Today we’d like to introduce you to Marjorie Gabriel.
Hi Marjorie, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I’ve always loved the way food brings people together. Growing up, our family hosted holidays and I would hang around the kitchen while my mom did the cooking, hoping she’d let me help. Some of my earliest memories are of standing on a step stool beside her in my sunny yellow apron, classical music playing, pots bubbling on the stove, the kitchen filled with warmth. Food was how my family connected.
I stopped eating meat at age 14, and she told me she wasn’t going make me separate meals so I would have to fend for myself. I embarked on my vegetarian cooking journey with an excited and open mind, experimenting with soy products and seitan, learning how to cook beans, legumes, and eggs every which way, and playing with exotic spices and flavors from Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America.
When I went away to college, living on my own gave me free rein in the kitchen, and I subscribed to every major food magazine, filling binders with the pages I tore from them. I discovered cooking shows on PBS, and I sat on the couch with my notepad and pen, scribbling furiously as I tried to copy down every ingredient and instruction. Julia Child, Jacques Pépin, Graham Kerr, Martin Yan and David Rosengarten were fixtures in my living room, and when Food Network launched I thought it was the most wonderful idea in the history of television. I absorbed as much as I could from the chefs on TV. Eventually I learned to trust my instincts and improvise, and started creating my own dishes based on the flavors and ingredients I liked the most. I was a part-time hostess at a local restaurant, and on slow nights after I had finished seating the rush, the chef would let me sneak me into the kitchen to help him.
After a brief go at a very unfulfilling corporate life in NYC, I moved to LA to pursue a career in wellness. Things progressed organically from there. I went from personal training, to getting my Master’s degree in Nutritional Science, to establishing a nutrition consulting practice. Clients were always asking me for recipes for the menus I wrote them, and some even requested that I prepare their meals. So I was sort of cooking for a living on the side…and then I was diagnosed with Celiac disease, and it turned my world upside down. I had to relearn how to prepare so many of the things I loved in a way that was safe for me, and I also started eating meat again. I became obsessed with the chemistry of food, and the idiosyncrasies of gluten-free baking.
I was still doing nutrition consulting but I really wanted to spend my time in the kitchen, and gigs were hard to come by without a culinary degree. So when my dad passed away and I moved back East to help take care of my mom, I enrolled at the Natural Gourmet Institute in Manhattan. It was the one culinary program I felt safe attending; classical French schools weren’t an option because they had gluten everywhere, whereas NGI was willing to accommodate me as much as possible. It was a wonderful place, and I’m sad the original flagship campus no longer exists; my time there was the catalyst for this amazing phase of my life. I’ve since worked in restaurants, managed catering companies and bakeries, taught culinary classes, launched food businesses, created a food blog, and cooked for cancer patients, celebrities, and people from all walks of life. I truly love catering and teaching, although I’m currently focusing most of my energy on growing my Celiac-safe cottage bakery.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
There have certainly been challenges. Restaurant life was rough; women still aren’t treated well or respected in that environment for the most part, which is why I decided to shift to the private side of the industry. That presents different challenges – it’s super competitive, particularly in the high end markets where I’ve lived and worked (NYC, LA, Park City). You always have to find ways to set yourself apart from the other chefs chasing the same gigs. In a way, my Celiac diagnosis was a blessing because it led me to become an expert in that niche. People seek me out for my expertise now, but it took me years to establish my reputation in each locale. Currently my greatest hurdle is financial. I briefly co-owned a gluten-free sourdough bakery in LA before the pandemic, and my dream is to open a GF bakery/cafe here. But it’s a very costly endeavor, and not something I can fund myself.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I work as a 100% gluten-free private chef/caterer in Park City, Utah. Not all of my clients are GF, they just love my food. People hire me year-round to cook for their family gatherings, parties, and special events, and teach cooking classes. Fellow chefs often ask me to supply GF baked goods for their events, and I recently launched a gluten-free cottage bakery out of my house. The hope is to create sufficient demand for my products to parlay this venture into a brick-and-mortar; for now orders are placed via my website and picked up in person on a designated day.
I’m known for creating unique, personalized event menus, surprising people who didn’t know the beautiful meal they just ate was gluten-free, and making the best GF bread and pastries around. I take pride in how good I am at my craft. I put in years of work and self-education to become an expert at what I do, and it’s even harder to pull off some of it at high altitude. I’d say my gluten-free mastery and ability to accommodate pretty much any dietary restriction sets me apart from other chefs.
Before we go, is there anything else you can share with us?
Just that if you’re in Northern Utah and want some fantastic GF food, you can place a baked goods order via my website, or contact me for catering services.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.goodhealthgourmet.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/goodhealthgourmet?vrfl=dHVmdjUyNnM0ZzR2&utm_source=qr
- Other: https://share.google/u8iMEuKwSsdLBs8jn
