Zagat Rating



Locally born and raised, Chef Adam Pechal has been working in restaurants for nearly half his life.  In a pursuit to gain acceptance to the top rated Culinary Institute of America in upstate New York, Adam began working the local restaurant scene in places such as River City Brewing Co. and Ristorante Piatti.   

After graduating in the top of his class in 1997, Adam continued his culinary odyssey from coast to coast by working for some of the country’s top chefs.  Drawn to Southwestern regional cuisine, he worked first in Washington D.C. for the founder of modern Southwestern cuisine, Mark Miller, at Red Sage. Venturing to the Northwest, landing in Seattle, he worked for James Beard Award winning chef, Christine Keff, at her authentic Latin American restaurant Fandango as well as her ever-popular restaurant Flying Fish. 

Finally, Adam settled in the culinary hub of Napa where he found inspiration from Thomas Keller at his French Bistro, Bouchon, and from Italian cuisine icon, Donna Scala, founder of the original Ristorante Piatti, at her restaurant Bistro Don Giovanni. Along with his culinary experiences in Napa, Chef Adam sampled many wines from Carneros to Healdsburg which is shown on his eclectic yet sophisticated wine list. 

Returning to Sacramento, Chef Adam has been involved in many local restaurant openings. Teaming up with the Paragary Restaurant Group Adam assisted them with the opening of Esquire Grill as their original grill cook and eventually sous chef. He also assisted Kurt Spataro with the opening of Sammy Chu’s as one of their main wok cooks where Adam was able to build his repertoire of Asian cuisines. Adam also joined the Haine’s brothers on their second endeavor, the ever-popular Riverside Clubhouse. With these plus other restaurant openings under his belt Chef Adam was primed to launch his own concept, Tuli Bistro.

At chef Pechal’s side is sous chef and long-time friend Jeff Norris. A Sacramento native, Norris has been in the industry for nearly 20 years. Along with Pechal, Norris cut his teeth under the tutelage of Stu Edgcombe at River City Brewing Co. After honing his skills there and seeing RCBC through their peak years, chef Norris was ready to head off to the best school of hard knocks, San Francisco.  

Wasting no time Jeff joined on with one of San Francisco’s top restaurateurs, Reed Hearon at his mega-success Rose Pistola. Being thrown into the fire, almost literally, Norris owned Reed’s monsterous wood burning grill and rotisserie. If turning out hundreds of covers at Rose Pistola wasn’t enough, Norris felt he could help the team more by also working mornings at Reed’s popular Rose’s Café.  

Working harder than any human being should, Jeff felt it was time for a hiatus. What better place than his mother’s home country of England. In London he began a grand culinary tour that left him almost penniless. Instead of packing up and going home, he managed to get himself to Barcelona, Spain where he continued his journey on a slightly more humble budget. 

Well rested and culinarily enlightened Norris returned to San Francisco and Rose Pistola. At the time Reed was in the process of opening his next venture, the audacious Black Cat where Norris took the role as Sous Chef. Having dedicated much of his time to Reed and his cause, Chef Norris was ready for a change. With that he found James Beard Award winning Traci Des Jardin’s Jardiniere.  

Ready to return to family and friends, Norris returned to Sacramento where he assisted Patrick Mulvaney with his catering company Culinary Specialists. It wasn’t long before Norris was ready to return to the cuisine that he loved, Italian, and in Sacramento what better place than Biba. He spent over 5 years under the guidance of chef Don Brown mastering Biba’s northern Italian cuisine including the art of risotto, something that Biba only shares with the most talented of chefs.  

Considering a move to Seattle, Norris was hijacked by Pechal to help open Tuli where he helps create and produce the daily menus. 

Jessica Petersen was born and raised is Davis, California. She graduated from Chico State in 2001 with a BA in Informational Technology, came back to Sacramento and has worked in the hospitality business ever since. Prior to college, Jessica at the age of 18, began her service experience waiting tables at a local restaurants and continued to support herself in the industry throughout her education.

After graduating, she worked for the Paragary's Restaurant Group at four locations. In addition to waiting, she was a trainer. Additionally, she assisted in the opening of Kbar & Sammy Chu's. She, then was offered a position of more responsibility to help open Ruths Chris Steakhouse, where she worked as a Banquet Coordinator for 2 years.

Her true passions: food, wine, and the hospitality industry became apparent as she stepped away from the full time restaurant business, to dabble in real estate and consider higher education. Following her passion and interests, along with an opportunity from her parents, Ulli and Karl Petersen to open a restaurant in a midtown location, she was able to realize her goals. All she needed was a Chef. Without hesitation, Adam Pechal, her dear friend, came to mind.

During the subsequent 3 years Jessica, Adam, their talented sous chef, Jeff Norris and Adam Rains, supplemented their incomes with catering events while awaiting and building what today is known as "Tuli Bistro".

Jessica managed the FOH upon opening, and as a student of Danny Meyer, Setting the Table, she believes that "The only way a company can grow, stay true to its soul and remain consistently successful is to attract, hire and keep great people " is so important and ultimately defines the difference between success and failure. She, along with Adam Pechal have carried the concept forward and are seeing the positive effects of the philosophy.

As the reigns of FOH management have been successfully transferred to the talented hands of Claudia Bovero & Alicia Johnson, she has accepted the position of Events Coordinator. Jessica is more than eager and awaiting the privilege to provide the same level of product and service Tuli is and has been known for.

For the past two years, Jessica has successfully assisted Chef/Owner Adam and Jeff in executing parties ranging from 10 to 350 people including: weddings, birthdays, holiday parties, charity events, intimate private dinners, political special events and themed parties. In her new position you a can except the same attention to detail and execution as she has exhibited in the past. With her experience and knowledge, she has the acquired skills to plan and oversee all aspects of Event coordination and catering. We, at Tuli, are very excited with what Jessica "Brings to the Table"