Meet the Team
Our Personal Chefs
Meet the seasoned personal chefs of Down to Earth Cuisine. Each one of our chefs brings a wealth of culinary experience, creativity, and care to every meal they craft for your home.
Why Down to Earth
Why hire a Personal Chef?
Clients hire us for many reasons. A personal chef provides more than just a meal — it’s a connection between you and your food. It’s an opportunity to explore new tastes, textures, and local ingredients. Hiring a personal chef is a chance to reclaim priceless time in your busy life and enjoy delicious, healthy, home-cooked meals like you’ve never experienced before.
Our Team
The Chefs Behind Every Meal
Chef & Owner
David Boyd
Cordon Bleu-trained chef with 20 years of custom menu design for Seattle homes.
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Head Chef · Seattle
Brittney Cline
Seattle native crafting whole-food, plant-based menus rooted in nutrition and flavor.
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Seattle Personal Chef
Tom Hoolihan
14 years in Seattle kitchens, turning weeknight meals into thoughtful, ingredient-driven plates.
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Seattle Personal Chef
Dean Shinagawa
25+ years from Honolulu’s Kahala Hilton to Seattle fine dining, now cooking in your kitchen.
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Seattle Personal Chef
Johanna Strong
Bastyr-trained chef blending culinary arts with nutrition for nourishing, everyday meals.
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Seattle Personal Chef
Thomas Wood
9 years of travel-shaped cooking, specializing in Chinese cuisine and bold, sauce-forward plates.
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Seattle Personal Chef
Erik Carlson
30 years beside Seattle’s best chefs, bringing warmth and craft to every family’s table.
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Seattle Personal Chef
Jordan Quinn
Pastry and savory trained, designing personalized menus that balance technique with creativity.
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Seattle Personal Chef
Kristine Pabie
Filipino cuisine specialist from Manila, celebrating heritage through bright, family-style meals.
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Seattle Personal Chef
Clayton Hutchins
Started cooking at 12 in a friend’s family Italian restaurant. Loves scratch pasta and slow-built sauces.
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Seattle Personal Chef
Maddie Driscoll
Cooked at Canlis in Seattle and a James Beard-winning Hawaii kitchen. Brings restaurant precision home.
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Head Chef · San Diego Personal Chef
Amanda Grotewiel
14 years in San Diego’s culinary industry, trained at the Marine Room and specializing in fine dining at home.
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San Diego Personal Chef
Rose Tuttle
California Culinary Academy pastry alum who spent a decade in NYC kitchens before returning home.
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San Diego Personal Chef
Carolyne Cervantes
Spent years in catering kitchens, making hospitality the loudest part of every meal.
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Erny Salas
Chef Erny Salas is a chef trained at Grossmont Community College with experience at Il Dandy, Civico, and Uppercrust, specializing in Mediterranean-inspired cuisine rooted in quality, nutrition, and global culinary influences.
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San Diego Personal Chef
TaCee West
Chef TaCee West is a private chef trained at The Star Career Academy in NYC, blending West Indian, Southern American, Asian, Italian, and Mediterranean flavors into memorable dining experiences.
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Orange County Personal Chef
Ahitza Dominguez
Tijuana-trained pastry and savory chef bringing heritage and precision to Orange County homes.
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Head Chef · Las Vegas Personal Chef
David Moniz
Cordon Bleu-trained with a decade feeding Silicon Valley tech campuses and private clients.
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Las Vegas Personal Chef
Gabriel Candelaria
Grew up on a New Mexico cattle ranch. Cooks the food his family made: direct, generous, Southwestern.
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Orange County Personal Chef
Maribel Araiza Rosendo
Professionally trained at an American steakhouse since 2014. Precise, heritage-inspired cooking.
View Profile →Top Reasons
Top reasons to hire a personal chef for the home
Get time back in your day
The average American spends 1–2 hours a day doing food prep. If you’re working for 8 hours and sleeping for 8, that gives you back ~12% of your free time. An extra hour can dramatically improve your lifestyle — more exercise, more time with family, more time for hobbies, or simply to relax.
Dietary restrictions
Over 85% of Americans don’t eat enough vegetables. Whether you want to improve your diet, have a family member with a dietary restriction, or have one yourself, a personal chef can change the way you live. We prepare meals under any requirements — including gluten free and vegan — and often work directly with your nutritionist or dietician.
Don’t know how to cook
1 in 3 people cite lack of knowledge as the reason they don’t cook. Many of our clients are simply tired of ordering unhealthy takeout and delivery. If you’re in this group, a personal chef will be a breath of fresh air — and you’d be amazed at how much you can learn simply by watching.
Don’t want to cook
Many of our clients call us after getting tired of cooking. If you’ve been the primary meal preparer for your family for years and the kids have finally moved out, chances are cooking is the last thing you want to do. Hiring a personal chef gives you the freedom to explore dishes and cuisines you love.
How It Works
How does hiring a personal chef work?
The beauty of hiring a personal chef is the flexibility. We work with your specific schedule, lifestyle, and preferences.




