Vanessa Cantave facts for kids
| Born | October 7, 1977 Washington, D.C. |
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| Cooking style | New American, French |
| Education | James Madison University French Culinary Institute |
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Current restaurant(s)
Yum Yum Catering and Events
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Vanessa Cantave was born on October 7, 1977. She is an American chef. She helped start and now leads the catering company called Yum Yum Catering and Events. This company is located in Dumbo, Brooklyn.
Early Life and Learning
Vanessa Cantave was born in Washington, D.C., in 1977. Her family comes from Haiti. Her dad was in the United States Army. Because of his job, Vanessa moved around a lot when she was a kid.
She lived in Mons, Belgium, until she was six years old. After that, her family moved back to the U.S. They lived in different places like Arizona, near Chicago, and in northern Virginia.
Vanessa went to James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia. She graduated in 1999. She earned a degree in political science. She also studied French.
Becoming a Chef
After college, Vanessa worked in different jobs. She worked in banking, marketing, and advertising. She worked for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation in Washington, D.C. Later, she worked for the Federal Reserve in Atlanta, Georgia.
Then, she moved to New York City. She got a job at an advertising company called Ogilvy & Mather. In 2005, Vanessa visited the French Culinary Institute. She said she "fell in love" with the idea of cooking. She decided to quit her job to follow her dream of working with food.
Vanessa started at the French Culinary Institute in 2005. While she was there, she worked at a famous restaurant called Daniel. It is in Manhattan's Upper East Side. She learned from a well-known French chef named Daniel Boulud.
Vanessa was the top student in her class when she graduated. After that, she started working as a private chef in New York City. Soon, she helped create her own catering company. It was first called Yum Yum Chefs, Inc. Later, its name changed to Yum Yum Catering and Events. This company is based in DUMBO, Brooklyn. Yum Yum offers food services for people and businesses. They also teach cooking classes with different themes.
TV Appearances and Media
In 2011, Vanessa Cantave won a cooking show. It was a Bravo reality competition called Rocco’s Dinner Party. She has also been on other TV shows. One of them is NBC’s The Today Show.
