About the Chef

We may live without friends; we may live without books. But civilized man cannot live without cooks.

My passion for food and cooking has its roots as a teenage boy growing up in Idaho. I started cooking out of necessity when my mom took a job while I was in junior high. It fell upon me to prepare the family dinners — so I began recreating dishes I’d enjoyed in restaurants and in friends’ homes.

Necessity was the mother of invention…and reinvention. My creations were as good as — usually better than — the originals. I found cooking fun. And I discovered the pleasure of feeding others.

Private Chefing

I wasn't always a professional cook. I was a sales and marketing rep for a national food magazine for several years, in both Seattle and Los Angeles. When the publisher dismantled the national sales staff, I did some soul searching. I didn’t really want to sell magazines about food, I wanted to prepare it. I read an article about an agency that placed cooks in wealthy and celebrity homes. A light bulb went off: I could do that!

I got my first professional gig as a private chef in Beverly Hills, cooking for a family that owned oil wells. That, in turn, led to a live-in job in the Bay Area — in Hillsborough — as a private chef in a formal household, replete with a butler. Longing for something less formal, I found a job as a private chef for an elderly couple in Belmont, where I spent the next 15 years. That was before turning my focus to Comfort Food.

The Kitchen Is My Classroom

I take pride in being self-taught. While I’ve taken many cooking classes, including the Professional Cooking Series at UCLA Extension, the true instincts for being a chef aren’t learned in the classroom. The expertise comes from years behind a stove. I can prepare everything from simple, healthy comfort food to gourmet meals. My cooking is tailored to the palate and dietary objectives of each client.

Comfort Food is the culmination of all the things I love. I look forward to sharing that enjoyment with you!