Southern Roots

Alabama

Southern cooking is the food I grew up around and something I keep coming back to. It gives me a familiar place to start, even when I’m using a technique or ingredient I’ve learned about somewhere else.

Georgia

My experience in Georgia made me pay closer attention to the details a guest notices throughout a meal. The food matters, but so does the way it arrives and how the service feels from one course to the next.

Montana

Montana made me think differently about the growing season. The shorter window for local produce meant paying attention to what was available and how its quality changed throughout the season.

Pennsylvania

My time in Pennsylvania gave me more experience with Italian cooking and working in a hotel restaurant. It helped me see how a restaurant fits into someone’s overall experience of a property.

Travel and Curiosity

I’ve traveled through California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Texas, and Wyoming. Some of my favorite parts of those trips have been talking with locals, trying food I hadn’t had before, and stopping somewhere I didn’t originally plan to visit.

My interest in foraging has also made me pay more attention to what’s growing around me. I enjoy learning from people who know an area and seeing things I might have missed on my own.

I don’t need every part of a trip planned out. Sometimes I get more out of a conversation or an unexpected stop than whatever I originally went there to do.