A Ventura County native descended from the Maulhardt farming family, Joel Huff earned his toque working with José Andrés, Ludric Le Preve and Nori Sugie. After executive chef positions in Miami and San Francisco and at Tides in Santa Barbara, he worked six years as a corporate chef for Urbane Café. He and his wife, Charne, an Australian native, recently opened the chic Australian/Coastal California focused Frontside Café in Ventura.