Professional Cooking and I met while I was studying Art History and Philosophy at the George Washington University in Washington, D.C. 

I went knocking, luckily and unknowingly, on the kitchen door of Leah Spencer, owner of fete accomplie catering.   

Leah had lots for me to do.  She hired me to help with kitchen prep for parties, handle baking and desserts, cook and plate food onsite at places like the Supreme Court and Federal Reserve as well as private homes in Georgetown and surrounding areas, and lastly, to assist her full-time after I graduated from GW.  The work done by fete accomplie still astounds me.  I was so lucky to work with them.

After relocating to New York City I began taking formal pastry and baking classes at the Institute of Culinary Education, formerly Peter Kump’s New York Cooking School.  In the morning I’d take classes and in the evening I worked as Garde Manger, making hot and cold antipasti and salads at Giorgione, on Spring Street, where Chef Jody Williams, and owner Giorgio DeLuca, gave me a shot. 

DeLuca never even learned my name, but Jody Williams thought I worked pretty hard.

She hired me as Pastry Chef at ‘Gusto Ristorante e Bar Americano’, on Greenwich Avenue, where she set up a while later.  In the meantime I’d had a chance to finalize my pastry studies, spending some serious time as a cook (it was very serious, there was no joking allowed whatsoever) in the pastry department of the Museum of Modern Art’s restaurants, the Modern, and the Barroom, from the time of their opening in 2005. 

New York Magazine voted Jody Williams’ Gusto Ristorante cannoli “the best of New York” in their 2006 Best of New York edition.  I couldn’t have asked for sweeter tribute to my work for her in dessert.  Learning from Jody was an unstoppable Italian food adventure that brought me out of the pastry kitchen and into the world of butchering porchetta, twisting tortellini, and always trying new things- - even cooking whole meals. 

Which is where I find myself in Los Angeles…

Private Chef
Los Angeles, CA
2007 - present

Morandi
New York, NY
2007
research and travel in Rome, Genoa, Milan, and Reggio Emilia, September 2006

Gusto Ristorante e Bar Americano
New York, NY
2005-2006
New York Magazine's "Best Cannoli," under executive chef Jody Williams, 2006
James Beard House Feast of San Giuseppe Luncheon, 2006

The Modern / The Barroom at the Modern
Museum of Modern Art, NY, NY
2005

Giorgione
New York, NY
2004-2005

fete accomplie catering
Washington, D.C.
2002-2004

The Institute of Culinary Education
(Formerly known as Peter Kump's) New York, NY
Career Pastry Arts Diploma
2005

The George Washington University
Washington, D.C.
Bachelor of Arts in Art History and Philosophy, semester study in Siena, Italy
1999-2003

Certified Professional Food Manager