My Story

I am not one of those chefs that grew up with a mother or grandmother who imparted a deep love of cooking. On the contrary, my mother - who was a reluctant but good cook - used to shoo me out of the kitchen whenever I was lured in by the tantalizing smells and sounds of cooking. One thing I did learn from her was dieting. I went on my first diet at age 7. Mom was always on a quest to lose weight and tried every fad diet that came down the pike and often took me along for the ride. It was the 1970s and 80s and thin was in! The culturally mandated obsession with thinness taught me that hunger was something that had to be controlled and food was something that had to be managed. There was a lot for me to unlearn.

That said, I loved food and viewed cooks and chefs as magicians! My first love affairs were with delicacies I would indulge in on summer holidays with family in England: Danish butter and local honey on grilled bread, Branston Pickle and Double Glousteshire cheese in Ploughman’s lunch. The ecstatic experience of biting into an eclaire – teeth cutting into choux pastry covered in heavenly chocolate ganache and glorious clotted cream spilling out the sides – lives in me. I recognized the integrity of the ingredients - veggies from the Green Grocer, bread from the Baker, meat from the Butcher. Milk in bottles delivered to the door. Everything was seasonal, local and fresh.

Some of my best memories involve food purveyors and restaurants. In my late 20s, stressed and overworked, I took refuge at a family-owned Italian restaurant on the East Coast. I’d come in exhausted and hungry and sit by the fire. My glass of Chianti would be refilled if it got low. The chef made a signature salad of sauteed broccoli rabe and grilled shrimp salad exactly to my taste. The house-made focaccia would disappear. Occasionally a piece of heavenly tiramisu would disappear, too. I felt nourished - mind, body and soul - by my friends and the food at Rocco’s.

When I moved to Sonoma County California in 2012, I found myself in the epicenter of the farm-to-table movement and in Food & Wine Mecca. I was ready for something new after a 10-year career as a journalist that cultivated my thirst for truth and integrity and a 20-year career as a yoga studio owner-teacher that fed my love of community and desire to uplift. Both careers demanded hard work, devotion, creativity and insight into humanity.

Ready for the next phase of my personal and professional development, I entered culinary school. It was exciting and terrifying to be a student again and to be in an environment where cooking was rigorous and perfectionistic. Everything intimidated me – from flipping my first egg without breaking it to making fancy cakes and pastries (including eclairs!) to fabricating meats and mastering the Mother Sauces. But I loved it and I threw myself in wholeheartedly. And I started to eat with abandon – something entirely new. And now I cook and bake with abandon and love a complex dish or baking challenge.

I started getting jobs working in the industry at wine country events like weddings, parties and private dinners. I also started working at a Michelin Star restaurant (Farmhouse) as a server and as a cook. One private chef I assisted would often double book herself and hand me a dinner to chef. Another personal chef gave me a client I still cook for to this day. As I started doing more as a private chef and as a personal chef, I realized that all of my skills came in handy.

Being able to listen to clients and understand what they needed from their nutrition and wanted for their tastes and events. Sourcing only the highest quality, local and seasonal ingredients. Being a warm, loving presence at a meal rather than a cold, distant cook in the kitchen. Being fastidious with details and integrity.

As you read the testimonies from my clients, you will see that I truly care about each client and cultivate lasting bonds with them. I serve more than just a meal. And I make delicious food to your taste. The special ingredient in every dish, in every meal, is love.