Jeremy L. Hansen 

 Executive Chef / Owner

According to chef Jeremy Hansen’s mother Diane, he developed a passion for cooking at age 3 upon serving her a breakfast in bed of scrambled eggs, shells included. He began to work in kitchens at age 15, and was the kitchen manager at the downtown and northside Mustard Seed for almost a decade. It wasn’t until working with chef Jason Rex at Fugazzi that he decided to pursue a chef career, and moved to Portland, Oregon with his wife Kate to attend Le Courdon Bleu Culinary Institute.

While attending school, he worked at numerous fine dining restaurants around Portland, including BlueHour, 23 Hoyt, and Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood. After graduating with honors, Jeremy moved to New York to work under two Michelin star Chef Gray Kunz at Café Gray in the Time Warner building, and gained extensive experience executing high-end dinners, up to 21 courses. After culinary adventures on both sides of the states he decided to fullfill his career by going full circle by moving back to Spokane to share what he has learned. With a small stint at Luna, he decided that it was time to start looking for a location for his first restaurant venture. After being married at Arbor Crest Estates Winery, Jeremy and Kate traveled through several countries in Europe to find inspiration for what would soon become Santé.

With downtown being the only option for Jeremy he searched many locations before ending up at the historic Liberty building, which he thought was the center of both east & west sides of downtown Spokane. With community (localism) in mind and making everything by hand he began to create his recipes for a full house- made menu including mustard, ketchup, and charcuterie.

Jeremy has received several awards as the executive chef at Santé, including the Inland Business CATALYST Magazine’s top 20 under 40 and the Pacific Northwest Inlander’s Best Chef award.

Kate Rose Hansen 

 Operations Manager / Owner

Raised north of Spokane, Kate Hansen grew up with a love for sports, music, travel, and most of all, her family. While attending school, she has worked in the restaurant industry over the past decade. She was fortunate enough to travel to Europe, Asia, and the majority of the United States and developed a curiosity for what makes people the way they are.

Upon meeting her husband Jeremy Hansen, the couple moved to Portland, Oregon to further their educational journeys. She continued to work in high volume restaurants and was formerly trained by an Italian espresso company Torrefazzione Italia, gaining extensive barista knowledge. While in Portland Kate became an advocate for the homeless population and graduated with honors from Portland State University with a psychology degree and bachelor of science. Most recently, Kate graduated from Eastern Washington University with a Masters degree in Applied Psychology, and is hoping one day to fulfill her own dream of being a counselor. The couple lived in separate cities and at times across the country for the majority of their relationship, hoping one day the sacrifice and hard work would pay off.

A whirlwind soon followed and the couple landed an opportunity to fulfill Jeremy’s life long dream of opening a restaurant. After a beautiful wedding at Arbor Crest Winery on the fourth of July 2008, Kate and Jeremy traveled through western Europe and found inspiration for the French restaurant they would soon open. After

six months of hard work, Santé Restaurant & Charcuterie was introduced to Spokane in late October of 2008. Kate is responsible for the restaurant design and assumed the title of operations manager, events coordinator, bookkeeper, and ran the front of the house with the support of friends and family. She is very proud of the farm-to-table philosophy and community events that Santé is involved with.

Tyler Reynolds 

Chef de Cuisine 

Born and raised in Eastern Washington, Chef de Cuisine Tyler Reynolds grew up with love for food that revealed itself when at four years old his parents woke one morning to find the refrigerator empty and all the contents in bed with their son. Also partially raised and mentored by his Godfather, local artist Ivan Munk, he learned to love art and humanities of all kinds, and most importantly how to cook with love and passion. He started his first job as a dishwasher in his home town of Spangle, WA, at the age of fifteen. By sixteen he was line-cooking whenever he was out of school. Coupled with his love of working and moving in a fast-paced environment, Tyler accepted the culinary arts as his career choice.

In spring of 2004 he took his first title as Sous Chef for Black Rock on Lake Coeur D’alene, managing the seasonal Shooters’ kitchen, while acting as the Kitchen Manager in his hometown at the award winning rural restaurant, The Harvester, the restaurant of the year. Having learned his way around the kitchen, knowing much of HOW to cook, Tyler started wondering WHY he was cooking things the way he was. He was squeezed into the Inland Northwest Culinary Academy program at Spokane Community College at the beginning of 2005.

Awakened to the possibility of food by Chef Peter Tobin, Tyler found that there were actually other cooks and chefs living with his undeniable passion for food.

The following four years were spent trying to find a reliable outlet for that passion, working all over Spokane in the city’s juggernauts and young fusion restaurants, trying to connect to those with the passion and hunger that the older, more established eateries had lost. Junebuggs, Vin Rouge, Blue Fish, Europa, and Maggie’s South Hill Grill to name a few. None could offer the creative freedom or passion-fueled arena that was needed to feed a hungry young chef.

Then Chef Tyler reconnected with an old friend, Chef Jeremy Hansen, whom had recently returned home from grander culinary experiences, and had shared the same shallow experiences since his return to Spokane. Jeremy had decided to roll the dice and do it himself.

Tyler signed on at the end of August 2009 as a line chef. By March 2010 he was Sous Chef, and by February 2011 he became Chef de Cuisine of Santé Restaurant and Charcuterie.