Pathfinder Spotlight: Margie and Rodelio

In planning the Inca Trail contest we had pretty high hopes for our winners. Gregarious and adventurous, charismatic and substantive, we envisioned a Chef/Pathfinder duo equally comfortable scaling a mountain as posting to a blog. How fortunate for us, then, to have wound up with two such individuals possessing that rare combination of style and substance. Here's a quick look at Margie and Rodelio in action at the cookoff.

Chef Rodelio Aglibot 
It became clear early on that Chef Rodelio is quite comfortable holding forth on the subject of food. When a question is posed, he doesn't merely answer it. He delivers an insightful soliloquy in which he expounds such Zen-like tenets as, "Just cook," or "Just sit back and say, 'You know what? I'm gonna do a stewed chicken.'" He advises, when all else fails, to just call your mother for advice. But all this style and charisma belies a virtuosic command of his true art. And in fact, when the judges at the cookoff, faced with a masterful performance from all three chefs, decided amongst themselves to base their difficult decision solely on the food, ignoring any factors beyond the scope of the plate, one might have thought this disadvantageous for the style-heavy chef in the bright red coat, camera crew following his every move. Fortunately, as magnetic a personality as he is, Rodelio's gifts as a chef indeed outshine his skills as an orator. We couldn't have hoped for a better combination in our Peru-bound Chef, and we eager await discovering what culinary wonders the Food Buddha has in store for his fellow Inca Trail trekkers.

Margie Tosch
By the time Margie Tosch strolled into the lobby of Solvang's Hadsten House Inn to meet the gathering crowd of Pathfinder finalists and Firestone employees, many in the room already suspected that, considering her ubiquitous posts on our Facebook fan page detailing her every foggy morning hike and exquisite meal, she was the one to beat. After all, social networking is what she does. As the manager of the Wine and Hospitality Network, Margie clearly has the online thing down. But, as she amply proved at the cookoff, her skills are hardly limited to the digital realm. Whether chatting about her top-flight doggie boarding kennel (the guests have the option of a late-night snack), discussing her passion for the acrobatic arts (trapeze is more spiritual than physical), or bird-dogging the chefs, camera-phone at the ready, for a choice photo-op or insight into their intended dish, Margie was constantly engaged. When it came time to start cooking, she didn't let up a bit, making it clear that her front of the house hospitality is matched equally by her back of the house chops. Let's just say you don't want to be a bell pepper or hunk of bread when Margie's around. We're so excited to have the remarkable Ms. Tosch as our first ever Discoveries Pathfinder and can't wait to watch as the adventure unfolds further.