A Playground for Passionate Home Cooks
THE REAL ME
When I was a little girl and all my friends were playing house, I was playing restaurant. I cannot remember a time when I was not fascinated by and passionate about food. Being able to cook is such a magical experience - I remember at 12 (after I had learned a few cooking skills), looking around the kitchen and marveling at the idea that I could take a bunch of individual random ingredients and turn them into something amazing to eat. Magic!
Like most people at that time, it never occurred to me that I could make a living with food. So I started out getting a business degree and working my way up through a typical retail career, while in my free time I was reading
cookbooks like novels and taking cooking classes.
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One day I was given an opportunity to combine my career and passion as the Director of Leased Food & Restaurants. For 17 years I got to work with multiple operators in the food industry to plan and open restaurants, cafes, and kiosks in stores across the country. I worked with partners ranging from individual chefs like Hubert Keller to large multi-unit food brands like Starbucks and Boudin Sourdough Bakery & Cafe.
We all have turning points in life where something seemingly bad happens, but it ends up opening the door to a path we were meant to follow. Being downsized was my opportunity to fulfill a lifelong dream of going to culinary school, graduating from the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) Greystone in 2015!
I took advantage of every cool opportunity that came up while I was a student. One of the best was working as the managing chef’s right hand on planning the CIA Worlds of Flavor Conference “Asia & the Theater of World Menus”, featuring over 60 highly regarded professional chefs from around the world. I worked other events as well, including assisting Chef Francois De Melogue with a food demo & service at the International Alsace Varietals Festival, and competing in the 2015 bASH (Appellation St. Helena) Food & Wine Pairing Competition. My time at CIA was such an amazing experience!!
People have often said to me “hey, you should open a restaurant or become a caterer”. I knew I never really wanted to do that, but what I realized is that I wanted to create an opportunity and community for home cooks just like me who have always had that passion for food and beverage. A place to connect and master their skills. A skill-building philosophy that it’s not about rotely following recipes, it’s about nailing basic techniques and methods that allow you to become a more creative, intuitive, and all-around fabulous cook.
From this idea, Food Immerse was born! I’m so excited to welcome you into our community, get to know you, and help you become the best cook you can be.
BONUS TIDBITS
I was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area and my favorite meal is 100% local classics: Fresh Dungeness crab with lemon aioli, artichoke, sourdough bread, and a glass of chilled Sauvignon Blanc. I love to travel and immerse myself in other cultures, and my favorite thing to do when traveling is (no surprise!) taking cooking classes and food tours. I also enjoy touring friends around my hometown, hiking, kayaking, wine tasting, salsa dancing, and rooting for the 49ers, Giants, & Warriors.