When she was just a teenager, Suzanne apprenticed under renowned chef Siegbert Wendler at the Arizona Biltmore in her native Phoenix, Arizona. Persistence and perseverance set Suzanne apart, and she quickly rose up the ranks: at the prestigious Hotel Bel-Air, as sous chef at Noa Noa in Beverly Hills, and as chef de cuisine under Mark Peel and Nancy Silverton at iconic Campanile, where she worked in the kitchen until the final days of two consecutive pregnancies. Her first solo venture was the Cal-Asian and award-winning Jozu, followed a few years later with her breakout steakhouse concept, Jar, consistently featured on the late Jonathan Gold’s “100 Best Restaurants in LA” and lifting Suzanne to the top of prestigious restaurant lists and bucket lists of foodies far and wide.
Suzanne has competed on Top Chef Masters and appeared on Hell’s Kitchen, and has been featured in countless newspapers and magazines. She’s widely considered one of the leading women chefs in the United States. But world acclaim and rubbing shoulders with the likes of Wolfgang Puck, Rick Bayless and Giada De Luarentiis doesn’t mean Suzanne’s not every bit as down-to-earth as when she started way back as a dishwasher and kitchen steward. She remains one of the most philanthropic chefs in the City of Angels. She knows how to give back as much as she knows how to serve up literal award-winning flavors.
“When you’re a chef, your job is to teach other people. To give back.”
“First up, I plan to head to a souk and spend the day wandering through the stalls, buying turmeric, coriander, cayenne and all of the native spices that are the highlight of Moroccan cooking. And that’s just the beginning.”
