Chef Kalyn Bigelow is the Sous Chef at Fort Oak restaurant in San Diego, California. She is also one of winners of our Center Stage Class of 2025 and will get to showcase a dish at the MAPP Impact and Women’s Hospitality Initiative Leadership Conference in Las Vegas. Ahead of the event, she shared a little more about her culinary journey with us!
Can you share a bit about your culinary journey to this point?
Cooking and eating good food has always been the thing that brought my family together. My mom spent hours in the kitchen every day concocting all of our meals and she had every kitchen gadget out there. It was both fascinating and horrifying watching my mom use her knives as she prepped our next tasty dish. My dad would take us out to different restaurants to experience fine dining and to try more exotic foods. Unfortunately I did not realize my love for food as a possible career early on and I ended up in art school at Georgia State University. I started working at a restaurant called Muss and Turner’s to make extra pocket money. Living in the heart of downtown Atlanta, no longer living with my parents, I went wild and made a lot of poor decisions which eventually landed me in rehab. This was the best thing that ever happened to me because I was able to start over in California. California is where I let my love for food be embraced and I learned as much as I could from kitchen to kitchen.
What is your favorite part about your job at Fort Oak?
My favorite parts of working at Fort Oak are the Owner, Brad Wise, and the kitchen. Chef Brad is so admirable coming from humble beginnings. His story is inspiring and his character is impeccable. He owns many restaurants but he still makes time for all of us. He is easy to talk with and is full of knowledge. The kitchen itself is gorgeous and has an abundance of natural light pouring in from three sides. It’s hard getting enough sunlight as a chef so Fort Oak’s kitchen gives me enough to keep my serotonin up.
You attended art school for a period of time before your career as a chef. How does your artistic background influence your cooking?
Some of the most important lessons I learned from art school that translated easily to my culinary career included composition and color theory. Composition helps me with plating the food in a way that is visually pleasing and helps highlight every aspect the amount I want. Color theory helps with understanding what will happen when I combine different color foods so I don’t accidentally make boring beige/brown dishes.
What is the best meal you’ve had recently?
I was blown away by the amazing meal I had at Kingfisher in Golden Hill recently. I would recommend getting their Beef Tartare and the Grilled Radicchio. The flavors were complex and everything looked beautiful before I devoured it all.
What is a culinary goal you have for the future?
One goal I have for myself, but desperately need help with, is to start using social media platforms in combination with cooking. I am not a tech savvy kind of gal and I’m honestly intimidated by it all. I understand that it’s smart to use social media to self-promote and it’s important to help grow any business, so I plan on finding help with this endeavor for the future.
Who is/was a mentor to you and what was one of the most important things you learned from them?
I’ve only ever had one true mentor in the culinary field and her name is Chef Sara Harris. I met Sara when she was Sous Chef at Searsucker Del Mar and it was my first kitchen job since getting out of rehab. Chef Sara was amazing! She welcomed me into her kitchen family and truly feels like a big sister. She taught me how to stand up for myself in male-dominated kitchens that were less than hospitable. She taught me countless cooking tips and tricks. Most importantly Sarah taught me how to lead with soft control in the kitchen and that the angry dominating chef is an antiquated motif.
What advice would you give to other women working in culinary who want to advance their careers?
My best advice to anyone working their way through the restaurant industry specifically is to be ready to work hard, be reliable, be flexible, and be calm. As long as you can be the calm in the storm there is a lot of strength in that and you will become a priceless commodity to the team. Always remember that working in a kitchen is a team game so help those around you so the whole team can flourish. Selfishness won’t get you too far with much integrity intact.
