People often ask, “what made you want to be a chef?” as if there’s a single eureka moment. But as a musician, I see it more as a crescendo to a delicious finale.
Catering an event for teachers, staff and board members at Emerson School in Ann Arbor.
I was born and raised in New Jersey In an Italian-American family where food was important, for friends, for family, as a general display of love.
Small things made an impression on my young palate: my grandfather’s intense dark coffee, my uncle’s fresh salad dressing with bright ginger, my mother’s smooth asparagus flan, the salad bar at family dinner - with bitter escarole and radicchio. Everyone has these food memories along the way, but my young inner chef was savoring & studying. Soon as a middle school student, marinara sauce, once a family tradition, became a home ec assignment, a formula to execute to perfection.
As a teenager I worked at a bakery manning the cash register, but I was drawn to the kitchen. I treasured those hours in the back … organizing, taking inventory, cleaning, portioning ingredients for the next morning. Today as a professional chef, I know that as ‘mis en place’. But back then, it spoke to me as a young culinarian.
College was wonderful- stimulating & challenging. I studied neuroscience, psychology, education, vocal performance. On paper, food and cooking took a back seat during those years, but my most treasured moments were at my best friend’s parents house, 15 minutes from campus, where home cooked food spoke love.
Soon I was starting my own family of hungry mouths. I was young and inexperienced, but I was finally buying my own groceries, starting my own food projects, trying croissants from scratch (glad there is no photo evidence of that). I spent hours with David Rosengarten, Mario Batali, Emeril Lagasse, and Alton Brown. I cooked for my young family, nourished and sustained them, all the while on an independent study, of sorts.
I started a garden when I got a little bit of land, where I soon discovered the magic of growing food from seed. My children can easily tell the difference when food comes from the garden. At a young age they noticed the natural sweetness when they popped a bite green with life directly into their mouths. The garden led to a henhouse, which led to beehives -- homegrown, local and seasonal flavors which inspire my cooking today.
All the while, I was collecting cookbooks and reading them like novels, balancing them on the kitchen counter, experimenting, dusting them with flour and spilling vinegar down their spines. Ten years ago in 2006, I started a food blog http://lastbite.blogspot.com as a journal to record this exciting journey.
Many cooks claim to be “self taught”. There is a certain machismo in shunning the establishment, in doing "what I want, the way I want it." But I am humble enough to admit that there are nuances & techniques that only a formal education can provide. When given the chance to enroll in the nationally renowned culinary arts program at Schoolcraft College, I jumped on it. It was literally a dream come true. A culinary arts degree provided me the tools to dream, plan, and execute what has been simmering for a long time.
After completing the program some years ago, I stayed on as an employee, spending time as head sous chef, doing R&D for culinary competitions & ultimately the Master Chef exam of the American Culinary Foundation. Elements of this flavor development and intense research can be found in what I do every day.
I’ve had an instinct for food for my whole life, an obsession with high quality, a passion for experimenting with ingredients, and a devotion to deep, complex and global flavors.
And now, these decades of history, interests and passions have parlayed into one exciting career and adventure.
I’m at your service to nourish your family, with food full of spirit and full of life.
MY MISSION
To craft food with creative depth and inspired passion, combining classic French and modern artisanal techniques
To incite a curiosity and engagement about the delights found in the kitchen & around our country and the world
To use and treasure locally and sustainably sourced produce with respect to its natural state, artistically showcasing the unique and most delicious elements
To design for you: food for nourishment, food for entertainment, lessons for culinary inspiration
