Fresh 'n Nova

"My grandfather, Andreas, was a very famous chef in the restaurant of a renowned hotel. As a young boy, my grandfather's kitchen was my playground; a safe environment that piqued my natural curiosity for experimenting with recipes. I recall anxiously awaiting him to pick me up and take me to his restaurant. It was so much fun with him. We spent hours together, cooking and preparing dishes from authentic recipes. He was a health-conscious individual at a time when few people paid attention to nutrition. He used only organic, non-GMO, low sodium, minimally processed foods with low or no sugar. He gave me his precious recipe book a few days before he passed away and by doing so, I received a mission; to create food that not only tastes good, but also meets high nutritional standards. This mission inspired me to open a gourmet restaurant in the south of France which was rewarded by prestigious food guides. When I moved to the United States, I was presented with the opportunity to pursue the art of designing food, which has allowed me to integrate heart, art, and soul into the process of recreating the delicious, authentic, and healthy recipes that my grandfather passed on to me. Today, I live in Pasadena, California and create my food lines in my own kitchen and then have them made in our state of the art production facility. This is where my grandfather's special recipes serve as the inspiration for foods like several varieties of delicious hummos, the smoked eggplant babaghanouj, and garlic spreads." -Rodrigue Kurkjian, owner