These days, every cooking school grad with a couple of sauté pans and some exotic produce in his pantry thinks he can fuse food from around the globe. But when a young chef has the opportunity to travel the world and learn the foodways of a place up close and personal, it elevates his cooking forever. San Francisco native Bob Hurley seized his chance to see the world when he was in his 20s. He spent two years hitchhiking through Europe, Africa, and Asia, stopping period-ically to work at multi-starred hotels and to pick up some local trucs. "I've had a chance to taste food at its source," says Hurley. "Now, if I want to make a regional dish, I know what it is supposed to be like, and more importantly, I know something about the way of life where it originated."

Hurley was hardly a kitchen naïf when he embarked on his 'round-the-world voyage. He'd already sharpened his skills under two of California's most celebrated chefs-Masa Kobayashi at Auberge du Soleil and Masa's, and Jeremiah Tower at Stars. After returning from his leisurely world tour, Hurley got a job at Domaine Chandon with another of the state's leading culinary lights, Philippe Jeanty. In 1992, Hurley settled in wine country for good to open Napa Valley Grille, which looks out on the area's gently rolling, grape-vine-covered hills. There, he has attracted notice for his Mediterranean-inspired food, brightened with subtle touches of the Pacific Rim and regional America. Zagat's called Hurley "creative" and his cooking impressive. Cooking Light named him a Shining Star Chef of the New Millennium. Wine Spectator gave the restaurant its Best of Excellence Award, and Nation's Restaurant News described Napa Valley Grille as "stylish, sophisticated and culinarily fertile."