Katryana Zide (affectionately called “Kat”) began her chocolate journey when at a young age she visited Jean Phillipe Patisserie in Las Vegas. Mesmerized by the artistic pastries and chocolates, Kat held a continued interest in the craft. After graduating college in Los Angeles with a degree in Music, she decided to leap into Culinary Arts. She trained at the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in Napa Valley and graduated with a degree in Baking and Pastry. During her time, she worked at the Grand America Hotel in Salt Lake City in their La Bonne Vie Patisserie under the talented Chef Jeffrey De Leon. Afterwards, she returned to the CIA where she was hired as a Chocolatier.

Kat got her foot in the door at V. Sattui in 2020 as an assistant to our cheesemonger. Drawn to the winery by its large selection of wines and her love of wine and cheese pairings, she quickly put her degree to use as V. Sattui’s pastry cook and chocolatier, developing wine and truffle pairings incorporating sweet, spice, and savory flavor elements. She says that the “love and encouragement from other V. Sattui staff to continue pushing myself as a chocolatier” is one of the reasons she loves where she works.

While Katryana has found immense success in the field of culinary she began as a musician. In fact, she played flute and oboe from elementary school to college. (it helps that she’s ambidextrous!) She and her husband are dedicated to their two “beautiful fur babies” and when she’s not adventuring in wine and cooking, she loves to play board games, solve jigsaw puzzles and listen to audiobooks.