this is a transcript of an interview on why I became a chef. I thought I would share it with you…
Describe your background/history:
New York born and bred. I love the flavors, history and variety of food and the melting pot that is New York City. My grandparents are from Brooklyn and Manhattan’s lower east side and I hail from the Upper West.
What inspired you to become a chef?:
I’ve been cooking for as long as I can remember. I probably first learned from my great Aunt who owned a luncheonette in Brooklyn in the 1950s. I always wish I was alive back then and could have experienced what life was like during that tumultuous time. I spent years learning the finer points of seasonal cooking using local ingredients and lately health and taste equally rule my food offerings
What do you consider the best aspect about cooking/being a chef?:
Bold flavors, variety, using what grows in my local area. Changing items to provide the most local/seasonal food and the freshest available. As a health conscious chef, I don’t think about calories but where did the food come from – but is it made of? I want to know that the energy in my food is good and that the food is the highest quality. My body is a ferrari and I am only going to put the highest quality fuel in it. That doesn’t mean the most expensive…but it certainly means the freshest and what is grown or produced within 100 miles
Describe your specialty dish or style of cooking:
Being a New Yorker, I can’t help being inspired by a multitude of ethnic flavors and spices. I love Asian and Mexican/South American flavors especially those of Thailand and Argentina/Brazil. But I am at home in a community garden or a local farmers market and excited by the vegetables, fruits and meats in season. I tend to want to cook a quick pan roasted or quickly grilled, oven finished duck, venison and pork in the winter with earthy roots and greens and more summery salads, seafoods, crab etc, in the summer ceviche style.
Describe your work style, your colleagues working with you?
I am a natural leader. But I love to inspire others and learn from others. I can take leadership or team roles. I’m a rower and there’s nothing more team oriented than that sport.
Describe your greatest accomplishment:
Every day is an accomplishment. I left the golden shackles of corporate consulting and financial risk management to found a wellness business and start a personal chef business. It was pretty gutsy and the best move I ever made. I’ve never been happier though the income potential is a bit of a longer horizon.
What is something that we wouldn’t know about you?:
my age. Everyone thinks I’m about 10 years younger than I actually am.
Describe Why you’d be good for this show:
I’m the unique blend of highly intelligent, accomplished in the corporate world and also my own cooking business, creative and beautiful. Its a great package and testament to how passion, love and dedication pay off.
