Monday, November 19, 2012

Chef Jamika

Say the word “chef” and traditionally, it conjures up images of a big white hat atop a restaurant chef. However, the recipe for this dynamic chef goes against all tradition. Jamika is truly a one of a kind chef known for her bold flavors and lively personality to say the least.

Beginning her professional career as a corporate marketing executive, Jamika, known for her risky moves, gave up her lucrative job to pursue her passion for food and cooking to enter the culinary industry. Her classical training included studying in European countries such as Venice, Italy and Vienna, Austria and graduation from the International Culinary Schools at the Art Institute of Atlanta. She also worked for the renowned Ritz Carlton Hotel.

Recognizing her yearning to be the boss, she paired her love for cooking and entertaining and in 2006, began her business – Life of the Party Personal Chef Services.

Positioned as a “Chef to the Stars”, Chef Jamika became a highly sought after personal chef in Atlanta, Georgia, cooking for numerous celebrities and professional athletes. Relying strictly on word-of-mouth advertising and maintaining her professional reputation, Chef Jamika expanded her business by becoming the chef for various corporate events hosted by Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Def Jam Recordings, Black Entertainment Television, the Atlanta Braves, the Atlanta Hawks, and ProFiles Sports, Inc.

Jamika’s cooking style is described as modern and elegant, yet sassy. Blending her Caribbean heritage with her Southern roots, she is most frequently called upon to prepare her inventive Southern Caribbean Fusion dishes. Inspired by travels and international cuisine, Chef Jamika brings her signature dishes to exciting new levels by blending the essence of different cultures into one.

As a certified Nutrition and Wellness Consultant, and advocate for ending childhood obesity, Chef Jamika is often invited as a nutrition expert to speak at numerous health expos and corporate events, such as the Tom Joyner Family Reunion, Radio One Love Caribbean Gospel Cruise, and Black Entertainment Television (BET) Women’s Health Symposium. Ebony Magazine also named Chef Jamika as one of the Top African-American chefs in the country in 2008.

With Jamika’s bright and witty personality, television was an inevitable avenue to pursue. While cooking for local news programs and interviews, Chef Jamika decided to take her enjoyment for being in front of the camera mainstream by becoming a contestant on the competition series, The Next Food Network Star, season 5. Jamika took the competition down to the final rounds and won the hearts of millions of viewers. Although she did not bring home the final prize of winning her own cooking show, Jamika vowed that this would not be her only shot at a national television series. Triumphantly, her hard work and commitment has paid off. Now you can see her as one of the hosts on The Learning Channel’s (TLC) lifestyle improvement show Home Made Simple. Jamika shows off her clever humor and easy elegant meals by traveling all around the country to the homes of moms in need of help in the kitchen.

Network television is not the only place you can see Chef Jamika. You can see her hosting events and conducting cooking demonstrations across the U.S. and Caribbean islands. As a result of her business success she was also named the alumni spokesperson for the International Culinary Schools of the Art Institutes. Moreover, as an inspiring presence for women of color, Jamika was honored as one of the Queens modeling for Queen Latifah’s Covergirl Queen Collection cosmetics.

Food is her business and she knows her business well. She works to develop herself into a household brand with cookbooks, products, and her own cooking show. As a dynamic business woman, Chef Jamika has burst on the scene dispelling the perceptions of what a chef is – and what they can be or do. Chef Jamika is ‘stirring’ up the food industry one meal at a time and loving every minute of it.

Source: http://chefjamika.com

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