Expressing their love for the kitchen, students and teachers use the culinary arts to build their own businesses BY EMILYS GIL AND DANI PARRA DEL RIEGO, STAFF WRITERS
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E HI ND T H E S C E N E S O F picture-worthy food menus are often chefs with stained aprons and firstdegree burns that dedicate their time to share their craft with the world. The kitchen is a place of cultivation, as individuals can express their creativity through a variety of different eats. With endless ingredient and spice options, cooking has become the refuge of many seeking to build their skills and test their latest cuisine concepts.
Hoping to spark a change in the culinary world, some chefs see their roles as opportunities to be leaders, who ensure their businesses are running smoothly by planning food and labor costs, scheduling current employees, as well as training new employees. They further their culinary careers by mixing it with entrepreneurship, knowing that their food and hospitality are vital in sustaining happy customers. Within our Cavalier community, chefs have embodied their passions in handmade
dishes in order to share a part of themselves in their meals. These chefs view food as an art form and a channel through which large groups can feel connected. Outside of the classroom, they draw inspiration from different cultures to create unique dishes for different food palates. Whether it be through their own culinary creations or reviewing world-renowned platters, senior Sarahi Acosta and Italian teacher Melissa Chase have taken initiative to share their love for cooking and inspire others.
Inspired by her father’s love for the culinary arts, Melissa Chase draws on her own admiration of cooking to share recipes and review restaurants on a bigger platform. Chase, the school’s resident Italian teacher, grew up reluctant to help in the kitchen. However, with a little curiosity and a lot of motivation from her father, she was able to learn the tips and tricks her father gained working in Italian restaurants. In her house, food was the conduit through which the culturally and
generationally diverse family could connect and find common ground through. “I have very fond memories of cooking with my father, even though at the moment, I did not want to. My dad’s persistence paid off… [it was] a nice time that I cherish, ” Chase said. Her journey as a food blogger began with posting pictures of meals from her kitchen and restaurants alike. Little by little, Chase began receiving questions on cooking techniques, restaurant recommendations and more. In an attempt to connect with a larger audience through food, she began a now archived blog named “The Foodie Teacher” where she shared different recipes and basic cooking techniques. Her passion for food was no longer restricted to her personal Instagram page on which she would share pictures of her food; instead of constantly being asked by friends to share recipes and restaurant recommendations, this new platform allowed her to personalize her own corner of the Internet and combine her Italian influences with her constantly growing gastronomical knowledge. The blog quickly went from being a relatively personal, small-scale place for her to share with friends to a large platform that landed her on the guest list to A-List restaurant openings around Miami. In exchange for Michelin Star-worthy meals, she would review dishes and experiences on her increasingly popular Instagram and Blog page.
“My goal was always to show easy, simple recipes that were easy to make and good,” Chase said. As a mother to a three-year-old son and expectant mother to a second baby in March 2021, she has since traded nights out at Miami’s top restaurants for nights in with home-cooked meals. Chase and her husband make time to connect through their love of cooking and trying new meals. Despite having archived her blog and stopping the constant Instagram posting, food and the connections it brings still play a major role in her daily life. Her husband, another ‘foodie,’enjoys Asian food with the same passion with which Chase enjoys Italian food. Before having children, they took trips to their favorite culinary destinations around the world to bring their love for food to another level. Now, as parents, the couple makes a conscious effort to include their son, Luca, in the kitchen as they cook in hopes that they can also pass on the love for cooking they both share. “You are going to make terrible [dishes], you are going to mess things up. But the wonderful thing about cooking is that there [are] infinite possibilities to try again,” Chase said. While Chase has no plans to revive her blog anytime soon as motherhood and her responsibilities as a teacher take up most of her time, cooking has played and will continue to play a major role in her daily life.
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