Meet Our Chefs (click their respective businesses to visit their pages)
Chef James Ashley, Pure Catering & Bare Bowls Kitchen
Chef James discovered a passion sourcing and cooking foods locally grown and raised while growing up in a rural South Texas town. Working in a local butchers market, he learned the art of butchering meat and seafood fabrication at the age of 16, subsequently realizing his calling to become a Chef. He attended the Art Institute Houston where, striving to become the best, James stayed focused.
At the end of his expedition of discovery James was Executive Chef at age 27 tripling sales in two restaurant concepts in the exclusive Multimillion-Dollar Club on top of the galleria mall, one concept was fine dining offering global cuisines the second a healthy spa café. Searching to offer solutions for healthier food options for everyone lead Chef James to the creation of PURE CATERING.
Enjoy his cuisine at the Urban Harvest Farmer's Markets or wherever Bare Bowls Kitchen may park! Classes taught include Butchering, Farmer's Market Meals, Fundamentals and Private Events
Chef Diego Salguero, Lucia's Argentina
Chef Diego came to the U.S. in 2000 to carry on his family's traditions and extend the recipes of his mother and company namesake, Lucia. As a food consultant and personal chef, he was able to expand his culinary talent and focus on exceptional service. Soon, his catering took him all over the country. With his catering, he was able to refine his unique and interesting fusion of Argentine and American cuisine. His obsession with freshness allowed him to maximize the flavors and textures of his dishes while remaining true to his belief – simple foods with eclectic flavors yield the most amazing culinary experiences.
Enjoy Lucia's cuisine at Café Luz and Urban Harvest Farmer's Markets. Classes taught include Argentinean Cuisine, Grilling, Empanadas and Private Culinary Events
Chef Roy Rodriguez, Chef Roy's Catering & Classes
Chef Roy has cooked in many of the great kitchens of South America and Europe over the last twenty years. He believes that food should be 'Fresh. Seasonal. All Natural. And most important, must taste great!"
Enjoy Chef Roy's cuisine at Urban Harvest Farmer's Markets. Classes taught include Roman Pizza Festival, Paella and Winter Greens
Anita Varma, Curry Flavors
Anita Varma has had the good fortune to grow up in India and travel the world. Along the way she picked up many culinary tricks. In her grandma's rustic kitchen, deep in the villages of India, she learned the value of slow-cooking tandoori kabobs on cinders whilst in the galleys of huge ocean tankers, the chefs taught her tricks to keep a hungry crew happy. Her initiative,'Curry Flavors is a session wherein an integrated menu is shared along with a demonstration of the tricks-of-the-trade, interspersed with small cultural tidbits and spicy anecdotes. That done, everyone sits down and enjoys the creation.
Classes taught include Indian for Beginners, Spice of Life, Mumbai Magic and Private Culinary Events
Aspiring Chef Daniel Naumko, the Sybarite Pig
Already an experienced and talented brewer, Naumko made his claim to fame in the Houston food scene by winning the Houston Beer Expirement. His globally and craft beer influenced cuisine hails strongly from his Venezuelan roots, paying tribute to the progressive flavors of Spain and Latin America. Ever the lover of fine meats, Naumko is entering the world of charcuterie after private tutorial in the kitchen of Stella Sola.
Enjoy Sybarite Pig at Café Luz, special craft beer events and soon, the Sybarite Pig. Classes taught include brewing, cooking with beer and special beer pairing events.
Accidental Chef & Soda Jerk Lucrece Borrego, Cáfe Luz & Happier Desserts
Once aspiring pastry chef staging in plated desserts at NYC pastry kitchens, then turned culinary consultant, transformed into accidental chef due to incredibly warm Houston response for her cuisine at Café Luz, and after a brief flirt of over-extended insanit, now reformed to focus on sodas, soda fountain and craft beer inspired desserts.
