Chef Nathan Bentley 2023 Alaska Born and raised in Anchorage, Alaska; Nathan Bentley is an Alaskan through and through. Since childhood, annual family traditions of hunting and fishing have guided his career to represent the Last Frontier. Spending time with his parents in the kitchen as a child, he knew this was what he always wanted to do. Nathan started his culinary schooling at King Tech High School in Anchorage. He then moved on to attend the Culinary Arts program at the University of Alaska Anchorage where he transferred for his final semester to Apicius International School of Hospitality in Florence, Italy. Following culinary school, he began to work for Restaurants Unlimited, Inc. where he rose to the Executive Chef position at the young age of 24. While working for RUI, he honed his craft and gained knowledge of running not just a kitchen, but restaurants as a whole. In July of 2019, Nate ventured off on his own and opened Altura Bistro: a contemporary American restaurant focusing on elevating comfort food. The vision was to enhance the culinary scene in Alaska; from sourcing the highest quality ingredients to operating a scratch kitchen. Since then, he has been nominated for James Beard Best Chef: Pacific and Northwest in 2022 and 2023. The restaurant has also been recognized by Wine Spectator, with an Award of Excellence in 2021, 2022 and 2023.