We had the good fortune of connecting with Kendall Andronico and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kendall, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
Since I was little, I’ve been incredibly passionate about cooking, especially for others. The ability to be creative with ingredients, recipes and presentation has always drawn me in.

While I’m creative by nature, I always knew I wanted to get a traditional college degree, so I got my bachelors in business with an emphasis in marketing and pursued a traditional 9-5 career after college. Fast forward to 2018, I was four years out of college, working my 9-5 marketing job and feeling very unfulfilled creatively. It had always been a dream of mine to attend culinary school so after some extensive research, I ended up attending SF Cooking school which had an amazing program but also allowed me to keep my job while attending classes at night + on weekends.

Although I was exhausted and had to put my social life on hold for a year, it was the first time I truly felt like I had purpose and was working toward something I had always dreamt of: working in food.

I’m very passionate about my 9-5 marketing job — I love working with data and numbers to inform marketing strategies — but pursuing my cooking business on the side gives me true purpose. It gives me an escape from the craziness of life and I love the fact that I’m able to be creative and think outside the box!

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I do a little bit of everything when it comes to food! To sum it up, I work as a professional recipe developer and cook. I develop recipes for my website and have worked with quite a few brands on recipe development and food photography as well. I also have worked as a private chef for one-off events and gatherings.

It was definitely not easy to get to where I am today and I still have a ton to learn and grow! What I share on Instagram is not the full picture — I work my ass off and have always worked a 9-5 corporate job while hustling on nights and weekends to pursue my cooking career. If you were to ask me five years ago whether I’d be making money developing recipes and have brands I love reaching out to work with them, I would have said you’re crazy!

I started off realizing that I needed to get professional experience in cooking to pursue a real career in food. I ended up cold emailing the owner and head chef at a LA-based catering company that I really admired. To my surprise, she ended up responding and we met for coffee. I let her know I was really interested in learning more about cooking and food and she hired me on to work weekend events for her. One really important lesson I learned from this experience is to focus on meeting people in the area you’re interested in and networking as much as possible. Don’t be afraid to reach out to some one, even if you’re intimidated by how important or “big” they are. The worst that could happen is they say no and the best case scenario is that you get your foot in the door and gain a mentor!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
This is a fun one! I’d definitely spend part of our time in the city (our activities would be centered around food, of course!) but I’d also take them to some of my favorite getaway spots that are such treasures in Northern California!

For San Francisco — in the mornings, we’d go on walks in my neighborhood. I’m constantly in awe of how charming and beautiful the architecture is! We’d grab coffee at Le Marais on Chestnut or the Philz truck on the Marina Green and take our coffees down toward Chrissy Field and the Golden Gate Bridge — one of my favorite places to hit in the morning. If we were feeling like a quick snack on our walk, we’d stop by the Dynamo Donuts stand, grab a spiced chocolate donut and take that with us to go. We’d need to go to some of my favorite restaurants (to name a few): Kokkari for the best Greek food (always order the fried smelts to start and braised leg of lamb if it’s on the menu!), Octavia for delicious farm-to-table California cuisine (I worked here for my externship during Culinary school!), Zuni Cafe for roasted chicken, Caesar salad and shoestring fries and Plow for the best breakfast (don’t skip the biscuit with honey butter or the Plow breakfast with their homemade pork sausage!). We’d definitely hit the Saturday Farmer’s Market at the Ferry Building, a weekly ritual of mine. The last thing we’d do in the city is grab sandwiches at Luke’s Local (their rotisserie chicken on sourdough!) and take them to the Presidio picnic area or Baker Beach along with a bottle of wine.

Outside of the city — We’d drive out to Tomales Bay one day for oysters on the beach! We’d grab oysters at Tomales Bay Oyster Co, drive just down the street to Tomales Bay State Park and walk down to the beach with our oysters, some snacks and chilled rosé. We’d also stop by the Napa Valley for some wine tasting (my boyfriend grew up in St. Helena so we go up there often!). We’d drive out there, grab a coffee and breakfast sandwich at The Station and go wine tasting. We love so many wineries up there but lately we’ve been loving Faust and Hall! We’d close out the day by grabbing a quick bite from Gott’s on the way home to San Francisco.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
This is going to sound cliche but my parents are my biggest source of encouragement and inspiration. I grew up surrounded by their love for cooking + entertaining and it completely translated into my passion for food. They were also my biggest supporters when it came to attending culinary school. They fully supported my decision and encouraged me to take the leap of faith. Although I focus on making food and gatherings look nice on my website and Instagram, my parents really stressed the importance of building meaningful relationships around a table with a delicious meal. That’s what it’s all about at the end of the day!

Website: Www.kendallandronico.com

Instagram: @kendall.andronico

Image Credits
Photo of me: Anika Murthy (@theeclecticdiary) All other images taken by me (Kendall Andronico)

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