Humble Beginnings

My Mother looking at the fresh produce in the Seychelles

Like many people who love to cook, my love began in the kitchen alongside my mother. She is one of the greatest cooks I know and has taught me so much. She was born in China and then moved with her family to the Seychelles Islands, where she met and married my father. There, they had 3 beautiful daughters -- my two older sisters and myself. One could see how my mom got her influences in the kitchen -- the rich and flavorful tastes of Cantonese cooking mixed with the fresh, tropical flavors of the Seychelles Islands. These are the roots of her cooking, which bore the roots of my cooking style.

At the Seychelles Market in Victoria

My family moved to the United States in 1983, and my mother took with her all of her knowledge of food and it kept evolving, incorporating an even greater range of style including American, Mexican, and Italian. My father had also lived in Great Britain for a while, and he brought English flavors to the table. So as a result, my mother developed a class of cooking style all of her own, much of which she has passed down to me. I have taken what I have learned from her and made it my own, and now my style has taken its own shape and includes an international flair -- everything from Thai and Vietnamese to Mediterranian to Cuban to Polish and so on... Never forgetting my roots, I have maintained the same sense of flavor and ingenuity that my mother showed me, and I have developed my own sense of style and creativity which builds my passion for food every day.