My Story
Introducing Notre Ferme
Great cooking isn’t just about making delicious food—it’s about bringing people together and fostering an authentic connection with the local community. Notre Ferme is rooted in the belief of bringing good to everyone, which starts and ends with nurturing my relationships with farmers, clients, and organizations. My partnership with farmers comes down to respect. I work with everyone from a bespoke persimmon farmer to a caviar sourcer to a fungi grower. I bring their products to life in the most honest way possible—doing the bare minimum to each ingredient to preserve its authenticity and integrity. I believe it’s just as much my job to educate my clients about the ingredients I use—where they’re from and how they’re cultivated—as it is to create delicious meals.
Before creating Notre Ferme, I worked for the outstanding Selland Family Restaurant Group. I started as the Chef de Cuisine (CDC) at The Kitchen Restaurant. One of my proudest moments and most notable professional accomplishments was working on the team at The Kitchen that brought Sacramento its first Michelin star. Shortly afterward, I moved over to CDC at Ella Dining Room & Bar. Working in these restaurants honed my focus on hospitality and strengthened my relationships with the local farmers—which planted the seed for Notre Ferme.
Back To The Beginning
When COVID-19 forced the closure of many restaurants, including Ella, I found myself at a crossroads. I decided to look back to figure out how I wanted to intentionally move forward. My story actually starts on the golf course, not the kitchen. I played golf in college with aspirations of joining the LPGA after I graduated. As an elite athlete, I loved the focus and precision of golf—and the spark of energy it gave me. That feeling is also why I love cooking and choose to go down the culinary path.
My journey as a chef started back in 2006 when I attended Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in San Francisco. I graduated in 2007 and started working as a line cook at Michael Mina. As I continued to hone my skills in kitchens around San Francisco over the few next years, I cut my teeth at restaurants like Delfina, Jardinière, Aqua, and finally as the sous chef at Absinthe. I also did large scale, high-end catering and served as a private chef for fine dining during this time. In 2011, I had the opportunity to compete on The Iron Chef in New York City—I’ll share some behind-the-scenes details if I cook for you; it was a pretty wild experience.
After getting clean and sober in 2014, I took a brief hiatus to perfect my skills as a butcher at Corti Brothers, a gourmet Sacramento institution. I also used this time to determine if I could lead a healthy and balanced life in the restaurant industry, one that is often a tough environment for those in recovery. After sitting with it and doing the work, I decided to return to the controlled chaos of a professional kitchen, and I started working for the Sellend Family Restaurant Group at The Kitchen.
I thrived at The Kitchen—I loved the creative challenge—but my personal life continued to throw curveballs my way. After a short but mighty fight, I lost my mother to colon cancer in 2018. Less than a year later, my wife, Laura, was also diagnosed with cancer. While I cared for her during her recovery from chemotherapy and radiation, COVID-19 hit. As I faced all these life and death experiences, I connected even more deeply with food and its ability to help me nurture and care for those I love. Facing all these hardships caused me to distill what matters most: love, connection, growth, learning, overcoming fear, and giving back. I figured out how I wanted to move forward; I knew it was time to start Notre Ferme.
Moving Forward
I’m excited to tie my love of gastronomy, hospitality and philanthropy together while I continue to build relationships within the Sacramento community. It’s also paramount that I find balance in order to prioritize the two most important things to me: my family and my sobriety.
My goals – as a chef and a woman—revolve around:
- Creating authentic connections and meaningful experiences with my clients
- Building an healthy workplace with accessible mental health and addiction support
- Advocating for farmers and educating clients about local products and ingredients
- Empowering women in the industry by promoting their skills, expertise, and businesses
- Giving to those in need through volunteering, community building, and acts of service
I created Notre Ferme with the intention of using it as a platform for good. As a member of Les Dame D’Escoffier International (LDEI) Sacramento Chapter, a two-time chef for the Bridge Dinner, and a volunteer at various shelters in Sacramento and Auburn, California (which is where my own sobriety journey began), community building is extremely important to me, and I get involved however I can.
I’m also dedicated to carving out more safe spaces for people in the industry to focus on their mental health and physical well-being. I’ve done a lot of work to overcome the shame I associated with my addictions, and I’m now 6 years clean and sober. I’m so open about my past struggles because I want to act as a resource for those who battle with addiction, both for others in the industry and my clients.
As my story continues to unfold, these themes keep reemerging: speaking truth, sitting in the uncomfortable, building community, empowering farmers, overcoming fear, giving back, finding humility in an ego-driven industry, and delivering meaningful (and delicious!) experiences. Launching Notre Ferme during a global pandemic has involved all these themes on a daily basis. At the end of the day, as long as I’m bringing good to my community through cooking, I know I am on the right track.