Cookie Hadley Email & Phone Number

Father, chef, outdoor enthusiast. I grew up in the suburbs outside of Kansas City and started cooking with my mom when I was 5-6 years old. At 8 years of age, she remarried to a Hawaiian-born gentleman of Japanese descent and I was soon immersed in the culture and flavors of Hawaiian and Japanese food... it made quite an impression on my young mind! Stumbling my way through my young life, dropping out of first high school and then later college, I spent a few years blindly seeking an artistic way of supporting myself. Somehow at 21 years old, I ended up as a prep cook in an upscale casual Italian restaurant on the Country Club Plaza, in KC. It was then that I found I had a knack for, and developed a passion for cooking... Over the next 30 years I've worked under several talented chefs, including one CMC in Kansas City and two James Beard winners in Miami. I also lived and worked on an organic farm and arts commune for five years, which is what ultimately brought me to Western North Carolina... Since landing in the Asheville area in 1999, I've developed a strong affinity for this land and strive to take advantage of the enormous bounty of local farmers and artisans who to me, are the foundation of the ever evolving and sought after Asheville food scene.

Listed skills include Culinary Skills, Menu Development, Restaurants, Food, and 36 others.