My Experience

The early days of cooking started at Blue Ridge Grill and Cafe Tu Tu Tango, both in Atlanta, Georgia.  Culinary externship was completed at Bayona Restaurant in New Orleans, Louisiana.  Then taking a focus on front of the house operations brought her to Bar Manager at Pizzaioli Ristorante in Chino, California and as Assistant Restaurant Manager at Hyatt Carmel Highlands in Carmel, California.  Returning to the kitchen she held the position of Sous Chef at The Beach House Restaurant in Poipu on the Hawaiian island of Kauai. Heading back to the mainland and landing in Southwest Florida, Kristina stepped into the position of Executive Chef to teach culinary classes and host wine dinners at the Robb&Stucky KitchenAid Culinary Center. Following the teaching & private event path, she then held the position of Executive Chef at Fine Mark Bank’s Bonita Springs office.  With full focus on teaching culinary classes, she moved to the role of Chef Instructor at The Good Life cookware store in Naples, FL. This teaching avenue provided for the creation of Farm Tour + Lunch/Dinner events co-hosted with the local farmers and ranchers who provided the sustainable ingredients highlighted in her cooking classes. To expand the culinary community concept, Kristina introduced Purple Spoon Culinary as a hub for customers to live life sustainably, holistically + healthfully.

This ocean + sunshine obsessed chef is presently “at Home” on the Big Island of Hawai’i, where she is perpetually out swimming in the tropical blue waters or nurturing food-producing plants. Kristina offers her professional culinary energy as an event chef with the locally-focused HeartBeet Catering, and as the company’s Culinary Curator to create and organize events for clients.