Chef Nathan Mileski

Nathan Mileski, CEC

Nathan is Corporate Executive Chef at Northern Michigan University where he oversees multiple campus dining operations, including Japanese, Latin, and coffee concepts, its commissary kitchen, bakery, and two residential student dining facilities, as well as all
catering on campus.

Nathan’s career began after graduating from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York. His first position was under Certified Master Chef Kevin Walker at the prestigious Lafayette Country Club in Lake Minnetonka, Minnesota. The Upper Peninsula has always
been Nathan’s home so he returned to take the position of Executive Chef and Food and Beverage Director at Drummond Island Resort and Conference Center. Under Nathan’s direction, Bayside Dining, the resort’s fine dining restaurant, was featured in the December 2006 Michigan editions of Gourmet and Bon Appétit as one of twelve “Great Restaurants of America” and also in Savor Michigan Cookbook as one of thirty-six featured restaurants.

Nathan has received three ACF Upper Michigan Chef of the Year Awards (1997, 2002,
2011) and achieved ACF Certified Executive Chef status in January 2009. In March 2009, Nathan competed in the NACUFS (National Association of College and University Food Services) Culinary Challenge regional competition and won a bid to nationals, as well as
a silver medal. Nathan advanced to win the National NACUFS Culinary Challenge and
another silver medal. Nathan has also led two teams to gold medals at the University of Massachusetts Chef Culinary Conference in 2009 and 2011. Nathan was more recently featured in the Great Lakes Whitefish Cookbook, New York Times article “Now Entering
Upper Michigan’s Smoked Fish Zone”, as well in multiple editions of On-Campus Dining,
Food Service Director, as well as Food Management magazines.

When Nathan is not in the kitchen he enjoys spending time with his wife and two sons,
hunting and fishing the bountiful Upper Peninsula, as well as gardening, canning, and
honing his charcuterie/meat butchery skills.