I received my Chef Celebration scholarship back in 2013.  I was a line cook at Prepkitchen (RIP), in Little Italy. I had only been a cook for two years at that point, so the world of food was very new and very green to me.  The trip meant so much to me.  I graduated from college with a business communications degree, so I felt like I missed out on going to culinary school, and the scholarship allowed us to travel to the CIA and get a crash course. Not only did I learn new cooking techniques (my first introduction to sous vide!), but also peaked my interest into wine, something I didn’t have many resources to learn about before the trip. It gave me the confidence to try new techniques in the kitchen, and further quest to learn more in the kitchen.  I became a sous chef in San Diego, and ventured to New York where I was a pastry chef, became a FOH restaurant manager, was on Chopped!  (Gimme Gator: Season 35, Episode 18), and found my passion for food styling.  These days, I have moved back to Los Angeles, where I’m zipping around as food stylist, culinary producer, and recipe writer.  If you’d like to see more of my work, you can find me at smokingguncreative.com