Za Restaurant- Pennington

About Us

• Mark Valenza, FCI – Chef/Owner

• In 1999, Chef Valenza attended the French Culinary Institute (FCI). FCI’s Classic Culinary Arts program, part of the International Culinary Center in New York City where students study with today’s best French Master Chefs.
  At FCI, Chef Valenza honed his skills and mastered classic French technique under Chefs Jacques Pepin, Alain Sailhac, Andre Soltner, Jacques Torres, American talent Alice Water, and Sommelier Andrea Robinson, all deserving celebrities for their unmatched culinary ability.
  Chef Valenza’s prior ten years of real world experience served him well at FCI where the Master Chef faculty voted him haut de la classe, top of his class.

• Jean Giunta, CIA – Chef de Cuisine

• Jean Giunta, Za Restaurants’s Chef de Cuisne, was formerly chef/owner of Andiamo Restaurant in Lambertville, NJ from 2001 – 2007. She is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America. Chef Jean is renowned for her mushroom and goat cheese strudel appetizer. The dish combines Portobello and Cremini mushrooms with Montrachet goat cheese in baked fillo pastry, and finished with a caramelized onion and mushroom sauce.

• Rudy Del Cid – Sous Chef

• Chef Rudy began is culinary career in 2000. A year later he began working with Chef Mark who quickly recognized that Rudy possessed all the qualities necessary for culinary excellence: dedication to his craft and a refined attention to detail.
  Over the following five years, Rudy dedicated himself to mastering classic French culinary technique. As one of the best line cooks on Chef Mark’s staff, he could quickly learn to execute intricate dishes with ease.
  When Za Restaurant opened in 2006, Chef Mark recruited Rudy to join his new staff with a well deserved promotion to Sous Chef.