Donna’s passion for food and cooking started at an early age: not only did she cook with her Italian mother and aunts but she learned how good food brought people together and lifted their spirits. It is this simple principle that continues to guide her regardless of how sophisticated her cooking becomes.

After working in several restaurants in the San Francisco Bay area she enrolled in the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York. She graduated in 1983 with honors after completing an internship in Germany. She returned to the Bay area to work at Emile’s in San Jose and then to Amelios in San Francisco where she was Jacky Robert’s Executive Sous Chef. Donna then returned to Europe for another year of Continental experience Upon her return she ran the restaurant Lafayette in San Francisco. It was here that the Vintech Wine Group met her and, so impressed by her cooking, immediately hired her as their Executive Chef. She created and prepared menus to highlight and promote the wines of Lyeth, Mazzocco, Laurier and Jekel Wineries.

In 1989 she and Rob Gronbach opened Pacific Connection Catering.
Donna’s great creative energy and technical skills comes with the demand for using fresh and local products and for maintaining and respecting the natural taste and look of all the foods that go into her cooking. She is always developing new and exciting menus that continue to fulfill, please and bring people together for the most memorable occasions.

For Rob, it is important to create not just a party but an EVENT, one that will have a lasting impression on all involved. Over twenty five years experience gives him a strong base from which to build. Before opening Pacific Connection, Rob worked at various catering companies, event firms, restaurants and hotels in New York, Washington D.C., Las Vegas, San Francisco and Los Angeles. He attended the University of Nevada at Las Vegas, majoring in the Hotel and Restaurant Program.