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About Chez Amy

Amy Callahan, owner and cook of Chez Amy, is originally from Kenosha, Wisconsin.  Her maternal grandmother was first-generation Italian-American, and as you may guess, food is a way of life!  The pride and ceremony of preparing food to share with family and friends is deep rooted.

Amy's appreciation for good food started at a very early age when her babysitter offered her canned ravioli for lunch.  After one bite, she asked for something else to eat!  Needless to say, her mother remains quite proud of this!  In junior high school, she taught her home economics class how to make homemade pasta.  And it wasn't until her senior year of high school that she learned you could buy canned tomatoes in a grocery store.  Tomatoes at her house came out of glass jars stored in the basement.

She learned much of her cooking skills as a child while she sat in the kitchen talking with her mom as she made the family's meals.  Her mother would constantly share cooking tips with her, "Remember, when you make... always... don't forget... I like to....." and so on.  Amy's first jobs were even in restaurants: washing dishes for a large caterer, mopping floors at a deli with her cousin, busing tables and hostessing at diners. At 18 she began to bartend which she did for many years off and on.  Since then she has also done payroll, bookkeeping, managing, waiting tables, and cooking in restaurants, golf courses and bars.  She jokingly teases that she's done everything in a restaurant except wash the toilets!

During her college years, she had the great fortune to live in an apartment where she could not rely on the cafeteria for meals.  She also lived in France and on the island of Martinique where she was exposed to a wide variety of ethnic and tropical foods that were not common or available in the United States.  She constantly found herself asking people how they made the dishes she enjoyed or experimenting in her own kitchen.  More recently, Amy developed a strong intolerance to processed foods. This has required her to eat meals prepared from whole foods that are fresh or minimally processed.

Today, Amy shares her deep rooted passion for cooking by providing meals, catering small parties, and teaching others how to cook.

For more stories and tips, stop by Chez Amy's Blog!

 

Thank you! I look forward to cooking with you soon!