"Wine is the intellectual part of the meal." - Alexandre Dumas

 Born  in Belgium (Europe’s best-kept culinary secret) Suzanne inherited her love for cooking from her mother and a country where cooking rituals are  a feast every day.  Suzanne states, “In Belgium, food is a cause for  celebration. Its cuisine is dedicatedly gastronomic. We are passionate  about good food.  Belgians are gourmands who enjoy sumptuous lunches and  dinners, which are the focus of socializing with friends and family.”
Although  she didn’t pursue the culinary arts at first, (instead she graduated in  International Business), traveling throughout all of Europe, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East, Suzanne always has been intrigued by cultures and their  cuisines.  "My food passion has been there from the day I was born” she  laughs, “I like to educate myself on new food trends, cultures and their  cooking rituals, collecting cookbooks from all over the world and going  to culinary events, in the country where I am traveling." Her food  passion is expressed in her enthusiasm and her elegant entertaining  style with a definite European flair. “Creating and experimenting with  food is on my mind day and night,” she says “ There are so many new  culinary inspirations going through my head and that I pick up when  traveling, that I even dream about it, ” she laughs.  “There is just not  enough time in the day for me to express all this passion inside of me,  but at least I can share and pass it on to my students in class, hoping  that my food excitement rubs off on them, and that is an enormous  emotional satisfaction. Food is all about having fun and making people  happy, and that is my mission in life“ she states. With her  down-to-earth attitude, Suzanne says that despite popular belief,  “creativity is not the first step in cooking. One needs to be,” she  says, “dependable, clean, organized and demonstrate common sense.   Creativity is the last part …the most enjoyable reward for doing the  job!” After working both in food and in the corporate world, she decided  to go one hundred percent for her passion. Recently, she quit the rat  race of the corporate world and dedicates her time only to the culinary  arts with cooking classes and fine private events. Suzanne defines her  culinary style as global, with strong Mediterranean influences.
 

A  major breakthrough was her international cookbook that was released  worldwide in June 2008 “The Foods and Cooking of Belgium”   and has  been translated in several languages.

Not  to forget her  Status as Certified Sommelier graduating in June 2012  as the top of class from the Court of Master Sommeliers, and actively  being involved in International Wine Consulting, showcasing her love for the variety of grapes produced to world class wines all over the world.

After working for corporate and living in Silicon Valley for more than 30 years, she experienced the best culinary research; meeting all these different cultures, sharing their authentic and ethnic cuisines with me, was my dream come true.”  Suzanne recently moved to central coast wine country where she dedicates her time to fine private wine events, cooking classes and wine educational events.