About Alissa

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As a lover of good food and mindfulness teacher, I’m curious about the ordinary ways that our life can be enriched with meaning, and discovering the places, people, and rhythms that inspire and enliven the soul through cooking. 

For me, it is in the quiet of the kitchen where I feel most at home, and my most creative; where I have discovered that a homemade jar of fresh, peach jam tastes like the sun, and feels like my love; how the simple acts of putting on an apron, and spending time with the ingredients before me has a way of slowing me down, instilling a sense of reverence to my day, and more ease and joy in my life. 

Learning to cook is one of those things that we start to absorb at a young age; the culinary experiences of a lifetime shaping our food aesthetic. This began for me growing up in the country in a family where cooking was simply important; through thick or thin we gathered daily around the table for a homemade meal, teaching me an appreciation for the kitchen, and the special bonds that can take root there. A curiousity continues today to draw me deeper and deeper into the particulars of food made well, crossing my path with inspiring chefs who have so generously shared their art with me.  

It takes practice, always practising! 

My path to here has been a culmination of sporadic achievements, and even more countless mishaps: the burnt nuts (I always burn the nuts!), jams and yogurt that won’t set, over salted butters, and deflated loaves of bread, crooked downward dogs and awkward namastes. Yet, it all seems to be part of the same thing: a relentless curiousity and tendency towards wholehearted living that lights me up. A pull that gets me back on my feet, brushes me off, sparks ideas lit by colours and flavours, teaches me to laugh and care about things like kindness, generousity and grace.  

I owe my deepest thanks to my husband for making such a sweet and beautiful life with me, and to my spirited family and the kitchen chaos that is our creative playground; to chefs Miriam Streiman, Yoonhee Chang, and Lauren Hambleton for your encouragement and inspiration; to Chef Eli at the Stratford Chef School for your masterful guidance with my training; to the families who have allowed me the chance to cook for them in their kitchens over the years, and to the Mary’s Kitchen crew all that time ago who believed in my vision for beautiful farm-fresh food for all and who cooked their little hearts out along side me. And of course, my deepest gratitude to you - those I cook with or for - who give me the chance to share my love and live my purpose.

It is my deepest hope that one day you will join me in my kitchen for conversations over tea and peeled apples; that I may carve out a quiet restorative place for you, to serve your heart, belly and soul.

May you find rest, and be lit by joy.  

Love, 

Alissa