Remember how your mother told you to, "Stop playing with your food?" I am fortunate in that my parents never told me that, because I liked playing with food as a child, and still do today. I have been cooking since I was 9 years old! My first cooking assignment was making biscuits for dinner, cooking alongside my father, several nights a week. I became my dad's Sous Chef, learning skills from food prep to grilling to braising to pitting over one hundred pounds of meat for the annual church bar-b-que. The more time I spent in the kitchen with my dad, the more I dreamt about becoming a chef. As an adult and a father of three kids, it was important to me to introduce my children to a myriad of culinary experiences (instead of chicken fingers and fries at the chain restaurants). As such, my sons embrace my passion for cooking, experimentation and creating new recipes on the fly.

Throughout my travels to Europe, the Middle-east, South America, Asia and Mexico, I garnered experience, recipes and techniques from leading chefs around the world.

One thing that makes me unique is my ability to design menus customized to my client's special needs such as gluten-free, dairy-free (casein), yeast-free, as well as physical training and wellness diets. At home, I eat gluten-free in support of my wife's special gluten-free dietary needs.

Cooking is my first passion; teaching is a very close second. I enjoy teaching courses ranging from introductory fundamentals to classic French, Mexican and Spanish cuisine, to specialty diets. I teach classes at several Whole Foods grocery stores in the Phoenix  and Scottsdale area. I am passionately involved in education and training, working with support groups and families that live with challenging medical conditions. I actively work with professional health care providers treating patients with autoimmune conditions including Celiac disease, IBS, Lupus, arthritis, Sjogren's syndrome as well as Autism spectrum disorders. In addition to special meal preparation, teaching patient/parent orientation courses for families making the challenging transition of going gluten-free and/or casein-free is very rewarding. The transition to gluten-free, casein-free, or any other special diet is usually a challenging process for most people, especially if there are multiple ingredients to avoid, as is the case for Autism specific diets.
 
For those who desire to indulge in life's little pleasures on special occasions, I am delighted accommodate them with "sinful" meals, with extras such as a full body massages provided by licensed massage therapists while I am preparing your dinner followed by a string trio during dinner.