The Simple Chefista

Chloé Labelle is the Simple Chefista, or should we say The Simple Chefista is Chloé Labelle? Chloé was raised by her father, who didn’t have much of a flair for cooking, but would cook a mean scrambled egg sandwich with fresh grown tomatoes and enjoyed mastering an American favorite, the respectable grilled summer hot dog. But mostly, skinny girl (as she was known), lived on processed foods like Dinty Moore Beef Stew and Campbell’s Pork n’ Beans hiding the remains on her plate from her father with no knowledge that there were foods beyond the cans and boxes she saw in her small town grocery store.

Chloe discovered that there might be more to the world of eating than just the act of getting it down to your stomach on a visit to her Auntie’s house in the big city, where her family there took her out to a five star restaurant. Chloé promptly returned home excited of her discoveries, and to her Pop’s surprise, ordered lobster on their next dinner out to the local diner that they both frequented quite often. 

This was only the beginning of Chloé’s journey into Gastronomica. After trading in her Converse for a pair of Jimmy Choos and a train ticket in the 90s, Chloé moved onward to the west coast where she became exposed to new foods that she’d never heard of. She ate her first bagel with pesto spread generously about and delighted at the idea of the basil and garlic concoction, talking about it to no end for days, and also experienced a fantastically tasty hazelnut and currant oatmeal breakfast, “Hazelnuts (?) on oatmeal?” (a truly defining moment).

Chloé later found the love her life, a tall Frenchman named Jean Paul, who would become her spouse. She felt she must learn how to cook for Jean Paul, believing the adage that the way to a man’s heart was through his stomach, but it turned out the Frenchman had a few culinary tricks of his own. Good thing, too, because “skinny girl” needed to survive. Still determined, Chloé set up shop in her kitchen with apron and enthusiasm, and began to experiment with ingredients like fresh herbs and seasonings. After some time, falling in love with the Frenchman, experiencing good food, good coffee and eating out in chic restaurants before economic times fell hard, she found out that she could cook “beyond the can,” which made her quite happy. Jean Paul had no complaints and enjoyed their time of experimentation and culinary romance in the kitchen. Now, several years later, they’re still madly in love and Chloé is still experimenting, rarely making the same meal more than a few times, always moving onto the new and undiscovered. Unbelievable, but true.

Her newest creation is The Simple Chefista, where she shares and reviews some of the recipes she tries found in the many cookbooks and magazines that the two subscribe to, what she does and doesn’t like about them and how she improved upon them. She welcomes you to join her facebook page as well, continuing the conversation with your comments and suggestions, and will be happy to answer any questions, post your experiences and reactions to her culinary discoveries. And like every good chefista, she wants you to discover and love food as much as she does.