I began my love affair with food sitting on my mother's kitchen counter. At age four, I decided to make a Fruit Loop pie, and I've been combining unique flavors ever since. Food is my passion, and I am a firm believer that it is strongly associated with our best memories. I strive to bring those experiences to my table and guests.
Lots of people can cook a great meal (my mother makes Gumbo that I would put up against the best chef's in New Orleans). But what makes a meal great is the entire experience. It's your grandmother leaving the nuts out of her strawberry bread in one loaf because she knows you don't eat nuts. It's the "love" that takes a meal from being great to being memorable.
And that is why I decided to move from working as a chef in some of Austin's best restaurants into the personal chef business. When clients invite me to plan their event, we aren't looking at menu selections and a preset, cookie-cutter set of options. Instead we talk about the type of event they hope to have, the people attending, where they hope the conversations in the night go. Yes, food is an intimate part of that journey, but it is the people and what happens around the table that truly makes the night shine. I have the opportunity to connect with the host of the event and their clients in a truly unique way, that allows me to be a part of the experience in a meaningful way.
My philosophy is simple, "Always put the love in the food."
