Sammi Kuhl
CHEF
"What is your favorite thing to cook?"
My answer? Whatever is in the fridge. For the past 20 years, I have found that the happiest place I can be is in the kitchen cooking for the people I love. Food is necessary, food is practical, but most importantly, food is unifying.
"I have had the pleasure of having Sammi cook for me for almost a decade. If you are looking for someone to teach you to love cooking, and fill every single bite with love and phenomenal flavors, then Sammi is the one for you. I constantly text her for advice on meat dishes (vegetarian, here!) and wine pairings. I trust her pallet completely, and cannot wait for our next meal together."
/ Cassie Brehmer /
My Story
I was born into a family that LOVES food. On Saturday afternoons, after a morning of whatever dance or theater classes we attended, my brother and I would watch cooking shows on PBS until dinner time. Our father would call us into the kitchen to help him do small things, like stirring a sauce, or grating cheese, and he began to teach us everything he was doing and why. Eventually, my brother and I kicked him out of the kitchen and into the easy chair while we took over the operation. We now cook for all of the holidays.
This time with my family led to a deep love and appreciation for food. I didn’t realize until much later that other families didn’t operate the same way. The kitchen was, and still is, my happy place. When I got to college and finally had my own kitchen and began to fend for myself, I had the happiest of roommates. When I fell into a little rut my senior year, I had a professor ask me what I loved to do. Immediately, I answered, “cooking”. He said, “Make sure you cook everyday”. It was the best advice I have ever received. It changed my disposition, and have followed that advice to this day.
When I moved to New York, without a job, my roommate was hosting at Andrew Carmelini’s Locanda Verde. I had hosted before, so I went and interviewed. I was hired and began working the following week. After a month of hosting, and a well-timed joke about wine tasting, I found myself serving some of the most beautiful food I had seen. Three months later while drinking a glass of champagne at Eleven Madison Park, where my brother was a Captain, the service director asked my brother why I wasn’t working for their company. My brother said, “I don’t know, ask her!” He handed me his business card and the rest is history. I became a kitchen server at The NoMad and worked my way up to Captain. The fine dining world was incredible. I was in total awe of the food and the culture. I felt at home.
I have worked in some of the best restaurants in New York City and through that have developed close relationships with the industry’s best. I have seen world class dishes come to life. I learned everything I could from these chefs as we cooked together. My home got bigger .
Now, my goal is to show the world that it’s really not that hard to eat well. Proper techniques are universal and once you learn them, you can apply them to your home kitchen. It will revolutionize how you see food. It’s easy. And I promise, once you invest a little time learning, you’ll feel so much better about what you put in your body and how you feed your friends and family. I hope, with a little guidance from my kitchen, you find your kitchen to be a playground. Release your creativity. Make your kitchen a place that can ground you and help you unite the people that mean the most to you in your life.
Welcome to Sammi’s Kitchen.