Meet Chef Natalie & Contact form

To learn about the new community I was working within, I volunteered at local food banks & joined community & agriculture-focused boards. For the first time in my adult life, I felt a sense of community. Although we live only a short distance away from rural Fauquier County, I found it to not only be a contrasting landscape to the D.C. suburbs I was accustomed to, but an entirely different culture as well. I absolutely adored every aspect of it- being able to drive to the farms my food was coming from, shopping the farmers markets, seeing how individual citizens as well as locally owned businesses took pride in ensuring that their neighbors in need were taken care of. Volunteering at the Warrenton Farmers Market to provide cooking demonstrations & opportunities to children to taste new foods while supporting their Kids’ Days was always the highlight of my month, so it was an honor to be appointed to the Market’s Advisory Board.

Fast forward a few years. I was enjoying my busy but fulfilling schedule when the COVID pandemic hit. As it happened, the Manager of the Warrenton Farmers Market was moving on to pursue other passions. The Market was in a phase of transition at a time when it was crucial to continue to operate to support the community. The vendors needed the support of the community equally as much. I was encouraged to apply for the position & was hired. I was so honored to help lead this fabulous group of small business owners. But, truthfully, I was terrified because I had never managed a market before! Fortunately, I had already formed deep relationships with many of the vendors- I shopped there every week, purchased produce for the school system from some of them, & even got married at the Market (our private ceremony before our larger celebration). I learned about the challenges small farms, ranches, & food-based businesses faced. We gathered & tried to solve challenges together, to build a community that would want to support us as much as we wanted to support them. Thankfully, through hard work, building necessary relationships with other organizations, & a well planned strategy to engage with our community through consistent grassroots efforts, we succeeded.

Working two jobs that were so synergistic was amazing. I worked for the FRESH Program Monday through Friday during the day & did my work for the Farmers Market early mornings, at night, & on the weekends. Suddenly being responsible for the success of these small businesses during a global pandemic, although slightly scary, was truly invigorating. It still is!

Deciding to move away from working with the FRESH Program to explore other opportunities was a big, bittersweet decision. But as it happens with most projects, it was time.

And here we are today! I’m so excited to be back to serving families to help them live the best quality of life possible while supporting our small farm & food community.

Thanks for taking the time to get to know me a bit, I can’t wait to get to know YOU!

Hi! I’m Chef Natalie.

I’ve been cooking since I was a child. My Grandma was an amazing cook, cake maker, & hostess & much of the time I was there by her side helping. Through those experiences I found that food was a way to show love & care as well as hospitality.

Throughout culinary school, my peers thought it amusing that I was investing in the educational programming but did not wish to work in a restaurant. I always knew that I would work with my client base on a more personal level. As an in-home personal chef I helped clients overcome barriers to eating the way they wanted to or maybe even needed to for their health & well-being. I also taught cooking classes at a recreational cooking school, which opened my eyes to the level of gastronomical knowledge & culinary skill of the average American. Sometimes, as a chef, you take your knowledge base for granted & forget that not all home cooks possess the information you have accumulated.

The next phase of my career was one of my favorite- a truly unique experience working in a brand new community with a completely different “customer” base. I was recruited to work for the Fauquier County Public Schools’ FRESH (Fauquier Reaches in Excellence for School Health) Program, a budding grant-funded program. My purview included developing a Farm to School program to get more fresh, local produce onto lunch trays by making relationships with local farmers while simultaneously developing recipes to utilize the produce & training the cafeteria staff to prep & cook it. Developing kid-friendly recipes that met the USDA National School Lunch Program nutrition requirements, were tasty, & didn’t burden the cafeteria staff members with too many extra tasks (they were notoriously stretched thin) was possibly one of the greatest challenges I had ever faced. I learned so much & loved my time there.