Tonya Whitfield

I joined the US Navy out of high school and worked on the hovercrafts. I started making homecooked meals for many of the guys on my husband’s ship. Everyone was so far from home, I wanted to give them a little piece of home through food they used to eat. They inspired me to go to school for culinary arts.  As a Chef of 25 years, I turned to teaching in the Culinary Arts program at SD Mesa College. I had the great fortune of being trained outside Bologna, Italy to be a gelato maestro and share the art of Italian desserts with my students. My new inspirations are in live fire cooking, smoking, ageing and butchery. I work closely with local farms in Valley center teaching and supporting the local farming community.