Toni's Team

In the kitchen of his grandmother, Chef Toni Pais learned the secrets of preparing flavorful food through the creative use of homemade wines, goat cheeses, olives and olive oil, along with the rich blending of simple and savory ingredients. From his native seaside village of Cascais, Portugual, to the shores of Pittsburgh’s rivers and the vineyards of California’s wine country, Chef Pais has shared these culinary secrets to the delight of thousands of diners across the country, earning him national accolades and awards.

Nominated by the James Beard Foundation as Chef of the Year in the Mid-Atlantic Region, Chef Pais was named Guest Chef at the renowned Eberle Vineyards in Paso Robles, Calif., as well as "Chef of the Year" by Pittsburgh magazine and Pittsburgh City Paper. His restaurants have been featured in The New York Times, Elle Décor, USAirways magazine, and Flavor & The Menu.

Over three decades, Chef Pais has built a faithful following of diners, food critics and peers. For eight years in a row his acclaimed Baum Vivant was named "Restaurant of the Year" by Pittsburgh magazine. He later opened Café Zinho ("small café" in Portguese), a rustic reincarnation of his grandmother’s kitchen, and then his most recent endeavor, Café Zao ("big café") in the heart of downtown Pittsburgh’s Cultural District.

In the sophisticated culinary haven of Café Zao, designed by Michael Graves, Chef Pais charms diners with innovative flavors and unusual ingredients from Europe to Indonesia, India and China—and the many other Portuguese outposts like Brazil, Macau and Mozambique. Patrons find these combinations to be phenomenal and unforgettable, a hallmark of Chef Pais’s incredible talents that stem from generations of the Pais family.