College of Charleston sophomore Lauren Furey has been in the kitchen since she was a little girl, shadowing her Italian grandmother and picking up lessons here and there. The passion for cooking was ingrained in her then, and she hasn't looked back since.
We were fortunate enough to grab breakfast with this young visionary and find out more about her life and the personal chef company she owns, "Now We're Cookin'!".
Made possible by an internship program at her high school in Radnor, PA, Lauren began in the kitchen at 333 Belrose under the guidance of Carlo DeMarco. This had her starting with prep work, moving to soup and part-time catering. "Carlo taught me the importance of respecting the ingredients and putting effort into the preparation," Lauren said. Both being passionate Italian chefs, they worked together well, pouring heart and soul into their collaborative cooking.
Next, upon coming to College of Charleston, she joined the Hospitality Club, which allowed her to link up with Chef Bob Waggoner. He runs a space where he teaches people to cook meals with demos, and Lauren helped him with prep and plating.
Grateful for the opportunity she had with Waggoner, Lauren told us that you can never say thank you too many times. "It's more than the right thing to do... it opens up the opportunity for a future friendship to grow," she said.
It was after this that she had the idea to start her personal chef company, and she cooked for a family all summer in Beaufort, SC. Lauren now works as a line cook at High Cotton, one of Charleston's most esteemed restaurants. She has also worked at Poogan's Smokehouse, and says these shadowing experiences have been beneficial because she was immersed in real life kitchen situations.
Lauren is clearly passionate about what she does, and feels most at home when she's in a kitchen. "There's something about when you make something for someone and they really like it," she told us, demonstrating her intrinsic knack for hospitality.
So what's the next move for Lauren Furey? She's going to Chiavari, Italy in June to study abroad and work at Luchin restaurant under Chef Luca. "I'm looking forward to learning the true Italian ways, going to the market, surfing, and diving into a new situation," she said.
As for the immediate future, she's planning an Easter menu for a family. It's mainly under wraps, but she let me know that it's surf and turf, including local fish and some favorite Italian sides. In the future, she wants to do more with private cooking for families, and one day hopes to write cookbooks, run a successful blog, and produce cooking videos.
"The best things happen without a plan," Lauren believes, but her main goal is to create and make people happy.
This young chef, "a dreamer and full-time doer," has an insatiable drive to achieve big things in the constantly growing and evolving culinary world. "You have got to trust your instinct and have fun. Make people smile. At the end of the day, it's all about how you make people feel," she says. It will be exciting to see where this intuition and ambition takes her in her career.