Chef Natalie has been cooking all of her life. Born and raised in Atlanta Georgia she has a deep love of Southern Cuisine while still being influenced by her mothers French roots. She has a profound appreciation for the farming community, supports clean food, education, and a healthy lifestyle.

Natalie started college studying art history... On a trip to Paris to study Impressionism she found herself drawn to Le Cordon Bleu, even organizing tours for fellow students! Upon returning to the states she could no longer fight the pull of the food world and promptly enrolled in culinary school. Natalie completed culinary school at The International Culinary School at The Art Institute of Atlanta with top honors, she then graduated from the Personal Chef undergraduate course at the Culinary Business Academy. She also maintains memberships to the United States Personal Chef Association, ServSafe, Slow Food Atlanta, Georgia Organics, Women Chefs and Restaurateurs and the American Culinary Federation.

Natalie sought out the personal chef world because she loves working closely with individuals and families...making their lives easier by providing them with great food. Chef Natalie and her team are also well known for providing stellar quality and service for parties and special events. Natalie is a regular chef at the Masters Tournament and has many high profile clients.  Everything she does is carefully thought out and presented with complete satisfaction always being her goal.

Currently, Natalie teaches simple clean cooking at Fusion Design Studio with, The Foodies Guide to Kitchen Simple, and gives regular demonstrations on farm to table cuisine at the Buckhead YMCA. Having great success with many types of specialized diets, Food Optimist is also moving towards product development based on the science of nutrition. Helping clients achieve their goals through food, then seeing them succeed, is the most rewarding aspect of being a chef for Natalie. She looks forward to new challenges as learning opportunities and welcomes them with open arms.

"As a working mom, I love having Natalie help me in the kitchen. With a long commute to work everyday, I just don't have time to prepare a good, nutritious meal for my family every night. Natalie did a great job of planning meals I could easily heat once I got home. She even divided them into individual portions so I wouldn't have to heat more than we would eat at one time.

My husband and I prefer full flavor foods, but they often don't sit well with our 18 month old son. Natalie took the time to talk with me about our likes and dislikes. Once she planned the meals, she emailed me the choices and I was able to make any changes I wanted. I rearranged some side dishes to different meals, asked questions about ingredients of some dishes, requested particular cuts of meat, etc. Then she came out while I was at work and prepared a weeks worth of food in one day! I was able to come home to a kitchen full of foods that my son would eat, would keep the adults taste buds happy, and wouldn't add inches to my waistline. I will definitely use the Food Optimist again!"