“I opened Meritage in the heart of Sonoma County expressly to take advantage of year round abundance of locally grown fresh products, artisan food producers, and superior wines”.

Carlo Cavallo found his life's calling at an early age. He began his culinary career at the early age of three in his Grandmother's trattoria cleaning the mixing bowls used to make her desserts, as children are apt to do. By the age of five he had graduated to making stuffed pastas such as tortellini and ravioli. In order to pay for college he started his first catering company and continued to make cooking an important part of his life.

After college he was hired as a Pastry Chef at the prestigious L'Assassino ristorante in Milan, a favorite celebrity dining spot. He spent a year and a half cooking at L'Assassino, quickly working his way up to Sous Chef. He then took a job as the Chef de Cuisine at the famous Belmonte Hotel in Lugano, Switzerland, where he honed his talents in French Provencal cuisine.

Beginning in 1993, Cavallo spent the next three years as the Executive Chef for Giorgio Armani's restaurants in Beverly Hills, Boston and Costa Mesa, where he developed a following from the Hollywood celebrities that frequently dined there. At Giorgio Armani, Cavallo received excellent reviews and was honored in 1994 as the "Best New Chef of the Year" in Los Angeles Magazine.

Cavallo next took a position as Executive Chef at the Hyatt Sainte Claire Hotel in San Jose. He was in charge of all restaurant, banquet and catering facilities at the historic hotel. He oversaw the food and beverage events for the NHL All- star weekend and Major League soccer's San Jose Earthquakes inaugural season opening Gala.

In 1997, Cavallo was hired as Corporate Executive Chef/Director of Operations for the D'Angelo Corporation. He oversaw restaurants in Mill Valley, Las Vegas, San Francisco, and Palo Alto. He launched D'Angelo Catering which still oversees all the banquet facilities at the Hotel Aqua, Mill Valley Inn and Tiburon Inn.

In November 1999, Carlo Cavallo opened Sonoma-Meritâge Martini/ Oyster Bar & Grill, which is now considered one of the Wine Country's best restaurants. Carlo was drawn to Sonoma because of the similarities to his Italian hometown of Verona. "I opened Meritâge in the heart of Sonoma's world renowned Wine Country expressly to take advantage of the year round abundance of locally grown fresh products, artisan food producers, and superior wines", stated Chef Carlo. For Cavallo, Meritage offers the perfect venue to blend his European heritage with California's Wine Country sophistication.

He is one of the founders of the Sonoma Valley Olive Festival and serves as its Culinary Director. He is also the Culinary Director of the Cinema Epicuria, Sonoma Valley Film festival. Chef Carlo is also a culinary instructor at Ramekins cooking school. His catering company serves several Sonoma and Napa valley wineries for private functions. Additionally, he cooks for many top winery owners privately including Robert Mondavi, Richard Arrowood, Bob Sessions, Bruce Cohn, and the Sebastiani family, among others.

Chef Carlo has appeared on National TV on the Food Network, CNN's On the Menu, Culinary Travels with Dave Eckert on PBS, In Wine Country on NBC and the ABC morning news. He has been featured on Japanese and French Television programs. His recipes and restaurants have been featured in the Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Gourmet, Wine Spectator, Wine Enthusiast, Wine News, La Cucina Italiana, Chef magazine, Conde Nast, Food and Wine, San Francisco Chronicle, Santa Rosa Press Democrat, and Marin Independent Journal as well as several other publications.

He has cooked for former Prime Minister of Italy, Silvio Berlusconi and the English Earl of Kent, as well as other European aristocracy. He was selected to cater a luncheon for the Pentagon's Lieutenant General Joseph H. Wehrle when the General hosted 30 foreign liaison Brigadier Generals from around the world at Buena Vista Winery. Some of his celebrity clients have been Luciano Pavarotti, Arnold Swartzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, Pricilla Presley, Michael Keaton, Courtney Cox, Ed Asner, Alan Alda, Dustin Hoffman, Christopher Lloyd, Rod Stewart, Carlos Santana, and Sammy Hagar.

Sonoma Meritage is located in the heart of Northern California's wine country. Located just one block off the historic town of Sonoma's plaza—which just happens to be the birthplace of California—the restaurant utilizes all the seasonal treasures wine country has to offer such as local organic produce including the freshest in the area from Arden's Gardens (Arden Coturri's mountainside Shangri La), local Prime aged beef, local Wild Game, CK lamb, the finest local handcrafted cheeses and the freshest seafood, including oysters from Hog Island Oyster Company.

The 150 seat restaurant hosts a full bar and rather interesting and eclectic martini menu plus an A-list award wining wine list featuring offerings from boutique local producers and world-wide classics. Visually the restaurant features the hand-crafted lighting work of Frank and Julie Cavaz. The three dozen custom hanging pieces add the eye candy that tops off Sonoma-Meritage's ambiance. Visit Bacchus Glass at www.bacchusglass.com