Meet Kim Totzke, Culinary Operations Manager

February 16 . 2009

Kim Totzke was named Best Chef in Nashville by Nashville Scene food critic Kay West. In her column, West has said Kim, “is as well known for her quirky, extroverted personality as she is for her unbridled creativity in the kitchen.” And this is how it started…

Totzke fell in love with cooking when she was five years old and her grandmother would play her favorite game in which she blindfolded Kim and fed her bits of food to ask her what she tasted - “Salty? Sweet?” By age nine, she was cooking on her own at home while her parents finished up at work. A few major pitfalls led her to a 4H cooking class, and for her 10^th birthday she received cook books. By high school, she was teaming up with girlfriends to save allowance to buy supplies to prepare exquisite “dinners for six” with Bon Appetite magazine recipes. A few of her friend’s parents owned restaurants, and occasionally Kim and her pals would help in the kitchen when they were short on staff. After a three month tour of Europe, Kim went home to Florida to work in the Sheraton Dolphin Hotel and Winter Park’s Briar Patch on Park Avenue. One evening, her best friend’s boyfriend introduced her to the chef at Park Plaza Gardens, which eventually led to an apprenticeship at Coco Pazzo at74^th and Madison in Manhattan. In 1992, with her apprenticeship complete, she moved away from the hustle and bustle of New York to Nashville. Nashville is where Kim finished her education and became a certified chef through the American Culinary Federation.

And a rising culinary star continued to shine…she met Deb Paquette and took a job with her at Cakewalk, then onto the Belle Meade Brasserie with Robert Siegel, then again with Deb Paquette at The Bound’ry, followed by a post as general manager of Bongo Java and Fido. As she began her ninth year as a known powerhouse and dynamic member of Nashville’s chef community, she landed gracefully in 2001 as executive chef of The Yellow Porch. It wasn’t long before she was named creative director of food and wine for the entire company including Wild Iris, Cross Corner, Flying Horse, and Pegasus Catering. Kim’s latest challenge was to revamp the Ombi restaurant concept as it’s general manager/co-chef. Ombi has been critically acclaimed by both local and national media alike.

Kim Totzke’s versatility and originality, balanced by consistently extraordinary cooking skills, makes her the darling of Nashville’s foodies, not to mention a legion of loyal regulars. In her spare time, she enjoys teaching classes at local schools and colleges and using her talents to raise funds for deserving causes like Nashville’s Table. Kim Totzke passed her first level sommelier exam by the Count of Master Sommeliers and is now working with l’ Ete’ du Vin to offer bourbon tastings at their 2008 auctions, solidifying her commitment to quality in every aspect of the industry. It is no wonder that West called her “a maestro of multi-tasking,” and, certainly, “a seasoned but still effervescent chef.” I’m sure that the most exciting adventures are sure to come.