Samantha Buyskes

Samantha Buyskes
Chef/Food Ambassador to the Finger Lakes/Culinary Educator

I bring the flavor that connects people together through food and wine. With exploration, adventure and procurement of spices and ingredients we can embark on an incredible culinary journey.
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True to her South African up bringing as well as the legacy of her surname, Buyskes, which translates from its Dutch origin, "to travel by ship", Samantha prepares dishes that invoke the spirit of those historic adventurers who traveled the seas in search of new foods and spices. Her restaurants feature blends of the region's seasonal harvest and exciting spices of foreign lands. Chef Samantha's culinary passions and cultural roots intermingle to create a memorable epicurean delight for the fellow traveler showcasing some of the Finger Lakes best growers, producers, winemakers and musicians.

In the decade that she has lived in the Finger lakes she has put her culinary talents to work opening a restaurant called Simply Red Village Bistro, Trumansburg, NY in the winter of 2002. In 2007 she moved the restaurant to Sheldrake Point Vineyard, Ovid, NY and it remained there until it closed in the winter of 2011. She opened a second location at Latourelle Resort and Spa in the winter of 2009 currently still in operation. You will also find her concessions as part of the Hangar Theatre, Ithaca, NY soon to be in it's second season. She is also a proud member of Culinary Bounty an organization that helps connect farmers and producers with Chef's in the community.
Chef Samantha has been working on her share of the limelight. She released her first cookbook Mama Red's comfort kitchen (recipes and music from our Monday nights) in 2008. Some of her best recipes have been featured in quartely issues of Edible Finger Lakes. The Edible Communities cookbook, Ithaca Farmers Cookbook and Rochester Farmers Market Cookbook. She has also received countless reviews from Frommer's Guide, Gourmet magazine, Travelocity and in 2011 she was listed in the Rochester Magazine as one of the 20 most intriguing women to know. In January 2011 she competed in the Season 6 premier episode of Chopped on the Food Network. What would you do with Goat's Brains and Fish Heads?

As a chef she has always found ways to give back to here community helping those less fortunate. Since June 0f 2003 she has been involved in Share our Strength. An organization that