Upbringing

Amanda she grew up with her family in New Jersey. Her immediate family consisted of her mother, Kathleen, her father Paul, and her two brothers Jason and Justin. She enjoyed cooking with her family because it was a time where they all able to bond. She learned how to cook from her parents and enjoyed finding out what made good food. While most kids were just happy to eat their food when it was yummy, Amanda wanted to know more. She wanted to know what ingredients were used. She wanted to know how the food was prepared. When something tasted delicious to her, she wanted to know what combination produced the result.

Cooking Teacher’s Advice

Amanda attended a public high school called Cedar Grove High School. While she was attending classes, a teacher of hers suggested that she might be interested in attending The Culinary Institute of America. During cooking class, the teacher noticed that Amanda had a stronger interest in the class than most of the other students. A lot of students saw cooking class as easy course. During junior and senior year, high school students had more room for electives. Most of their general education classes were completed but they still needed to fill out their schedule. Some students chose music, some students choose auto shop, and some students chose cooking class because of the appeal. Each class consisted of the teacher demonstrating how to make a dish and then the students would try to replicate the dish in different groups. Some students took it easy while their group members finished up the dish and just anticipated the end of the class when they would get to eat their creation.

Amanda was different from the other students. She was in the ear of her teacher a lot and would even stay after class to keep talking to the teacher while other students were happy that class was over. Her teacher recognized her talent but most importantly, she recognized Amanda’s passion. She felt Amanda would go far because of her drive and interest in the culinary arts. After graduating from high school, Amanda took her teacher’s advice and went to The Culinary Institute of America. She attended classes there until she graduated in 1989.

Work in the USA

After graduating from the Culinary Institute of America, Amanda was hired by a popular French-Taiwanese fusion restaurant. It was called The Vong and located in New York City, New York. She worked under Jean-Georges Vongerichten during her time at that restaurant, which lasted until 1994. Vongerichten is a native from France and owns many top restaurants in various cities across the world. He was a head cook of Eden Rock and St Barths. He also has written various cookbooks. She left the Vong and went to work at the Verbena. There, she was under the mentorship of Diane Forley. Forley was the owner of the Verbena Restaurant and Courtyard Garden. Forley is an entrepreneur, innovative cook and is the leading chef in New American Cuisine.