Hidden Gems: Meet Gabriela Weir Vera of Chef Gaby

Today we’d like to introduce you to Gabriela Weir Vera.

Hi Gabriela, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
From an early age, I found that happiness meant feeding people.

I immigrated from Venezuela to the US with my family as a teenager, and like most immigrants, I had a dream. I knew I wanted to be a chef, and I wanted to feed people for a living. I spent my childhood and early teens exploring the culinary scene inside the kitchen of my mom’s restaurant back home in the Andes region, where I grew up. I didn’t have the language for it at that time, but I was very aware of the fire building inside me, and the passion for food beyond that went beyond just eating.

I was drawn to explore the raw form of ingredients as a form of entertainment, and would often be found in our backyard analyzing the coffee shrub with its blooming bright red, silky, raw cluster of beans, or paying attention to the little strawberry patch. I did not realize it then, but I was engaging in the early stages of learning to communicate with food as a language.

Years later, after moving to the United States, and after spending my late teens and early twenties working at every type of restaurant possible, I was able to attend formal Culinary training at The Hotel at Kirkwood, a wonderful school in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. My immigration status and circumstances prevented me from attending sooner. After graduation, I knew I did not want to work late hours and weekends in a restaurant, I wanted to be my own boss so I started a personal chef and catering business offering meal prep, boutique catering, and dinner party services to clients privately.

This worked extremely well for many years. Working as a private chef allowed me to have the freedom to manage my time and workload which was important to me as it allowed me to be available to raise my daughter. Working as a private chef-led our move to Missouri and eventually to Columbia, where I (rather randomly) took a job to run the lunch program at Windsor Street Montessori School. Mary Windmiller, the school’s director, in her intuitive Montessori way, handed me the keys to the kitchen, and like a blank canvas, gave me full creative freedom to craft my own vision for the lunch program. So, that’s exactly what I did.

After two years of trial and error, and lots of learning and growing, the vision for the food program became more clear. Intentionally using the lunch plate as a medium to teach kids to eat as they explore food conceptually through sustainability practices, culture talks, food art, and food justice. Each plate of food allows me to concretely show each child the origins of food, share people’s stories, farm practices, culture, as well as relational concepts such as empathy, compassion, and inclusion.

Essentially expanding the learning time by engaging kids while they eat. Having a consistent system allowed me to expand my vision, and production by making the program available as a catered lunch service to other nearby schools in my community who’d shown interest in implementing my program. Today, I serve a total of three schools, though I continue to dream, map out ways to execute those dreams and make more space to keep creating.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Learning to play the business game in the United States as an immigrant with language barriers and little to no access to capital, as a queer parent, has been a challenge. I am not lacking in vision or drive, though I lack the generational insight (and wealth) to accelerate taking my business to the next level. Seeking out opportunities for learning is a constant.

Most recently, I participated in a James Beard Foundation training program called “Chef’s Bootcamp for Advocacy and Change” aimed to empower chefs interested in using their food business to influence policy. Gaining access to the JBF network and industry knowledge is a huge advantage.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
My business began as a personal chef service. Though I still cater for a handful of private clients, the current focus of my catering business is to provide catering to independent private schools serving youth with an interest in radicalizing their lunch program. My catering sources the majority of ingredients from local farmers and producers.

Beyond just catering food, the concept is intended to use the lunch plate as a medium to teach kids to eat as they explore food conceptually through sustainability practices, culture talks, food art, and food justice. Each plate of food allows each child to see the origins of food, share people’s stories, farm practices, culture, as well as relational concepts such as empathy, compassion, and inclusion.

How can people work with you, collaborate with you, or support you?
Sharing people’s stories through food is an opportunity for me to connect with people in a collaborative way.

Contact Info:

• Email: chefgaby@me.com
• Website: www.hirechefgaby.com
• Instagram: @chefgabyweir
• Facebook: facebook.com/chefgabyweir

Image Credits
Jen Madigan Photography