making my markOctober 2012
Grand Prize in Taste of Home Magazine Share the Bounty Potluck Contest Five-Cheese Macaroni with Prosciutto Bits First Place in Market District Chili Cook-Off Sriracha-Spiced Vegan Tofu Chili with Coconut Rice Second Place in Chop Chop Magazine American Grown Recipe Contest Vegan Organic Millet with Garden-Fresh Veggies June 2012 A Top Three in Trader Joe's Quintessential Quinoa Recipe Contest Quinoa Con Pollo December 2011 Second Place in Kozy Shack Recipe Showdown 2 Gluten-Free Vanilla-Malbec Beef Stew with Vegetables Second Prize in Win With Wisconsin Recipe Contest Spicy Moroccan Lamb Potato Tagine November 2011 Third Place in Merry Recipe Contests Duck Recipe Challenge Duck Two Ways with Aromatic Broken Rice First Prize in Dassant Baking Mixes Recipe Contest Very Berry Beer Bread French Toast I created signature dishes such as the Kobe Burger with Peach Ketchup and Fried Pickles, noted "first-rate" by The Washington Times and later called "killer burger" by The Washington Post, As the executive chef, I helped open two upscale casual restaurants just four months apart in 2009. |
odd jobs I held to get hereExecutive Chef at DC Bread & Brew
Washington, DC (2010) Opening Executive Chef at Scion Restaurant Washington, DC (2009) Opening Executive Chef at Relic Restaurant & Lounge Bethesda, MD (2009) Chef de Partie at Corduroy (a Washingtonian Magazine's 20 best) Washington, DC (2009) Sous Chef at Franklin's Restaurant & Brewery Hyattsville, MD (2008) Sous Chef at Pino's Mediterranean Bistro Pittsburgh, PA (2007-2008) Head Cook at Tantallon Country Club Ft Washington, MD (2006-2007) Cook at Six Penn Kitchen Pittsburgh, PA (2005-2006) And a bunch more.....,...... |
food forward
I did farm-to-table, local, organic and snout-to-tail before any chef made them trendy and any food operator thought of them as marketing keywords. Growing up in a country with little industrialization, green was the only way of life. In my parent's yard, I picked guavas, mangoes, papayas, cherimoyas and jackfruits ripened on the trees. We grew lemongrass, scallions and chilies. Roaming freely on the land were a dozen naturally-fed chickens and ducks, each with a name, and their babies.
I started cooking at home in my early teen years to liberate my working mother from a household duty traditionally dumped on women. Upon entering the professional culinary scene, I've always sought opportunities to extend knowledge of and gain exposure to vast arrays of regional American and international cuisines. I keep my cooking up-to-date with modern techniques and current trends. My career started in Pittsburgh but I have traveled to open my eyes to the world's gastronomy and to stomach mind-blowing flavors it has to offer.
I have a more diverse arrays of cuisines under my belt than those set in their ways and cook the same food for decades. Chef schools teach one cooking techniques and prepare him for kitchen management but if a chef has no talent, well, it cannot be taught in a classroom nor can money buy it. I like the challenge of stepping out of my comfort zone and explore _ I've outgrown whatever little bit they teach culinary students for the tuition worth a fortune. I stay competitive by reinventing myself again and again, while keeping an open mind to new things. With 12 years of hands-on experience gained through working from ground up, I set myself apart from those too molded to decades-old books, too stodgy to change with time and too stagnant to evolve.
As a self-starter providing private chef services and catering small and large events, I hope to continue pursuing my artistry and spend quality time with my daughter. Like many restaurant chefs employed in the private sector, I worked my tail off doing 14-hour shifts six days and nights a couple years ago. Taken for a ride, I went through the tunnel to see light at the end. Now I can write two books in my free time. I'm also getting my specialty sauces bottled so be on the look out. Eventually, I'm returning to a restaurant kitchen that I own so I get to reap the fruits of my labor.
I started cooking at home in my early teen years to liberate my working mother from a household duty traditionally dumped on women. Upon entering the professional culinary scene, I've always sought opportunities to extend knowledge of and gain exposure to vast arrays of regional American and international cuisines. I keep my cooking up-to-date with modern techniques and current trends. My career started in Pittsburgh but I have traveled to open my eyes to the world's gastronomy and to stomach mind-blowing flavors it has to offer.
I have a more diverse arrays of cuisines under my belt than those set in their ways and cook the same food for decades. Chef schools teach one cooking techniques and prepare him for kitchen management but if a chef has no talent, well, it cannot be taught in a classroom nor can money buy it. I like the challenge of stepping out of my comfort zone and explore _ I've outgrown whatever little bit they teach culinary students for the tuition worth a fortune. I stay competitive by reinventing myself again and again, while keeping an open mind to new things. With 12 years of hands-on experience gained through working from ground up, I set myself apart from those too molded to decades-old books, too stodgy to change with time and too stagnant to evolve.
As a self-starter providing private chef services and catering small and large events, I hope to continue pursuing my artistry and spend quality time with my daughter. Like many restaurant chefs employed in the private sector, I worked my tail off doing 14-hour shifts six days and nights a couple years ago. Taken for a ride, I went through the tunnel to see light at the end. Now I can write two books in my free time. I'm also getting my specialty sauces bottled so be on the look out. Eventually, I'm returning to a restaurant kitchen that I own so I get to reap the fruits of my labor.
mother-daughter timePhoto by Nikki Lewis
A blast at Black LUV Festival 2010 the bigger pictureCan you imagine my own restaurant with an herb garden, spray paintings and rainbow flag? |
giving backI was a lucky micro-business owner chosen to receive $100 to donate to a cause. The money went to the Children's Organ Transplant Association.
I contributed Budget Bread Pudding with Strawberries recipe (without any compensation or prize, this time) to a holiday cookbook benefiting Operation Santa Claus. raw start, sweet endingPhoto Courtesy of ROC-DC
I organized a fundraiser that featured vegetable summer roll demo, ginger-soy-braised pork belly mini-bahn mi sandwiches and strawberries dipped in chocolate to benefit the Restaurant Opportunities Center, Washington, DC, the only restaurant worker rights advocate group educating and empowering those in industry.
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There's more to kid's meal than deep-fried potatoes, processed chicken nuggets, hot dog, pizza, mac & cheese and P&J sandwich. My daughter, at age 3, ate grilled chicken breast and light saute of mushrooms, tomatoes, baby spinach and carrots.
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