Born in Belgium (Europe’s best-kept culinary secret) Suzanne inherited her love for cooking from her mother and a country where cooking rituals are a feast every day.  Suzanne states, “In Belgium, food is a cause for celebration. Its cuisine is dedicatedly gastronomic. We are passionate about good food.Belgians are gourmands who enjoy sumptuous lunches and dinners, which are the focus of socializing with friends and family.”

Although she didn’t pursue the culinary arts at first, (instead she graduated in International Business), traveling throughout all of Europe and the Middle East, Suzanne always has been intrigued by cultures and their cuisines.  "My food passion has been there from the day I was born” she laughs, “I like to educate myself on new food trends, cultures and their cooking rituals, collecting cookbooks from all over the world and going to culinary events, in the country where I am traveling."

Her food passion is expressed in her enthusiasm and her elegant entertaining style with a definite European flair. “Creating and experimenting with food is on my mind day and night,” she says “ There are so many new culinary inspirations going through my head and that I pick up when traveling, that I even dream about it, ” she laughs. “There is just not enough time in the day for me to express all this passion inside of me, but at least I can share and pass it on to my students in class, hoping that my food excitement rubs off on them, and that is an enormous emotional satisfaction. Food is all about having fun and making people happy, and that is my mission in life“ she states.

With her down-to-earth attitude, Suzanne says that despite popular belief, “creativity is not the first step in cooking. One needs to be,” she says, “dependable, clean, organized and demonstrate common sense.  Creativity is the last part …the most enjoyable reward for doing the job!” After working both in food and in the corporate world, she decided to go one hundred percent for her passion. Recently, she quit the rat race of the corporate world and dedicates her time only to the culinary arts with cooking classes and fine private events.

Suzanne defines her culinary style as global, with strong Mediterranean and Italian influences. She is still traveling extensively throughout Italy for her culinary inspiration and to visit her daughter and friends in Tuscany. Suzanne also is an International instructor for the well-renowned Cordon Blue Institute in Florence (Italy), where she teaches mostly “Breads around the World” courses.Her goal is to have her own “bed and breakfast” and cooking school in Italy in the near future. Meanwhile she is organizing culinary style trips to Mexico, where students can discover family style Mexican hospitality combined with exclusive privacy at a private beach in the middle of the jungle.

Another accomplishment is her recently released cookbook “Cooking for Healthy Living with Vita Clay”: A 30-page international recipe book to accompany an innovative electronic clay slow cooker for healthy and hearty clay cooking.While in the Bay Area, she likes to explore ethnic restaurants and admits that, “living in Silicon Valley is the best culinary research for me: meeting all these different cultures, sharing their authentic and ethnic cuisines with me, is my dream come true.”She also is the founder of Bay Area “Kona Kai International Women’s club”, which meets on a monthly basis to share international foods and cultural information. “I am constantly experimenting with recipes and infusing different ingredients. I like to try my new creations first, by inviting our multi-cultural friends over for dinners and enjoy it with a good glass of wine, music and a good laugh," she says.

IACP: Chef Suzanne is a member of the International Association of Culinary Professionals.