Get to know the passionate founder and head foodie...

Melissa Parks

Founder and President

Melissa is a true foodie; she loves to read and talk about, see, cook, experience and taste food, chocolates, confections, desserts, beverages, and everything resembling the edible. There is a true fascination with seeing real butter, pure cane sugar, fresh eggs, and pure flour come together into a beautifully smooth raw batter, then bake up into a golden, delicious goodness, scenting the entire area with anticipation of what is to come from the oven. The more adventurous and creative the better- but hold the spicy. Melissa will eagerly try anything once! Not only is she passionate about the actual product, she is passionate about the techniques, the tools of the trade, the story behind the product, the ingredients, the hands that created it, the many ways it can be done. There is no better joy than a great meal prepared with the best and freshest ingredients and shared with the closest people in one’s life. For those reasons, it is only natural that she founded a company to find, promote, and share the culinary industry with anyone and everyone who wishes to experience it.

Highlights from Melissa's culinary career and social entertaining endeavors

With a degree in Marketing and Business Management, Melissa (who is completely self-taught in the world of culinary, by the way) has been in the kitchen as caterer, cake designer, production staff, and cook, and has been out of the kitchen (is any true foodie ever really out of their kitchen?) as a restaurant manager and owner, food broker account rep, and event planner. Her knowledge, experience, passion, and interest is genuine and contagious.

Random facts to know about Melissa:

… uses smoked paprika on just about everything

… wonders how she ever got along without sweet basil

… loves cooking on the outdoor grill (charcoal, baby!)- rain, snow, sleet, or hail 

… thinks BBQ (ribs or pulled pork) should be eaten at least once a day

… acknowledges Bobby Flay as her chef crush (and Michael Symon, some days Eric Ripert, Aaron McCargo, etc)

… brines chicken, pork, and turkey faithfully

… watches Diners, Drive-in, and Dives religiously

… believes Food Network programming needs a major overhaul (call me, Bob!)

... will cook all day long, but will feign serious illness to avoid doing the dishes

... is instantly calmed with a piece of good quality chocolate

Melissa's FAV eats

... medium-well ribeye at least of size of a human head

... spinach rolls at Manny's House of Pizza

... just about any flavor of Izze

... Pepsi!

... fresh pasta with good olive oil and real parm reg

... mango key lime pie

... about anything ethnic, BBQ, or grilled

... apricot chardonnay, pistacho, Yazoo Brew flavors at Bravo Gelato

... the fresh-baked apricot, cranberry, and brie scones at FiddleCakes

... fresh seafood in just about ANY preparation

... Zydeco Spice's Bayou Blast hot sauce

Melissa’s foodie wish

… that people who douse painstakingly prepared, beautifully presented meals in hot sauce, ketchup, or other flavor-killing condiment will soon fall into the category of jailable criminals.