Before I ever ran a kitchen, I learned how to cook. Stefan taught me the techniques—knife work, flavor building, plating. But technique only gets you so far. It wasn’t until I worked with Jeremy and Jeff that I began to understand what it really means to run a kitchen.
They taught me the difference between being a good cook… and being a leader in a kitchen that runs like a business.
Jeremy was the first to open that world to me. He showed me that food cost isn’t just a number—it’s a living system. Cross-utilization isn’t just smart—it’s survival. A great dish isn’t just about flavor—it has to be repeatable, efficient, clean, and profitable.
Later, Jeff taught me something just as important—execution.
He showed me how to lead a team to perform every single day, not just when conditions are perfect. How to create a menu that isn’t just creative, but one that your line cooks can actually reproduce—cleanly, quickly, and with pride.
What they both taught me was this:
A kitchen is only as good as it runs without you.
That’s what stuck.
When I look at the Sugarbush kitchen now—the way we prep, the way we build specials, the way we test new dishes before they go live—it all carries pieces of what they gave me. The lessons don’t just live in my head. They’re in the workflow. They’re in the way I design menus now—with flexibility, cross-use, and respect for the crew who has to cook it, not just the customer who gets to eat it.
So thank you, Jeremy.
Thank you, Jeff.
You didn’t just shape my kitchen. You helped me run it like it matters.