Born in NY and still here, I’ve been cooking out of the tiniest apartment kitchens for years and continue to do so out of Brooklyn. I don’t always love following or writing out recipes — but I love sharing them, and so I created this blog to do just that.

My love for cooking reached new heights living in NYC and also working in restaurant technology sales where I had the opportunity to work with hundreds of establishments from food trucks and bars to the highest rated fine dining establishments. This city is filled with edible inspiration from cuisines all over the world, and one of my favorite hobbies is bringing that inspiration into my own kitchen, and sharing it with others.

Cooking for me is a creative outlet with endless possibilities. But it’s mostly about sharing time with friends and family and shaping a meal to fit my mood, the company I’m with, or even the weather. It’s about putting on some good tunes, pouring a glass of wine and combining new flavors and ingredients. I prefer to take my time and really zen out while cooking, but I still want to have good quality meals when I’m hungry or in a rush (which is often) so I’m drawn to low maintenance meals that can still impress.

My mom had me cooking as soon as I could reach the stovetop. I believe that any person has the ability to create an incredible meal. It just takes a little bit of instruction, a few basics, inevitably a few mistakes, and repetition. You don’t really need to know those intimidating terms you find on recipes like “blanch”, “braise” and “reduce”. You just need to know the technique and you might already doing it. I’ve been blanching spinach since I was 15 and I didn’t even know it.

The recipes you will find here are inspired by friends and family, travel, restaurants and modified versions of recipes stumbled upon through cookbooks, blogs, articles and the online food world. Similar to my diet, my recipes range from healthy to, well, not so healthy. We all need to indulge.

I hope you enjoy my recipes and feel encouraged to Use That Kitchen of your own, whether large or small.