a little about me
For me, this love affair with food began when I was a small child. I was always drawn to the kitchen, the smells, the food, the happy faces at the table. Having the ability to cook for other people was amazing to me.
As a small child I worried that no one would pay attention and remember the recipes of my mother, grandmother, and Uncle Mario. So, at some point I decided to be the one that remembers. At eight years old my mother taught me how to make homemade manicotti and over forty years later they are still on the menu. Even at that age my dream was to cook for brides on their wedding day.
At eighteen I started working with Woodstock Moveable Feast a fantastic catering company in Woodstock NY. It was wonderful. I loved everything about it. Wildly delicious food displayed in such a beautiful way - it was stunning. The look of joy on the guests faces made a lasting impact on me.
In my 30’s I finally had the opportunity to explore food as a career. It took a while to figure it all out. I did not really fit in with the chef world. Having a restaurant was never one of my ambitions.
Then I started cooking for artists. This changed my life forever. For the first time I felt at home and it was within the world of art. I was surrounded by people who understood the passion and love I have for food. They appreciated that my ingredients came from local farmers and encouraged me to explore and experiment with flavors and styles of cooking.
All my weddings were for artists - we just understood each other. My farmers would give me mystery boxes of ingredients and my clients would tell me to do whatever I wanted. I was literally improvising weddings. It gave me so much freedom to cast aside the familiar definitions of a chef and just cook. This was a magical time.
Once you fall that deeply in love with food and recognize it as your passion, you must seek out amazing ingredients. Once on that path, there is no turning back. The best flavors come from the best farms.
I have been in this love affair for over 40 years now and I am still discovering and learning. I am now settled in a sweet little bucolic farming town of Bovina, NY. We cater about thirty-six weddings a year and I am still blown away by the joy of the guests and the beautiful display of delicious food.
“As I begin writing this review, so too, I begin to drool — for that is the yumminess of Chef Deanna D’Angelo’s cuisine.
Chef D’s food delights the palette and tickles the soul, as if the woodland faeries themselves have joined her to invoke the pleasures of fresh, local, responsibly-sourced ingredients that she steeps in love and creativity. A meal prepared by Chef Deanna takes you beyond her expression of love, unto its own experiential realm. Express your needs, then let go, and give this gifted woman the freedom to work her magic interlaced with unimaginable pairings; always presented on an inspired eclectic assemblage of grandmother’s china.”