Eileen Chou was born in Southern California but spent her formative years in Ohio, watching her Taiwanese-born mother adapt classic Taiwanese dishes to an American setting. Her fascination with her mother’s cooking blossomed into a curiosity about other cultures’ food and ingredients, and she spent her teenage years begging her mother to let her try her hand at cooking — and making huge messes in the process.

But it wasn’t until after college, when she moved to San Francisco, that Eileen discovered her real passion for cooking. After three years working as a forensic accountant she enrolled at the San Francisco Cooking School and never looked back. Her first cooking job was as part of the opening team at The Progress, which would go on to earn a Michelin star. From there she moved to Brooklyn, where she made mountains of pasta at Blanca, and practiced whole-animal butchery at the Meat Hook.

We’re happy to have Eileen here as she continues to grow and expand her culinary skills! When she’s not cooking, you’ll find her high up in the mountains or traveling to a new country, looking for ways to explore the great outdoors and deepen her connection to our world.