Who Is Chef Gillian
Chef Gillian is a culinary artist and cultured chef. Her passion is “to create a tantalizing taste experience for her clients.” She knew at a young age that creating art from food was something she was destined to do. Gillian spent extensive time studying the culinary arts at Johnson & Wales University. In her freshman year, as a student chef, she entered a competition sponsored by S&D Coffee and Tea. The competition was for the top students at the university and allowed these students the creativity to create something amazing that incorporated coffee and tea into the dish. Her ice cream won first prize.
That was just the beginning. In 2018, Chef Gillian opened her business, called Cultured Concepts, where she can showcase her variety of talents. She is a personal chef and does in-home catering, private cooking classes, and menu consultations. She has a flair for any type of cuisine and serves a variety of foods with an international vibe. She uses the highest quality foods and spices when preparing her dishes and can also serve a mean dessert or deliver sweet treats for any occasion.
Farm to Table
Chef Gillian is active in her community and, in February 2023, spent the day at the Charlotte Regional Farmers Market, celebrating Personal Chef Day. She created some delicious masterpieces to share with the crowd and taught them how to recreate the dishes. She used ingredients from many of the local vendors at the market and showed the audience how to combine ingredients they normally wouldn’t think to put together.
Serving in the United States Air Force
Before becoming a culinary artist, she proudly served in the United States Air Force as an F-15 Avionics Technical Sergeant. At this rank, she had to deal with highly complex technical duties while leading her subordinates to success at their jobs each day. She thoroughly enjoyed her military career and has thanked the Air Force for getting her where she is today.
On average, it takes 11 years to reach the rank of Technical Sergeant, and she has been able to carry the lessons, strategies, and discipline she learned while serving in the military through to her current career as a chef. The dedication and resilient spirit that were forged in the Air Force have helped Chef Gillian push through the challenges she’s faced while starting her new career in the culinary arts. She’s still using the Air Force motto “Aim High” today as she sets standards high above many other culinary artists and pushes the boundaries to make new and exciting cuisine to share with people.
Outside the Culinary Arts
Chef Gillian has been busy outside the kitchen Showering us with her many talents. Most recently dabbling as an influencer and hosting online videos on the rBeatz Originals Media Streaming Service for international reggae artist Mr. Acton. From Malawi, Mr. Acton is the voice in Africa to America. She chats with the reggae artist about his time spent on various radio shows and his being a finalist on The Voice Africa, as well as his inspiration for his music and his motives for moving forward. Mr. Acton says it’s the support and courage of his fans that keep him working hard and creating new music to share with the world. He is an artist well-known for his inspiration and upbeat vibe.
Chef Gillian also teamed up with WBTV to draw awareness to autism during Autism Awareness Month. She’s once again in the kitchen, sharing tips and tricks to help you hone your own cooking skills and help parents learn how to get picky eater kids to try new food items. She walks parents through how to introduce the “tricky” veggies into their children’s diets so they can get all the nutrients they need while growing.
This young woman is just getting started with her career, but she is staying the course and making a name for herself in the culinary arena. From hosting cooking shows on YouTube to partnering with people in her community, Chef Gillian is striving to make a difference not only in the art of food but also across the entire world.