On a recent hike, I started to pass the time with one of my favorite activities: talking about food. My hiking companion, Altay, remarked that I must be hungry. But no, I wasn’t hungry…
I was just vocalizing the near-constant stream of thoughts running through my head. And this unassuming comment made me realize that the vast majority of that internal chatter revolves around food, and has for almost as long as I can remember. Eating, cooking, ingredients, techniques. Memories of things I’ve eaten, ideas of what I would like to. Inventive themes for future dinners, the places I dream of eating my way through. This is my general stream of consciousness.
I’ve wanted to be a chef ever since I was in elementary school, ever since I was allowed to try my hand at preparing my own meals. While other kids watched cartoons, I tuned into classic cooking shows, drooling over dishes that in my small-town, Midwestern world seemed revolutionary. I’m not sure what it was that drew me into the world of cuisine, but the pull was relentless.
Since fulfilling my childhood dream of cooking professionally, I’ve been lucky enough to set out on many an adventure and see the world for myself. I’ve experienced the claustrophobic streets of Morocco, the deafening markets of Mexico, and the sizzling woks of China; creating my own picture of the world, tracing the narratives of history, culture, and custom through what people put on their plates.
Traveling has become a massive part of my life, one that I would be hard-pressed to live without. But despite the variety, excitement, and adventure that the many countries and cultures of the world offer, I still feel magnetically pulled back into the kitchen. The incessantly hot, high-pressure, physically exhausting world of the kitchen.
So my life has so far been a puzzle, with me solving for how to balance my two loves: travel and cooking, into one sustainable career and fulfilling lifestyle. And I think I’ve finally hit upon it: sharing all the culinary knowledge I’ve accumulated through comprehensive tours and unique events. At times I find myself back in the addictive atmosphere of the kitchen, working over an open flame at full speed to serve groups in the hundreds, while the next day I can just as easily be hiking along a new path, meeting local shepherds as the wildflowers saturate the soft wind with perfume. The combination is not only something very personalized and very special for me, I hope it is the same for our clients, our guests. My only goal is to combine these forces of the culinary and travel worlds, twisting and turning them into stories that make our guests feel for themselves just how beautiful this crazy world is.
I never plan to stop cooking. I never plan to stop experiencing new places. And I never plan to stop sharing these passions with others.
