Even though it took me more than 26 years to land in the food industry, I still think I was born to cook. My first vivid memory is of rolling out cookie dough with my mom, Jean. We were forming ropes that would eventually be twisted, baked, dipped into a glaze and dusted with mutli-colored sprinkles to become my favorite Italian Christmas cookies, Angelettes. I was three or four at the time.

Growing up, I explored many areas of fine art and developed a broad range of creative ability. When the time came to decide on a career path, I chose graphic design as a way to combine all of my earlier artistic efforts into one degree. It was this decision that brought me to the Lehigh Valley where I spent 4 years studying design and painting at Moravian College.

My professional career began at a small interactive design agency in North Jersey as a Junior Online Production Designer. Although I enjoyed my career in the city, it wasn’t long before I realized I wanted to return to the lifestyle I had grown to love in the Lehigh Valley. I took a job as a Web Designer at Rodale’s Men’s Health & Sports Group and was later promoted to Senior Web Designer at RunnersWorld.com.

Through all the the years of studying and design work, I never stopped cooking. Entertaining was my first passion and I was constantly coming up with silly reasons to celebrate (with food). It wasn’t until I met Phil that I realized that FOOD could actually be my career! I started assisting him with wine dinners, cocktail parties and pairing events. Before long, I was spending all of my waking hours (outside of my lonely, windowless office) exploring everything I ever wanted to know about food .. with one of the most brilliant chefs I would ever meet. Little did I know at the time, but two years later Phil would become my life-partner. And just like magic, everything would fall into place.

Looking back on my transition into the food industry, I have to admit it’s not as far of a creative leap from web design as one would think. I’m still designing with color, texture and form to create unique artistic expressions .. only now I’ve added the exciting new element of taste to enhance the experience.

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