I attended day camp as a child, and at the end of each summer, superlative awards were given out to each camper.  Awards like Best swimmer, Best arts and crafts, Best archer, etc.  I must have been ten years old when I received the All Around Camper Award.  My very competitive (and sensitive) ego was crushed.  How could my counselors not think I was the BEST at something??  It took me decades to truly embrace how fortunate I am to be ‘All Around’.  That in life it is so much better to be good at a range of skills as opposed to being the best at just one thing. 

I’m a very good cook, I throw a great dinner party, I’m creative, passionate, observant and I can plan plan plan.  When my Mom/partner and I decided to downsize our  jewelry business,  it became obvious to me that I should be doing the things I love and am good at all at once in my new found time.  

Welcome to my All Around Kitchen, let me be of service to you!

Whether entertaining my husband, my family and friends or a group I really want to impress-I always start with my vision.  From there, the creative juices start to flow, my enthusiasm grows and I’m knee-deep in my process: the list making, researching, shopping, decorating, cooking-I’m piecing together the puzzle until my vision is met.  When I take a look around at my happy and satisfied guests, I want to hi-five my vision.

I also want to hi-five your vision.  Whether that vision is to have a romantic dinner for two, a ladies brunch, a book club dinner party, to finally learn how to braise something or make a puree, to be able to cook a gluten free dinner your entire family will love, I want to be of service to you.  Take a look at the services I offer throughout the pages of this site, and be in touch-let’s make your vision happen!

My All Around Qualifications:

I grew up next door to my father’s Italian family.  We shared a backyard that was a giant garden that mimicked my grandfather’s land in Calabria. He grew everything under the sun in that backyard while also raising chickens and rabbits and gutting fish that he caught on my father’s boat.  All these perfect super local ingredients were meticulously cooked by my grandmother.  An easy ten minute drive away was my Sicilian set of grandparents who cooked all of their food with love, and taught me to do the same.  Of course there was also my own mother who cooked for us every single day and always let me be involved.  Life as I knew it existed in the kitchen or at the table, and it was a lot of fun.  

After college I moved to Astoria, Queens and now I live in Manhattan.  The ten years in Astoria taught me so much about food, cooking and culture.  Not only is there an endless supply of truly authentic restaurants from countless regions of the world, but there is also a multitude of specialty shops selling ingredients that you can’t find in most supermarkets.   

In 2011 I decided to take a 6 week course at the French Culinary Institute that taught me the basics of classic French cuisine.  The skills I learned those weeks were a total game changer for me, and I still use that knowledge daily.  In 2013 I started dating my husband who has terrible allergies to gluten and dairy, so for the past 4 years I have been cooking gluten and dairy free daily, and I make it my goal to create dishes where it is impossible to decipher if something has gluten or dairy in it.

From my Italian culinary upbringing to fun with foreign ingredients and flavors to the refined techniques I learned at school and cooking for those with food allergies, I feel truly balanced and all-around in my kitchen.