Meet Chef
The Chef Sunshine Catering team is comprised of talented people who are passionate about food and customer service.
Chef Sunshine Dunning
Chef & Owner
Chef Sunshine Dunning was born and raised in Seattle (when pressed, she’ll admit Kent). Not a natural cook, she was definitely a lover of eating and her mother encouraged her palate at a young age by exploring restaurants together. The years following included extended travel abroad to Southeast Asia and Europe followed by classical training at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York.
After school Sunshine cooked for renowned french chef Phillipe Padovani in Hawaii and San Francisco. This led to six months in France living with a local family spending mornings shopping in markets and evenings learning to prepare such things as braised rabbit, first of the season walnuts and tart au pomme.
Upon returning to Seattle she took the position of Executive Sous Chef at the Mayflower Park Hotel. The following six years were spent in Southampton and Manhattan, New York, Palm Beach, Maine, Los Angeles, France, Italy, Indonesia and the Bahamas as a private chef for the financially untroubled.
And now to now. All the buzz words– Local, Sustainable, All Natural, Organic, Farmers, Ranchers, Community, Happy Cows, Chickens ranging to their little hearts content. On the plate. For you. Happy Sigh.
Sherry Arntson
Sales Manager
As Sales Manager, Sherry Arntson brings her vast experience with 35+ years in the food and beverage industry to Chef Sunshine Catering, thus insuring your function is a complete success and executed to your satisfaction.
Sherry was GM at some our regions best restaurants including McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood Restaurant, Stanley & Seafort’s and Wild Ginger. Sherry’s expertise in both customer service and business management provides a critical element to Chef Sunshine Catering. Because every function is special and unique, her foresight in identifying and anticipating problems before they can occur, provides you with a unique “Peace of Mind” so your attention can be focused where it matters most.
With an extensive background in guest services, accounting, scheduling, inventory and cost controls, employee relations and all components of business operations, she gives us the ability to offer you the best in quality food and superior service for the absolute best price.
Shawnee Scott
Operations Manager
A Pacific Northwest native and avid collector of cookbooks w/ 17 years in the hospitality industry, Shawnee is known for wearing many hats. From assisting clients with finalizing their catering proposal and rental coordination, to the seamless execution of each clients’ vision, she can be credited with growing Chef Sunshine Catering’s social media presence, assisting w/ launching our sister company, Peninsula Party Rentals , and lending her expertise as an “elder Millennial” to keep our offerings relevant in her time as Chef Sunshine Catering’s dedicated Operations Manager.
Shawnee is a proud alum of the Le Cordon Bleu Hospitality and Restaurant Management Program at Western Culinary Institute in Portland Oregon, where she graduated w/ Honors. She loves to visit the Oregon coast, and spends a lot of time enjoying her two young children, reading industry blogs, and collecting Funko Pop figurines.
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