Background

As a private chef in Silicon Valley, I’ve accumulated countless recipes (and stories!) cooking for the industry’s elite: preparing fresh-off-my boat salmon for Meg Whitman, building beautiful edible gardens for multiple high profile entrepeuners, venture capitalists and philantropists, and talking beekeeping shop with Steve Jobs. I introduced them to the cooking methods that I grew up with like sourcing from my backyard garden and local farmers and cooking seasonal food with no waste. I grew up on a farm in Gurnee, Illinois where we raised cattle and chickens, goats and pigs. We cultivated a homestead outside Chicago’s city limits and learned to depend on one another for everything. My favorite memories include tending the garden with my mom and grandma Lucille and salmon fishing on Lake Michigan. The youngest of three siblings, I sought comfort from my Easy Bake Oven in the basement, far away from my siblings. Another easy escape was a leap onto my grandma’s lap to watch Julia Child, at school I would pretend to be sick so that I could go home and we’d watch her together. Our suppers were typical Midwest meals, meat and whatever vegetable was ripe and ready to pick that night.

In 2015, I founded The Organic Garden Chef, a manifesto of gardening, cooking and gathering. I collaborate with schools to build gardens, teaching elementary and high school students the fundamentals of starting a garden. I enjoy educating adults on eating responsibly— planning, growing and harvesting their own food and sharing sustainable no-waste cooking ideas for budgetfriendly or unlimited funded kitchens. My techniques in the garden and kitchen can be applied nearly anywhere, regardless of financial circumstance or geographic location. My mission is simple, eating responsibly isn’t a trend, it’s an accessible lifestyle that all of us eaters can achieve. We must not rely on DoorDash and subscription food boxes just for convenience sake. We need to support the farmers who grow our food and we need to gather together for meals, swap stories and re-connect. In the Midwest we fondly call them supper clubs and the rest of the country could benefit from them. In California we have temperate weather on our side for such gatherings to flourish yearround. My hope is to act as a modern day resource for food activists and environmentalists, farmers and eaters, chefs and hosts.

Experience

I have been in the culinary industry for over 25 years and was formally trained through the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco.

I am a strong promoter of sustainable agriculture and the use of the freshest organic ingredients available. What I do not grow at home in my own garden, I purchase from local farmers within a 25 mile radius. My menus are based on what is available seasonally. I procure free-range chicken, organic beef and locally raised pork and game. Everything is made from scratch, from soup stocks, sauces, charcutterie, cheeses to different varieties of pastas, breads and pastries.

 California Supper Club

The California Supper Club is rooted in tradition (year-round farmers markets, coastal cuisine, urban influence from SF & LA, cultivating the countryside) yet relates to readers in any city or small town. It’s my hope to bring the essence of California Supper Club to all kitchen tables in this era where tech and food coexist.

For years I've wanted to gather together groups of strangers to share a meal. This past October, I decided to put a hold on private cheffing and begin gathering people together. With the help of my dear friend, Em-J Staples, the California Supper Club came to life on a crisp fall evening in a Bay Area backyard garden. The gatherers came from a variety of backgrounds: an HR Block accountant, the president of California Slow Foods, a celebrated Indian author, a Sonoma County resident fleeing the Kincaide fire, an estate sale organizer and a working mother of four. The guests drank wine from the Santa Cruz Mountains and got to know each other over a fall themed, family style menu featuring recipes from my Silicon Valley days. The meal kicked off with my classic butternut squash bisque, featuring the fall's first squash harvest. As the meal unfolded I witnessed the winning recipe, good food plus good company each making the other sweeter in turn.