FAQs
- How did you get started doing this type of work?
I came to the culinary industry later than most. My mom was a great cook and I always had an appreciation for food but it wasn't until I got to college that I found it to be just my particular blend of invention, anthropology, and craftsmanship. I stored a propane camp stove underneath my bed in my dorm room and bribed my resident advisors with a carne asada when the smoke alarm went off one night. I fed my roommates-turned-guinea-pigs while I worked my way through the cookbooks hidden behind the textbooks on my shelves. I was a sophomore studying political science and economics when I was shot by someone breaking into my house. I was laid up for months afterward and I began acquainting myself with the micro-regional traditions of Italy I never knew existed and it made me need to learn more- And not just about Italy, I wanted to learn anything I could about those yet-unseen depths of food culture all around me. Life seemed finite and fragile for the first time and I realized it was cooking that made me most happy. Soon after, I changed my major to French and spent a summer studying in Paris. After my classes were complete I took a few weeks to explore France's interior and what I could of the surrounding countries. I ate chevre next to the goats that made it in Sancerre. I drank cider and ate periwinkles in Brittany. I ate rigatoni with suckling lamb intestines in Rome. I came back home and immersed myself in food. I helped to start and run an aquaponic greenhouse for the U of A that grew Bibb lettuce, basil, chiles, and pattypan squash. We sold our produce at a nearby farmer's market and then to a local restaurant group interested in locally sourcing their food. That relationship led to me finally finding my way to the kitchen and that kitchen pushed me on to New York to find my food.
- What types of customers have you worked with?
As a chef and instructor, I have trained cooks of all ages and backgrounds. I have worked with high school students and culinary students on internships in their first jobs in a professional kitchen and adults on their second or third career. I have worked with kids just tall enough to reach the counter and helped give all of them the confidence to craft the food they always wanted to cook.