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While I was born in Tulsa and moved to Texas in junior high, I will always consider myself a Texan. However, since my mother immigrated to the US from the UK, I was fortunate to spend my summers growing up with my family abroad and consider England my second home. With well over a decade and a half of catering and fine dining experience, I honed my style and craft during a two-year stay in New York City, where I cooked under Harold Dieterle, the winner of Top Chef, Season 1 at his restaurant, Perilla. However, after a couple of years in the Big Apple, and meeting my now-wife and business partner, I decided that it was time to return to Texas and settle down in Austin. In the years since starting Royal Fig in 2009, I’m proud of how the Fig family has grown, not only at work, but also at home. Now, I enjoy spending time taking my son off-roading in my jeep, cheering on my beloved Chicago Cubs, curating my hydroponic farm and creating the best holiday light show in our neighborhood every year.
With each year that passes, I’m more and more proud to be able to call myself “Mama Fig.” After spending the first 28 years of my life in northeast Ohio, and then finding my way to New York City as an arts educator, I could have never imagined that I was destined to run a catering company in Austin, Texas. I mean, who knew that directing children’s theater for so many years would prepare me to juggle the ever-changing and always-exciting event industry! As I see it, every event we cater is its own production, but instead of rehearsing it for 2 months and playing several shows a week, we get just one shot to make it absolutely perfect. So as a food enthusiast and drama lover, I’ve enjoyed witnessing our clients’ real-life theater that we have had the privilege to be a part of over the years. When I’m not being “Mama Fig” at work, I get to be Mommy to the Figlet at home – our amazingly articulate and incredibly energetic son, Devon.
Originally from Nashville, Tennessee, I moved to Austin in 2011 and started working with Royal Fig as one of their first full-time employees. Just as the business has grown over the years, so has my position. I take pride in my intimate knowledge of what Royal Fig has to offer and my ability to share this with our clients. In my free time, I love to travel (Iceland and South Africa were some of my favorites), trying new wines, cooking Italian food and hanging out with “Wall-E”, my French Bulldog. My favorite thing about working in the events industry is the personal connections I get to make with our clients and vendors. Royal Fig has been the most fun I’ve had in my career and I’m excited to see where the journey takes us!
Hey y’all! The first thing about me is that I hate talking about myself, but I love talking about my family! I have a wonderful college kiddo who keeps me on my toes, a dog who is the second love of my life, and a special husband who supports all my crazy ideas and my love for the color PINK! We came to Austin on a whim and now I lovingly call it our home. Working with Royal Fig since March of 2014, I still get goosebumps at every wedding I do. Coming from a large family who loves to share a great meal, it’s important that my clients sit with their guests and enjoy a wonderful experience together!
As a ninth generation Austinite, I was raised on Southern hospitality. Before finding my place as an event coordinator at Royal Fig in May of 2017, I spent my winters as a ski instructor in Vail, Colorado and my summers as an event coordinator and restaurant manager at The Country Club of the Rockies. I’m known by my family and friends as a person with random knowledge and talents and consider myself a natural-born planner and teacher. I am a wine sommelier, a seamstress, and a crafter and enjoy golfing, fishing, whitewater rafting, skiing, backpacking, and going to concerts. At home, I enjoy spending time with my husband Parker, and our two Cocker Spaniels, Ranger and Paisley.
While I was fortunate enough to spend some time living on the east coast, I am glad to be home and proud to call myself an Austinite! I’m a self-proclaimed “foodie”, as most of my fondest memories, like fajita cookouts with my dad, picking blue crab in Virginia and making gumbo with my Memaw, are centered around food. The love of my life is my Dalmatian, Pepper, and she rarely leaves my side! I’m proud to have contributed to the relief efforts with both Hurricanes Katrina and Harvey (with my fellow Royal Figgies!) and I now lead Royal Fig’s community outreach and giving programs. I look forward to making a difference in the lives of so many more people right here in Central Texas!
Being born and raised in the South, I have a great love for the food and culture of Austin. I started cooking in Memphis in 2002 and haven’t left the kitchen since! My passion for food has taken me to several well-known kitchens in Austin, until coming to Royal Fig in July 2012. Having a farm-to-table menu has always been important to me and was a big reason that I chose to join the Royal Fig team. It’s with great anticipation every season that I get to see what the local farms have produced so we can build the various parts of our menu from what is available. Every day at Royal Fig is a culinary journey!
Like many chefs, it was my mother that inspired me to get into cooking, not because it was good, but rather the opposite! After tasting Grandpa’s spaghetti compared to Mom’s, I realized that the way a dish was cooked could completely transform it into something else. I attended the New England Culinary Institute in Vermont. From there, I worked in Nashville and New York City, most notably at the Michelin Star restaurant, Gramercy Tavern. When I returned to Austin in 2015, I was drawn to Royal Fig, not only for its culinary excellence, but also because of the appreciative and respectful way it treats its staff. My greatest accomplishment so far is my perfected cheese sauce, but I have no plans to stop there!
I am a native Texan who loves to learn and teach through food. Growing up in a Hispanic kitchen with my Grandmother and Mother is what led me to culinary school. I’ve worked at upscale restaurants, hotels, and food trucks and through that experience, I discovered that the most important thing to me is the quality of the ingredients. Royal Fig’s farm-to-table menu is what attracted me to be part of their team in September of 2017, and I enjoy honing my craft in this state-of-the-art kitchen. When I’m not in the kitchen I can be found practicing archery at the local range or cruising on a kayak through the rivers and lakes of Central Texas.
Believe it or not, I started my culinary career as a teenager working a summer job at Sea World! I was encouraged by my mother to apply after spending so much time with her in the kitchen. While this is where my culinary career began, but I’ve always seen it more as a passion than as an occupation. Experiencing the kitchens in hotels, resorts and fine dining restaurants, as well as my beautiful wife, Claudia (one of the RF Event Coordinators), led me to joining the Royal Fig team in June of 2018. In my free time, I love to barbecue at home and watch sports, especially the Spurs! My favorite person in the world is my daughter Jazmin.
While I was born in Tulsa and moved to Texas in junior high, I will always consider myself a Texan. However, since my mother immigrated to the US from the UK, I was fortunate to spend my summers growing up with my family abroad and consider England my second home. With well over a decade and a half of catering and fine dining experience, I honed my style and craft during a two-year stay in New York City, where I cooked under Harold Dieterle, the winner of Top Chef, Season 1 at his restaurant, Perilla. However, after a couple of years in the Big Apple, and meeting my now-wife and business partner, I decided that it was time to return to Texas and settle down in Austin. In the years since starting Royal Fig in 2009, I'm proud of how the Fig family has grown, not only at work, but also at home. Now, I enjoy spending time taking my son off-roading in my jeep, cheering on my beloved Chicago Cubs, curating my hydroponic farm and creating the best holiday light show in our neighborhood every year.