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"I was standing on a crate, peeling shrimp. I was three," Cynthia
recalls her first memory. Raised above her Then
pow! The recession of the
late 70's hit the architectural business hard. Building slowed to a crawl. To
keep boredom from setting in, Cynthia moonlighted in an oh-so familiar place, a
restaurant. She was a Maitre'd and then a baker for one of L.A.'s hot spots, Joe
Allen Restaurant. Cynthia's flare
for food, smooth management style and grace with the guests quickly caught the
eye of the savvy restaurateur, Joe Allen. He offered to send her to train at his
New York location to become a chef. Cynthia reluctantly agreed. In New York, she
hung up her drafting pencil and took up a carving knife for good.
parent's restaurant in New
Jersey, Cynthia was born into the food business. "If I wasn't
working for my parents, I was helping my grandmother prepare the main
meal." Early on she ventured out to sample all the world's cuisine. In
grade school she began making a weekly pilgrimage to New York and trying
new restaurants. Instead of collecting dolls, she collected menus.
"There was magic every time I walked into a restaurant. I developed
a passion for how the ambiance, aromas, tastes and being taken care of,
all worked together. I loved the romance of it all."
Cynthia graduated with honors from Syracuse University in Design and
Architecture. Snatched up by a top architectural firm, she designed everything
from resorts in the U.S. to master planning new cities in Saudi Arabia. Her job
took her all over the world although for most of those years she called Paris
and Athens home.
She returned to L.A. and took
over as chef of Joe Allen Restaurant. She also was the guest chef at Joe Allen's
in Paris, Toronto and New York. Additionally
she developed and designed the Orso kitchen in Los
Angeles.
Cynthia's first catering event
was titled “Food As Architecture, Architecture As Food”. A fund-raiser for
the Women's Culinary Alliance, Cynthia fed a cast of thousands. It was a smashing success. Her unique presentation, inspired by her
background in design and architecture, left guests spellbound.
Living in California began to
influence Cynthia's take on cuisine. She became increasingly interested in low
fat, healthy eating for which she developed a No-Added Fat, Sugar & Salt
product line. That parlayed into cooking at Creative Artist's Agency, traveling
and working as a private chef for several celebrities and industry executives.
People feel fortunate to be at Cynthia's affairs.
Taste & Company was born out of a word of mouth campaign by delighted and dazzled guests, and has been growing since 1991. Clients marvel at how Cynthia can give them exactly what they want or run with a seed of an idea and create an entire one of a kind event. Cynthia's clean tastes, imaginative style and design, elegant presentations and heartfelt care tickle all one's senses and keeps her clientele coming back for seconds.
Cynthia Mamukari
Owner, Taste & Company