Kayla Simone Fowler is a private farm-to-table chef living in New York City, mostly serving the greater NYC area including New Jersey and the Hamptons. Her local services include meal prep, in-home and event catering, and private dining experiences with fully custom menus. She also travels to cater private retreats, teaches private and corporate classes (in person and virtually), and does menu planning, recipe writing and consulting for individuals and companies.
Born and raised in Oakland, California, Kayla grew up surrounded by a huge array of diverse flavors and global cuisines; from iconic slow-food mecca Chez Panisse, to the wineries of Sonoma and Napa, to the infinite immigrant-run neighborhood institutions of Oakland, the East Bay Area is an incredible place from which to draw culinary inspiration. Kayla’s credits this for her characteristically wide culinary range, which includes French and American classics as well as authentic dishes and techniques from Southeast Asia, Mexico and Central America, the greater Mediterranean, and the Middle East.
She is drawn to time-honored traditional recipes and ingredients, preferring the proverbial “real deal” to more Eurocentric fusion cuisine, as well as old-world methods of natural fermentation, breadmaking, stocks and preserves.
Kayla’s signature offering of “heartfelt haute cuisine” is defined by visually stunning, creative food, thoughtfully made with love and care. She aims to feed the whole person, and feels strongly that food is about enjoyment and community as well as fuel and nutrition.
In her classes, she focuses on the tools needed to break away from recipes and cook creatively and intuitively using one’s senses and palate instead of relying on precise measurements and instructions. Along with the fundamental skills and techniques required for mastery, she works to impart a sense of freedom and relish to the cooking process.
Her consulting work has included such projects as supporting companies with health-focused “lunch and learn” seminars, creating seasonal Ayurvedic diet-compliant recipes, and massive corporate virtual pastry demos.
When she’s not cooking, you can find Kayla dancing salsa, listening to soul music, reading sci-fi and hanging out with her cat/sous chef, Dinah.
Check out her website at www.ksfchef.com and on Instagram @ksfchef.
