“I come from a large family of artists and entrepreneurs. My first food experience was probably making tuna & crackers for my oldest brothers when I was young enough to fall for the “if you don’t make it for me, I’ll die” trick, then messing up boxed mac n cheese… a couple times… but that didn’t hold me back.
I started doing dishes in an Italian family-owned restaurant in middle school and worked my way up from hosting to cooking & serving in high school.
I went to school for music and cooked my way through bars, breweries, Latin fusion, and pizza joints. Then I moved to Michigan, where I honed my skills toward breweries and new American restaurants including The Emory & Woodward Ave Brewers in Ferndale, landing on the opening team for Mabel Gray with Chef James Rigato. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to thank him enough for the lessons, experience, and opportunities I got from working with him and his team (I’m lookin’ at you, Sam). From there, I flew a couple doors down to open what is now called Framebar with Joe & Cary Vaughn, hosting chefs from all over the country & making all of the dipped sandwiches.
After taking a few years off to care for my mom, I’m back in the game.
I like small, seasonal, beautiful dishes. Pickling & preserving are a couple of my favorite things to do.
Incidentally, I also have three cats. Mina, Squeaker, & Bonk” – Chef Courtney