Armed with her culinary credentials, Michaela started working with a catering firm before moving into the restaurant scene. It wasn’t long before Michaela landed a position with renowned Chef Floyd Cardoz at Tabla. “My favorite part of working at Tabla was creating massive batches of various chutneys, often using local fruit – the rhubarb chutney was the best – in combination with Indian spices like cardamom and nigella.” After a short London foray, Michaela’s commitment to sustainability lead her to Gramercy Tavern, where under the leadership of Chef Mike Anthony, she fulfilled her desire to become part of the local farming community.

Not content just to share her culinary talents in the restaurant, Michaela continued her learning with the non-profit, Just Food, where she completed the Training of Trainers program. “Cooking was my life at that point and I wanted to teach something a little bit different. It was the canning that got me, specifically a class taught by Classie Parker, the grande dame of canning in New York. Canning was a perfect intersection of my passion for food, art and science.” Michaela took that lesson and ran with it, teaching canning workshops all around the city.

Michaela’s worlds collided a second time when she had the opportunity to introduce Just Food and Gramercy Tavern. Upon realizing her commitment and her expertise in food preservation, Chef Anthony worked with Michaela to develop a new position in the kitchen specifically for her: Receiver, Forager, Pickler. “It was great to see all the food coming through the restaurant, and make sure our food costs stayed on track. I loved going to the Greenmarket, discovering new things and building relationships with farmers. And I was super excited to be creating (and eating!) a wide variety of pickles, sauerkrauts, kimchis and nukazuke – all of them new additions to the menu.”