Our 2014 Chef-Volunteer Team

Meet our team of chef-volunteers for our 2014 Camp Sunshine trip!

Aimee Bariteau hails from Boston. A six-year breast cancer survivor, she is also an active volunteer and Model of Courage for Ford Warriors in Pink.  A graduate of the French Culinary Institute, this will mark Aimee’s fourth trip with the organization, and second as its Trip Leader.

Thomas Medrow started out in the finance world but made a career change when his passion for food could no longer be ignored. A founding board member of CulinaryCorps, he is also the chef de cuisine of the Diamond Club and commissary at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, home of the Phillies.  This marks his fifth trip with the organization and his fourth as part of the Trip Leadership team.

Jessica Botta resides in Washington DC where she is director of culinary development for Chef Fabio Trabocchi. Jessica taught Italian cuisine at the International Culinary Center and has appeared on Iron Chef America where she competed with Chef Cesare Casella. This marks Jessica’s fourth trip as a CulinaryCorps team member and her third as part of our Trip Leadership team.

Dantee Arias is the Sous Chef and Kitchen Manager at Google Chicago where he feeds more than 500 Googlers based on nutrition guidelines of  mindful and healthy eating from the Harvard Food Pyramid.  An ex-line cook in some of Chicago’s most unique restaurants, he plans on pursuing a career in food research.

Christine Ranieri is a research dietitian and instructor at the University of Illinois at Chicago where she coordinates a diet and cardiovascular health study and teaches nutrition and disease-specific cooking classes to nutrition students. Previously, Christine was a caterer and even delivered homemade soups by bicycle.

Rusty Obra hails from Bergen County, New Jersey where he is an Instructor in Culinary Arts at Westwood Regional High School. Rusty is a former opera singer and imbibes in his fair share of amazing coffee since his family owns and operates a coffee plantation in Hawaii.

Margot Greenwald lives in New York City and works as a line cook at Riverpark Restaurant on the East River  where she enjoys harvesting from the restaurant’s urban farm. Margot loves teaching and working with kids, and she hopes to take her career into the New York City Public School system.

Celia Lam studied at the Natural Gourmet Institute in NYC and believes in the healing power of food. She teaches holistic cooking classes and will be launching culinary wellness retreats. Celia splits her time between her home in Canada and NYC, where she was guest chef for “Salvage Supperclub.”

Shin Kim teaches recreational Korean cooking classes and works for the catering company Abigail Kirsch in New York City. In her spare time Shin translates Korean TV shows. She has starred in her own online cooking show “Cooking with Shin” that highlights dishes featured in those shows.

Mathieson Jennings oversees food production at eight restaurants in the San Francisco Airport. A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, Mat is passionate about sharing his love for food and sustainable practices with others, including his new Berkeley, CA farm-t0-pizza café.

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