Some of the best things happen by chance, and for me, finding pastry was one of them. (view Resume)

I was raised in Maui, Hawaii and enrolled in culinary school right out of high school. I graduated in the top 5% of my class at the Western Culinary Institute-Les Cordon Bleu program in Portland, OR in 1997. After graduation I moved to Los Angeles, California to work in the hot kitchen of Campanile.

The only position to become available was in the pastry kitchen under Pastry Chef Nancy Silverton and Kim Sclar. I begrudgingly took the position because I wanted to be a Chef, not a Pastry Chef. What I didn’t realize at the time was during this period I would receive the training that would form the foundation and base of my dessert-making style. Nancy Silverton is considered the best Pastry Chef in America by many, including the late Julia Child.

After 11 months I wanted to get back to the hot kitchen; I worked at Les Deux Cafes and then fell into a position under Sherry Yard at Spagos in Beverly Hills. This was my next stint in a pastry kitchen and another formative period in my career. I then moved to Europe, where over the next 4 years I worked in Paris, Milan, Modena, and the Bavarian Alps. I worked in all areas of many kitchens and found that I was happiest and most successful in the pastry kitchen. When I took a job at a resort in The Bavarian Alps I was hired as a Sous Chef but quickly applied for the Pastry Chef position. I was given total creative freedom and have never looked back.