Marcus Prioste is Chef de Cuisine at Camper in Menlo Park

There’s a very local face behind the stove at Camper in downtown Menlo Park.

“I grew up here and went to Nativity School and then St. Francis,” says Camper’s current Chef de Cuisine Marcus Prioste. “I met chef/owner Greg [Kuzia-Carmel] through a friend. I found out later that he went to the Culinary Institute of America at Hyde Park 10 years before I did.”

Marcus says he was always interested in cooking. “My uncle was a fireman who opened Firehouse Pizza Kitchen; I spent a lot of time with him. My aunt (his sister) had a catering company.”

Marcus cooked at a number of big name San Francisco restaurants before coming home and being part of  Camper’s opening team in 2018. He left in 2021 to get involved in a number of other restaurant openings, returning to Camper in January, 2022.

What he enjoys in particular is baking bread and making pasta.  He works with 40 small farms along with various vendors depending on the time of the year. “I change the menu every day whether it’s a small tweak or a new addition. Being flexible and nimble makes it more interesting.”

About Camper he says: “Everyone takes pride in what we do but also has fun. And what makes it special is the people who come in here — like my elementary school teachers!”

Camper is open Monday through Saturday starting at 5:00 pm.

Photo by Linda Hubbard (c) 2023