For the Villa Portofino's executive chef, there never was much doubt about what he wanted to do with his life.

"I knew I wanted to cook at eight years old and I was working in restaurants by 11," said Greg Wenger, who is also part owner. "At 17, while working at The Michigan Avenue Club in Chicago, I was told I was good enough to go to chef's school."

New York State's Culinary Institute of America trained the burgeoning chef, who graduated from the prestigious school in 1983.

His first job out of school took him west to the Sheraton in San Diego where he worked for two years. The young chef was eventually promoted to the position of executive sous chef, before the Windy City called him back.

Chicago Caterers, the largest catering company in Chicago, hired Greg as executive chef where he shared his culinary talents with Oprah Winfrey, the Chicago Bears and the Chicago Bulls as well as hundreds of companies and individuals throughout the city.

Vegetarian Times took advantage of Greg's abilities with healthy foods in 1988 and signed him on as corporate chef. In that role, which continues to this day, he contributes recipes, tests new products and travels throughout the country demonstrating cooking methods. He recently began contributing to Vegetarian Times's sister publication, Better Nutrition.

After five years of living in Chicago, Greg purchased his own restaurant, the Four Seasons Restaurant and Resort, which was located on Lake Puckaway in Wisconsin. In 1995 he opened another restaurant in nearby Montello, Chef Greg's Cafe and Spice Company. Three years later he became a certified chef with the American Culinary Federation, an honor conferred on only 3,000 American chefs.

In 1999, Greg moved to Catalina Island, his wife's childhood home, and opened Island Caterers, an upscale catering company.

Seeing a need on the island for fine culinary experiences, Greg partnered with restaurateurs Russ and Jenny Armstrong to open the Ristorante Villa Portofino in June of 2003.

Since that time, Avalon residents and visitors alike have become ardent fans of Chef Greg's ability to combine the freshest ingredients in a simple, elegant way. "I want to wow people," he said. "Not just with the food but also with service."