About Me

I grew up in the woods that Thoreau and Walden walked, following my mother, a nature teacher, giving tours of the natural world to school kids. By the time the official title of environmental educator was associated with my mother, I found a passion in food. Starting as a dishwasher in a fast food steak house in Waltham, Mass., I progressed to a broiler trainer while I attended to UMass. I then struck out across the country, cooking in Rhode Island, then New Mexico, Arizona, finally landing in California. While attending California Culinary Academy I apprenticed and worked under Giovanni Leoni and Jackie Robert at Buco Giovanni's, Earnies, then Amelio's. I then continued on to combine my passion for New Mexican cuisine working at Dakota Bar and Grill (later named Sedona Bar and Grill), working under Danial Mahlzan.
I departed with my passion for cooking everything by opening up the Bread Workshop, which specialized in breads designed for chefs in SF. All the time I kept one foot in the cooking arena, helping cooks where ever and when ever I could, until I could hold out no more and opened a cafe/restaurant in Berkeley. To come full circle I focused on sustainable food that is affordable. The world of sustainable food is still very focused on high end dining, were the average person can eat it once a month at the most. Our restaurant is designed to enable people to eat sustainably for as little as six dollars. In creating the concept I also undertook the general contracting for the construction to ensure a sustainable base for our food, including old car hoods for a drop ceiling and a reused wall of windows.