About Me

I don’t remember a time in my life when food wasn’t at the center of everything. Raised by an Italian immigrant mother, it often feels like cooking is woven into my DNA—something passed down through generations, not just taught, but felt. If you were lucky enough to walk into my nonna’s house, she wouldn’t greet you with a “hello” or “how are you?” She’d say, “You eat?” And whether you had just eaten or not, she’d start cooking—no questions, no arguments. In our world, food was never a chore. It was a choice, a ritual, an act of love.

When I was little, nothing excited me more than being in the kitchen. I was picking basil, shaping orecchiette with my thumbs, and making dimples in focaccia dough—all with a binky still in my mouth. When I was allowed to watch TV, I didn’t turn on cartoons. I turned on channel 51—the Food Network. I’d grab a jar of olives from the pantry and sit cross-legged on the floor, eyes locked on The Barefoot Contessa, Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, Giada, Rachael Ray, and Bobby Flay, dreaming of the day I’d be doing what they do.

I’ve always known I wanted to be a chef. Now, at 22, that dream is my reality. After graduating from the University of San Diego, I completed culinary school at the Institute of Culinary Education in New York City. From there, I stepped into the kitchen at NYC’s legendary Italian restaurant, Don Angie, working on the line and learning firsthand from some of the city's most talented and passionate chefs.

During a business class in college, we were asked to describe ourselves with a single word. My classmates offered up safe, feel-good answers like “kind,” “happy,” or “loving.” But when the professor looked at me, I said the one word I’ve always truly and utterly felt defines me: “hungry.”  Not for bruschetta and a glass of Sancerre—though I wouldn’t say no—but for life. For knowledge. For connection. For more.

Some people will understand it, the deeply insatiable, yet remarkably delicious hunger for life, and some never will —and that’s okay. But the ones who do, share something deeper than just a love for life, they question life, are in a curious lust with life, and might even hate it sometimes – but they are present for every moment of it, making sure to get a taste while always leaving a bite or two for the next person. 

And those of us who do, we move through life tasting everything it offers, always ready for another course.

That’s how I cook. That’s how I live. And I hope that even when I’m 100 years old, I’ll still be as hungry as I was when I was six.

xx Jacqueline Wylie 

Let me cook for you! 

For any private chef work inquiries please email jacquelinevwylie@gmail.com