Sylva L. Email & Phone Number

Baltimore, Maryland, United States

Both my parents grew up in rural settings, my father on a rice farm in Taiwan and my mother on an acreage in Canada. Together they passed to my brother and me an appreciation for the land. We were urban farmers long before it was trendy. When we lived in Ann Arbor, Michigan, we raised chickens and ducks in our garage, tapped local trees for syrup, hunted morels in old apple orchards, and raised bees in the back yard. We experimented with whatever our parents found interesting or possible. We made our own tofu, yogurt, applesauce, beer, and dandelion wine. A considerable amount of what we consumed was planted and harvested from our half acre in town. I consider my parents pioneers of today’s garden-to-table and maker movements.I bring this free spirit into my cooking, by always using the freshest ingredients. I explore the culinary world by building relationships with other small businesses, makers, artisans, and farmers. A visitor to my home will find cookbooks in nearly every room−you could read Moroccan recipes in the bathroom! I follow food blogs, fellow chefs, and cool restaurants to learn about food and design trends worldwide.Making food takes practice, curiosity, and research. My friends and customers often enjoy my experiments, practice drills, and culinary ideas. Seeing people gathered around the table with family and friends−eating, laughing, and debating the day’s events−provides me with a great sense of achievement.

Washington Dc-Philadelphia

Responsible for catering planning, budgeting, forecasting, soliciting new business, maintaining current clients and promoting corporate catering and event events. Revenue maximization through cost control, sales, marketing, effective negotiation of services and accurate forecasting. Also responsible for the training, supervision, scheduling and evaluations for the staff.

Washington D.C. Metro Area

Responsible for booking and execution of all onsite and offsite events including all administration, guest relations, writing contracts, function sheets, assisting with set-up, preparation and welcoming guests. This position focused on sales and marketing building a client base and contributing significantly to bottom line sales. This included outreach to the community, local businesses, and concierge and working with the marketing team to create new marketing and promotional initiatives. Responsible for setting an overall tone of warm, welcoming, Texas/Southern-style hospitality when interacting with guests, staff, during the booking process and at any onsite or offsite event. A team leader responsible for clear communication to both the service and culinary team leaders. Responsible for planning and execution of new and innovative marketing and promotions plans in coordination with the marketing team. Maintained marketing declining budget, mailing lists, vendor relationships.

Washington D.C. Metro Area

601 Pennsylvania Avenue