Hi I’m Ashley!

From a young age, food took center stage at birthdays and holidays. Many of my memories are rooted with a meal. Images of long tables, lined with folded napkins, candles, and glassware come to mind. Special trips to the party supply store to gather color-coordinated paper plates, balloons, and crepe paper to twist and string from the ceilings were always an added bonus. Pizza boxes, confetti, and ice cream cakes piped with buttercream rosettes and sage leaves adorned the lovingly set tables. Toasts were made by both the young and old, all in the celebration of love and togetherness; the table was the backdrop of it all.

The meals shared around so many shapeshifting tables anchored my desire to make bringing people “to the table” my career. After working for 10 years as a preschool teacher I made the decision to enroll in culinary school. I chose the Natural Gourmet Institute located in the heart of NYC. This is where I honed my culinary skills and learned the principles of cooking for wellness along with classic technique. From there I worked in most facets of the food industry. From pastry chef to sous chef, catering to restaurant management, food styling to recipe development, culinary instructor to event production, the culinary field was and continues to be an artful playground for me to explore.

Growing up in New Jersey, I had direct access to NYC, which colored my culinary viewpoint, but living in NJ in such close proximity to farms has been such a source of inspiration. As a private chef, I craft menus with my clients’ vision in mind with seasonal ingredients as the focal point. I pride myself on being able to create dishes that reflect their personality, backgrounds and occasion. To plan, I love asking about a favorite meal, a “must have'' or a beloved family recipe. My hope is to elicit a dear memory or help create new experiences they can look back on with joy as they come A Tavola.