Chef Maya Sutherland is first self-taught from the young age of 5 or 6 years old. At age 7, she used to wake up super early before her parents and climb up to the top of the cabinets to get into all the kitchen ingredients breaking all the rules and cooking without supervision. She was fascinated with cooking early on and would study the recipes until she had an understanding of what was needed to make the recipe work and then she would use what she learned as a guide and do her own thing making her own masterpiece. Her mother worked in healthcare and suggested she look into becoming a Registered Dietitian. While in school studying nutrition, Chef Maya had to take a few culinary classes so she decided to pursue a double major. Now as a Certified Dietary Manager, Certified Food Protection Professional (CDM, CFPP) and Personal Chef she is able to help individuals and families reach their specific health goals ie. eating healthier or maintaining a vegan diet. Chef Maya is also ServSafe Food Protection Manager Certified.
Ever since I can remember I’ve loved helping people. I was a candy striper as a young teen over the summer at a local hospital. I discovered I had a great bond with helping elderly individuals. Naturally after going to school for nutrition and culinary and finishing my degree in management, I found myself working in long term care communities helping the elderly. Many of my patients had food allergies and since I have my own food allergies (gluten, dairy, and nuts) they felt confident that I would keep them safe.
Being a chef that supervised the dietary department in long term communities was an amazing blessing but I really felt alive when I was privileged to cook for special events about 6 times a year. As a personal chef, I’m able to help busy people with meal planning and through my in- home weekly personal chef services or special events. Helping others achieve a health goal or navigate a food allergy is something I’m passionate about.
-Chef Maya
