About Us
Hospitality first.
Chef/Owner Natalie Allesee
Personal Chef Natalie is classically trained, with 15 years of restaurant experience. She spent 4 years as the Senior Sous Chef of the former James Beard nominated Heartland Restaurant, where she fell in love with creating daily changing menus, and working exclusively with local products. She ran kitchens in Duluth, Portland Maine, Minneapolis, Saint Paul, and was most recently the Executive Chef of The Lynhall before leaving to start her own private dining & event focused business. Natalie founded Rowan & Dough on the principals of working with the best products possible, and maintaining quality and accessibility while adhering to the limitations of Minnesota seasonality. She enjoys creating menus that are low waste and showcase Northern inspired cuisine, and is always looking to offer unique perspectives on what dining can look like outside of a restaurant.
Private Chef Elise Gangestad
Private Chef Elise fell in love with food growing up on her family farm in Iowa where meals brought people together. She spent many years assisting in the preparation of these meals, and could experiment with different ingredients and flavors. A former teacher, Elise transitioned into the restaurant world for one simple reason: she loves working with food. The former Chef de Cuisine of Khaluna, and Sous Chef at both The Lynhall and Bellecour, Elise brings with her years of experience making pastries, southeast Asian food, French cuisine, and afternoon tea. Looking forward, Elise plans to develop her blog Eats By Elise, where she can catalog her years of recipe development.. Her passion lies in the details, and she loves implementing low waste cooking methodology into everything she does.
Director of Operations Bridget Ninmer-Allesee
Bridget comes to Rowan & Dough with over 20 years of hospitality experience. She started at the young age of 15 in housekeeping at a hotel in Sheboygan, WI before falling in love with working directly with guests behind the front desk. She opened the Hewing hotel in 2016 as the Front Desk Manager where she and Chef Natalie met and worked together for another year. Bridget also opened the Omni Viking Lakes Hotel as their Front Office Director before venturing from hotels to further pursue her love of hospitality in restaurant spaces. She was on the opening team of Khaluna, and ran the Events department at The Lynhall & Pryes before returning to hotels to become a senior events director at the Hilton in downtown Minneapolis. Bridget comes to us as the wife of Natalie, and friend/former colleague of both Chuck and Elise. We are thrilled to have her knowledge of event coordination, and her unmatched skills in providing top-tier experiences.
Director of Operations Bridget Ninmer-Allesee
Bridget comes to Rowan & Dough with over 20 years of hospitality experience. She started at the young age of 15 in housekeeping at a hotel in Sheboygan, WI before falling in love with working directly with guests behind the front desk. She opened the Hewing hotel in 2016 as the Front Desk Manager where she and Chef Natalie met and worked together for another year. Bridget also opened the Omni Viking Lakes Hotel as their Front Office Director before venturing from hotels to further pursue her love of hospitality in restaurant spaces. She was on the opening team of Khaluna, and ran the Events department at The Lynhall & Pryes before returning to hotels to become a senior events director at the Hilton in downtown Minneapolis. Bridget comes to us as the wife of Natalie, and friend/former colleague of both Chuck and Elise. We are thrilled to have her knowledge of event coordination, and her unmatched skills in providing top-tier experiences.
