My culinary journey began where so many others do—in the kitchen with my mom, Lucinda.

She taught me how to set a table that could transport guests into a different world. She showed me the difference between hosting and entertaining, and how the former required more listening and grace than the latter. She raised us on veal osso bucco and boeuf bourguignon, but also Saturday afternoon cheese crisps and summer corn fritters from her Nebraskan youth.

In my family home, in the privileged position of my mother’s “sous chef,” I learned the true soul of hospitality and the egalitarianism of gathering around a table to break bread and satiate hunger—together.

But it took me awhile to find my way to the professional culinary space. It took a providential alignment of so many different factors to put me in the position to quit my corporate job in restaurant design and take a leap of faith. In 2025, I attended Cibreo Academy in Florence, where I learned the art of Tuscan cuisine and how to cook with intuition. After that, I traveled to Paris to attend pastry school at Le Cordon Bleu, and experienced firsthand why French pastries are the best pastries.

As a private chef, my goal is to transmit a sense of comfort, familiarity, and a touch of wonder through every dish I make. Food unites our communities, nourishes our bodies, facilitates connection, etches warm memories into our hearts. It is a powerful conductor of love, and I am beyond grateful to call it my livelihood.