“I believe that some of the best food on earth is found right here in the Northwest. I also believe in celebrating that bounty, so I source the food for my clients the smart way: I buy from local producers who use sustainable practices, shop at the local farmers’ markets and work with my clients’ Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) subscriptions. I also support artisan food crafters from around the world; my passion lies in blending Northwestern flavors with international cuisine.”
Lesa Sullivan-Abajian has over twenty years of experience in the Seattle food community. She is an alumna of Seattle Central Culinary Academy, class of 1998.
Chef, Communicator, Collaborator
Lesa first entered the Seattle food scene as a culinary student. She created original copy for Mauny Kaseburg on KUOW’s Food Bites, and later for ChefShop.com, Seattle’s first online specialty foods store. She was the foods director for Wild Salmon Seafood Market for three years. She also found her way into Seattle restaurants, cooking at local favorites like Cafe Septieme, CHOW restaurants and Kaspar’s on Lower Queen Anne.
She has worked as a chef instructor at FareStart’s job training program, 21 Acres, Sur La Table, PCC Cooks, Pacific Culinary Studio, and Chefshop.com. She has also worked as a volunteer chef instructor for Seattle Farmers Markets Association, FORKS/Chefs Collaborative, Seattle Tilth, Solid Ground’s Share Our Strength, as a chef and organizer for Food Lust, Eat Local Now and Sustainable Ballard, and as a board member for FORKS and Cascade Harvest Coalition.
A Committment to Sustainability and Career Growth
After attending a professional development program at Quillisascut Farms, she hatched her small business plan and opened LesaCooks.com Personal Chef Service in 2007. It was the first small business of its kind to adopt the Hundred Mile Diet, a pledge to cook and work with almost all-local ingredients. LesaCooks.com has grown from a small, mostly “word-of-mouth” service to a well-recognized name in the Seattle personal chef scene and local food movement.
Keeping up with the most recent developments in nutrition, she recently earned a Health and Nutritrion Certificate through Cornell University. She is currently enriching her career with courses from INELDA, the International End of Life Doulas Association.
Compassionate Care Through Cooking
In 2012, Lesa lost her spouse in an accident. As she struggled to make sense of her new reality, she realized that caretakers and the bereaved have a need for specialized food care, as do folks who are at the end of their lives. There are very few professional services that address eating issues for terminal patients and loved ones. In the last ten years, Chef Lesa has made Compassionate Care Through Cooking ™ a cornerstone of her service. She has cooked, cared for, and nurtured many families through their end-of-life-processes. Please inquire directly about this work.