Chef Michael Miller

As Michael Miller sees it, he had two obvious career choices growing up. His passion for music, and talent on the saxophone, could have led to a successful future as a performing artist. The family business, however, was in restaurants, and that’s where young Miller found himself, helping in the kitchens while gaining a degree in business from De Anza College and playing sax on the side.  The culinary arts and the allure of the restaurant industry drew him in, and he opened his first restaurant, Duffer’s Pizza in 1988 at the age of 22. Emboldened by the hard lessons learned from his first enterprise, and driven to truly succeed as a chef, he enrolled in the Culinary Institute of America in 1992, leaving his hometown of San Jose, Calif., for New York City. While on the East Coast, Miller worked at some of the city’s most important culinary destinations including Le Cirque under Chef Daniel Boulud and with Waldy Malouf at American Place. Along with several classmates, Miller also co-founded and constructed a small organic produce farm by the Hudson River, literally planting the seeds for his ongoing dedication to using organic, sustainable produce in his kitchens and restaurants.

In the fall of 1994, Miller moved to Los Angeles and earned the saucier position at Spago under the legendary Chef Wolfgang Puck. It was his five years here that Miller gained his most valuable experience as a chef, mentored by Puck himself and Lee Hefter, Puck’s renowned sous chef. Miller received an education at Spago not only about the balance of ingredients on the stove but the balance that applies to running a kitchen.

Inspired by Puck and Hefter, Miller moved back home to Silicon Valley and opened Umunhum in 1999. The small restaurant, located in an unassuming corner of a mall, quickly became a dining destination, earning critical acclaim from Bay Area critics such as Sheila Himmel and GraceAnn Walden. Miller had truly arrived on the fine dining map, winning “Best Chef in the Bay Area” in Metro in 2002 and accepting accolades for Umunhum, including “Best New Restaurant” in San Francisco magazine in 2001. The restaurant featured one of the first wine bars in the area, and Miller became known for hosting a variety of successful wine dinners, proving prescient to what is now an integral component of the local dining scene.

Miller knew he had no choice but to continue his lifelong passion of running a world-class restaurant when the economic downturn forced Umunhum’s closure in 2003. Undeterred, he waited for the perfect opportunity, which arrived in early 2006 when he happened upon the Coggeshall mansion, a Queen Anne Victorian located in the charming town of Los Gatos. Ready for a new challenge, Miller and his wife Therese took over the lease from what had for years been a Chart House and, after a significant transformation to the restaurant’s interior, opened the doors to Trevese in March.

When asked to describe Trevese in three words, Miller ponders a moment and then says, “Thoughtful. Complete. Forward.” There’s an exactness to the components on a typical Trevese plate, a blend and crossover between savory and sweet that’s often surprising and always compelling. Miller appeals to all five senses in his creations, and strives to create a fun, relaxed and approachable dining experience while at the same time achieving new levels of culinary artistry.