After a lifetime of providing elaborate feasts for family and friends and working as a professional event director for many years, in 2012 I decided to take a leap and began work as a personal chef. I am primarily based in Boston and Nantucket Island, but also spend time during the winter months on the tiny island of Bequia in the West Indies.
My grandmother Marjorie, sister Jocelyn, and one of my early baking endeavors.
My food influences are wide and varied. I grew up in a family who took food very seriously. My first cookbook, Craig Claibourne's Kitchen Primer, was a gift from my extraordinary grandmother Marjorie, an organic gardener, avid home cook, gifted teacher, and major food influence in my life. Grand dinner parties for artists and musicians were a common event in our house growing up; my artist mother also knew her way around the kitchen quite well. I began with desserts in grade school and then turned to vegetarianism as a young teen. I worked in a small natural foods store and started cooking in earnest. Travel throughout Europe and Southeast Asia in my early twenties opened my eyes even further to the vast and beauteous world of eating. I eventually became the owner of that small natural food shop and from there experimented with all aspects of food and cooking, including baking, fermentation, preserving and hunting/gathering. I currently have a small flock of chickens, grow many of my own herbs and greens and enjoy strong relationships with many farmers and fishermen on Nantucket.
I cook for my clients with experience, knowledge, and joy. My strengths lie in fresh, local, delicious, and beautiful food.
In addition to cooking, I am also an avid cookbook collector and occasionally write about food. I love traveling, being on or near the ocean, reading, and spending time with my amazing and extended family. My husband runs a seasonal raw bar and clambake company on Nantucket, The Raw Bar Yoho. I also have a son who is a Boston area chef and daughter who has recently finished college.
