About

Scott spent years working his way up in the culinary world, first as a cook, and then as a chef, in a fun Cajun seafood restaurant in Ithaca, NY (where he attended Cornell University, along with his  wife, Michelle, the other co-founder).  After Ithaca and Cornell, Scott moved to NYC to see if he could work in an office, as a paralegal at a big law firm.  It did not take him long to realize that life was not for him.  So he re-entered the culinary world, by joining the kitchen crew at one of the top Michelin starred restaurants in the city.  After a couple of years there, and enrollment in an intensive classical french cooking program, also in the city, Scott moved out to the San Francisco Bay area to be close to his then girlfriend, now wife, Michelle. He spent three years working for two prominent restaurants in the Napa area, then moved to San Francisco to join Michelle, and finished his culinary career with a final stint at a Michelin starred place in SF.  

Picking up where he left off, Scott launched a packaged food company called The Jolly Llama - producing all natural, dairy free frozen treats for the grocery trade. He built the brand from nothing into a nationally distributed product, available in thousands of stores across the US.  After a few years, Oprah Magazine decided to include The Jolly Llama on its list of favorite products of the year.  Needless to say the brand grew a lot more from there.  Finally, after 9 years of building and running the company, Scott and Michelle sold the brand.  

After taking some time to relax, and spend time with their children, Covid happened.  Seeing all of the massive food insecurity created by, or exacerbated by the pandemic, Scott and Michelle decided to do something.  So they started cooking homemade meals for neighbors in need.  This quickly grew into a regular effort, and unfortunately the demand for such meals kept growing.  So eventually Scott and Michelle leased space in a commercial catering kitchen, which allowed them to produce hundreds of meals in one day.   This effort gave birth to the concept of The Village Cooks you see today: rather than try to feed the neighborhood, all by themselves, why not enlist other neighbors, creating a network of neighbors cooking for neighbors?    This way far more people in the community could be nourished.  

Michelle is a lover of delicious food (especially when made by her husband, Scott!), the beautiful outdoors, traveling, live music, and spending time with her family.  Throughout her life, she has always believed in the importance of advocating for others and treating her fellow humans with kindness and dignity.  

Michelle has lived a bicoastal life but deep down considers herself a California girl.  She was born and raised around the suburbs of Washington D.C. and spent her teenage years in Santa Monica, CA.  She attended college in central New York, moved back to California for law school and then zig-zagged back and forth across the country, with short stints in Woodstock, NY and Park City, UT. She and Scott finally landed in San Diego in 2017 with their two young daughters, and their family has been planting roots here ever since.  

She started her career working as an attorney representing migrant workers, survivors of domestic violence, and children with disabilities, and then joined Scott, in his food business venture, The Jolly Llama Company.  When the Covid pandemic hit, she and Scott decided they had to do something to help families struggling with food insecurity.  They simply started cooking and delivering meals to families in need in their community.  Not only did they enjoy making delicious, nutritious meals to nourish their neighbors, they also loved connecting with their neighbors during a difficult time when everyone was craving connection.  Michelle hopes The Village Cooks can continue to help facilitate these types of neighborly connections and acts of kindness in her community and beyond.