Owners
The heart of Madagascar Spice & Trading is its owners -- Kent Halley and Leonard Gentieu. As restauranteurs, chefs, and successful entrepeneurs, launching Madagascar Spice & Trading is the next chapter in their commitment to bringing great food into homes and restaurants

Kent Halley is product development. Founder of Pepe's Pollos and Getaway Cafe restaurants in the 1980s and '90s, Kent set a trend for healthy, fast food that endures in Kern County today. Later years of Kent's career led to technical marketing such that he is partner in a 140-person engineering firm based in Bakersfield. Creative and attentive to customer needs, Kent applies his 30 years of building and expanding businesses to creating a solid business foundation for Madagascar Spice & Trading.

Chef Leonard Gentieu is an application expert. An honors graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, Leonard has
been chef and owner of a series of successful restaurants over 35 years. The Papagallo II, a 72 foot yacht moored in Morro Bay, CA, serves as the base for his culinary offering today. Chef Leonard presents outstanding cuisine in a warm, entertaining atmosphere. He can testify that applying a great spice product can make even the average cook produce an outstanding dish.