Denise learned to cook at her grandmother’s knee at age 9. Her mothercontinued the lessons of traditional southern Italian cooking and also introduced her toAsian, French and Mexican cuisines. With her love of cooking she begancreating her own recipes. She loves to immerse herself in a country's cuisine. She spent several weeks in Charro, a small town in Mexico learning from the women in the village traditional Mexican specialties. While in Ireland she spent time in a pub kitchen learning how to make proper Irish stew and the most delicious lamb chops she has ever had. In Italy she learned not to over sauce your pasta dishes and that simplicity and quality of ingredients can make your dish go from good to great. Denise has not been to Asia but it is one of her favorite cuisines to cook. From Japanese sushi to Chinese to Korean styles, it is a cuisine packed with flavors that ignite the palette and please the senses. She is currently immersing herself in Indian cuisine. The combination of spices and the traditional sauces pack an explosion of flavors. As Denise’s mother has always told her, “A good cook is always learning!”
Denise has a love for gardening. She has had a home garden for the last 30 years. One of the first things she did when purchasing the property that is now Lobo Castle is put in a hillside garden. While traveling in Italy visiting family she realized it must be in the genes. All of her relatives had hillside gardens and fruit trees. They all made their own limoncello. When visiting their homes the first thing that would come out of the kitchen was limoncello and Italian cookies. It was an amazing experience to see where her roots were and how similar people can be even when growing up an ocean apart. Denise appreciates the simple things in life. She often says, “there is nothing like making a meal from fresh vegetables and fruit that you grew with your own hands”.
Denise specializes in custom menu’s she creates with her client’s food tastes in mind. Her mission is to create food that her client’s guests will talk about long after the event is over. She loves when her clients want to fuse together cuisine from their different backgrounds to create the menu for their special day.Some of her favorite times are when the whole family is in the kitchen cooking up their favorite dishes.
— Castle Chef Denise Donlon
Wil has worked on project management, consulting, team training, and brand development for a variety of large and small companies. Wil has facilitated the team planning and development for a variety of projects – from album release parties, to celebrity weddings, to corporate wellness programming. For fun, Wil enjoys creating specialty drinks that pair with Lobo Castle Productions customized menus. Wil holds a Graduate Degree in Organizational Leadership and Graduate Certificates in Executive Leadership and Marketing & Fundraising. He holds a Bachelors Degree in Behavioral Science. When he is not producing events he enjoys the beaches of Santa Barbara, golfing, exercise, music, riding in his Jeep or on his motorcycle, and spends time snowboarding in the mountains of Utah during the winter.
He loves to travel & spend time exploring new city landscapes and mingling with locals at bars & restaurants. He has lived in Utah, Connecticut, New York, Wyoming, Cozumel, Mexico & California. His love for travel has taken him to numerous parts of the US, Mexico, Canada, Hong Kong, Bali, Thailand, Tokyo, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, London, Croatia, Spain & his favorite destination Portugal. He also loves music, which can be attributed to he & his twin brother being named after Country music legends Willie Nelson & Waylon Jennings. If he is not at an event mixing cocktails or out traveling you will most likely find him at a live music event.
His passion for all things food & drink can be attributed to growing up in a very close family. As a family, they sat weekly for dinners and that practice still happens to this day. His family had access to robust gardens & fruit trees that were available to them every summer. His Grandparents even had a chicken coop in their backyard. One of his favorite Christmas presents was a homemade jar of raspberry jam, made from fresh fruit from Grandmas garden. Wil says, “
Throughout my lifetime I have come to love & appreciate the layers that exist within food & drink. It is great at unifying. It is not only vital to sustain human life but also connect life. Above all life’s treasures I value my relationships with my family & friends the most. Food & drink is used to celebrate life events, connect strangers, but it is a valuable tool to build & maintain important relationships. There is something sweet about breaking bread with the ones you love the most. So cheers & keep on feasting.