Coming from an Italian Background and a long line of chefs, my passion for food and cooking was inevitable. My first recollection of cooking was when I was a small child and stood on the pile of 50 lb flour sacks to help my father stir the sauce in our Italian Restaurant. I don’t know if it was the smell of the sauce that intoxicated me or being with my Dad whom I admired, but I knew then it was “il destino”.
My desire to cook grew, along with my curiosity about food. Over the past 35 years, I have pursued many avenues in the industry, including family-owned restaurants, a bakery and owning and operating a catering company.
I've had the great opportunity to work exclusively as a Private Chef for an elite client, who flew me in to cater prepare meals at parties and family gatherings. In a continuing effort to stay ahead of the newest food trends and bring the best quality and the “hottest” menu items to my client, I began to study what was going on in the best restaurants in all the big cities.
These studies and explorations led me to discover the wonders of Himalyan salt. As they say, "one thing led to another" and for the past 9 years years I have worked with POSH Salt™ as their culinary director.
In 2012 I became a chef instructor at the International Culinary School at the Art Institute
and continue to work with new and different culinary techniques, bringing molecular gastronomy , sous vide, foams and such to my students.
But through it all, my love and passion is for the tradition and purity of Italian Cuisine. As the "Queen-A-Cucina" my hope is to share some of this joy with you.
AND YES, I still get intoxicated from the aroma as I am stirring my sauce…..