Connecting Through Food

My culinary adventure has to start with my grandma Maddie. Growing up my grandma took a lot of pride in our family's Italian heritage, and she was always excited to have me as her helper in the kitchen. Over the years she has taught me dozens of family recipes that I still love to make to this day (I mean, who can say no to homemade Italian sausage and peppers?) Although my grandmother taught me a lot, I can’t help but talk about my number one teacher from the very beginning, my Mom.

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Aside from being an incredible mother to three boys, she is one heck of a cook and always sells herself short. She has always had this knack for taking ordinary kitchen cabinet foods and turning them into something truly spectacular. Her love for cooking stems from her love for bringing others together, and I know that her influence played a huge role in the chef that I am today. If anyone deserves any credit, it’s her. Cooking with her all these years has taught me that the magic isn’t in the food we eat, but in the people we meet. 

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When I was 16, I got my first job in a kitchen making Detroit style pizzas and sandwiches. Although simple, I absolutely loved it. I continued to work in numerous pizzerias throughout my teens and learned the techniques required to make numerous styles of pies (Detroit, Chicago, Manhattan, Brooklyn, etc). 

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While attending Michigan State University in 2019, I got a job as a sushi chef at Maru Sushi and Grill. It was here where I learned what it really meant to be a chef. Maru introduced me to the foundations of my craft; knife cuts, mise en place, sauces, and quality ingredients. 

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Roughly four months into my job at Maru, the covid-19 pandemic came along, and we had to shut down. During the lockdowns, my zoom class lectures through MSU were often interrupted by daydreams of being back serving guests at the sushi bar. Once the semester concluded, I dropped out of MSU and enrolled at The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York.

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The day I arrived on campus, I knew I had made the right decision. The CIA is a hard school to describe, especially to outsiders. Yes, it is a culinary school. Yes, Anthony Bourdain graduated from there. And yes, everyone must abide by the school policy of being trimmed of facial hair and wearing ironed chef whites (toques included). However, what separates the CIA from other culinary schools is the environment they have created for young up and coming chefs.

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The CIA focused heavily on real hospitality, meaning how we as hosts make our guests feel throughout their dining experience. That feeling can come down to the littlest of details, and the CIA did a great job instilling this attention to detail in us students. I am extremely grateful for the time I got to spend on their campus in Hyde Park, NY. It was through their vast number of alumni connections that I was able to land a job after school at chef Tyson Cole’s award winning Uchi Restaurant.

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During my time at Uchi, I had the pleasure of working at both their Miami location and their Dallas location. It was awesome. Not only did I get to learn from some incredibly talented chefs, but I was put into an intense work environment that was second to none. From top to bottom, Uchi was hands down the most enjoyable workplace I have ever been a part of. I didn’t “have” to go to work. Everyday I “got” to go to work. The best part about all of this was that everyday at work I got to learn something new. Whether my sous chef Stephen was making a new spec, or one of my line cook buddies was making a new exotic wait food, there was always something new cooking in that kitchen.

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Following my time at Uchi, I moved back home to my home state of Michigan to be closer to my family and friends. I picked up a job working for chef Omar Anani's award-winning Moroccan bistro, Saffron De Twah. Chef Omar showed me a new sense of hospitality that I had never seen before. His hospitality stretched beyond the restaurant and into the community. Omar embodies what it truly means to be a chef, and that is to take pride in bringing others together and helping those in need. Saffron De Twah operated as a community kitchen during the pandemic, and the values created by those hardships still hold true today. 

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After spending a few months working in chef Omar's kitchen I had an epiphany. Why can't I take this sense of belonging and love for hospitality and create a personalized experience for others in their own home? The days of Sunday dinners and family conversations over food seem to be long gone... but what if we could bring that back for a night? That's my goal with this venture and I would be honored to be welcomed into your home and cook a meal for you and your loved ones. Thank you so much for your time and I am looking forward to connecting with you in the future!