t repeated a menu.