Chef Charles Hayes

Charles Hays started his cooking career in 1992 at The Lodge at Vail under then chef Jim Cohen. He was quickly promoted to the hot line and the sauté station, where he polished his culinsary skills. Charles was quickly promoted to sous chef. After his second season at The Lodge, he traveled to Italy and worked for his room and board at Portifino, the Lodge at Vail’s sister hotel in Florence and Cipriani in Venice. While in Italy, Charles learned to love Italian cuisine for its simplicity and purity of flavor. After the winter season of 1997, Chef Hays moved to San Francisco to work at Boulevard, for the award-winning chef, Nancy Oakes. Charles then helped chef Alessandro Strattas open the Renoir restaurant at the Mirage in Las Vegas. After 8 months in Vegas, Charles was offered a chef de cuisine job at Cucina Rustica restaurant in the Lodge at Vail. Here, Charles created menus inspired by his travels and experiences in Italy, San Francisco, and Las Vegas.

In the spring of 2004 Charles enrolled in a cooking course in Calabria, Italy. It was here that Charles learned bread making and expanded his knowledge of fresh pastas. Upon his return, Charles was offered the job as Executive Chef at Toscanini in 2004, where he worked until 2007. Most recently, Hays’ partnered with Greg Eynon and Collin Baugh to realize his goal of owning his own restaurant in Dec. of 2007, opening VIN48.