Team

Alicia Meyer

Owner and Cultivator

Alicia grew up in Maine with blueberry fields as her backyard, a large garden tended by her grandfather, chickens scratching in the yard and long summer days playing outside. This early experience influenced her love of gardening and eating whole foods. Her time as Nutrition and Fitness chair at her kid’s elementary school exposed her to the fun of working with kids in the kitchen. That experience fueled her desire to create a place for kids to experience the joy of growing food and cooking creatively as well as just relaxing in the quiet of a woodland garden. She also teaches yoga for kids and adults at Harbor Athletic Club and has taught wellness classes at businesses for 16 years. Alicia is the proud parent of sometimes adventurous eaters Abby, Chloe & Jackson and wife of her best friend, Mark.

Kevin Appleton

Vom Fass Chef

Chef Kevin Appleton teaches in the culinary program at MATC and is the chef for Vom Fass in Shorewood Hills where he teaches cooking classes and develops recipes. In January 2011 he won a silver medal in the mystery box competition at the 2011 American Culinary Federation Midwest Challenge. Just prior to his family’s move to Madison, he worked in a variety of fine dining restaurants in Chicago and was the Executive Chef at Robert Morris College’s Institute of Culinary Arts.

Lily Kilfoy

The Kid’s Chef

Lily Kilfoy is a cooking instructor and freelance chef from Madison, Wisconsin. She owns a business called The Kids Chef where she teaches kids ages 5 and up to cook wherever she can; at schools, in homes, grocery stores, camps and other locations. Her goal as an instructor is to expose children to the many benefits of cooking through hands- on experiences that develop skills to be used for life. Lily teaches about healthy foods and cooking at a young age so that these values can be carried into adulthood. Lily also shares her knowledge and passion for cooking with adults. She teaches cooking classes that often reflect her love for ethnic and American regional cuisine. Her style is to prepare dishes that she envisions guests recreating in their own homes and to educate participants with ways to elevate their own cooking. In her spare time she likes to spend time with her family and eat out.

Neeta Saluja

Author Six Spices

Neeta Saluja was born in Agra, the city of the Taj Mahal and educated in Bhopal, India. She is the author of “Six Spices: A Simple Concept of Indian Cooking”. Neeta has traveled extensively throughout India and internationally, teaching Indian cooking for more than two decades in the United States, Australia and Japan. She currently lives in Madison, Wisconsin with her husband.

Annemarie Maitri

Bloom Bake Shop

I grew up in a family where food was big a part of our everyday conversation. My parents were from Louisiana, to them a meal wasn’t a meal unless it was made from scratch and usually involved a lot of laughter. Some of my favorite early memories are of coming home from school only to pick up a utensil. Helping in the kitchen would be preparing a fresh salad or simply setting the table. After completing my undergrad and graduate work, I went to work in the corporate world in sales and marketing. I continued my love affair with food, but it was after having my own children that really brought it full circle for me. I wanted my children to experience the wonderful memories that I had as a child in a lively kitchen, the taste of fresh food prepared from scratch, not to mention good nutrition. Today, watching my children pluck fresh herbs from my garden to prepare a salad for dinner or watching them stop in the middle of a game of tag to steal a cherry tomato off a vine gives me great pleasure.