Madeline & Trevor
Our individual journeys started by obtaining degrees from respected culinary institutions. After years of honing our craft in restaurants around the country, we joined forces in Austin, Texas.
After cooking together for some time we realized that we had similar culinary interest and took a research trip through Asia. Two months of traveling to our favorite regions yielded recipes, techniques and lots of memories to bring home. This is where Cassia began to take shape.
Upon returning home we took our new-found knowledge to start testing recipes. Blending this with our proficiency of other cuisines allows Cassia’s true identity to form and grow.
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Founder My story begins in San Diego, California. As a kid I was passionate about a lot of things and always enjoyed spending time in the kitchen with my mom. Like a lot of kids, I was a picky eater until I learned how some foods were made. Those early years I spent cooking provided the foundation I needed to feel confident about exploring food.
Over the years my passion turned into a career which I felt would benefit from a degree in Culinary Arts. I worked for a few years in the industry before graduating from the Wine Country Culinary Institute in Walla Walla, WA. From there I moved to Austin, TX to work for Chef Tyson Cole at Uchiko. This experience sparked an interest in Asian culture and cuisine at a fine dining level. I moved to Minneapolis, MN to expand my knowledge of traditional sushi and kaiseki cuisine as a sous chef for Chef Shige Furukawa at Kado No Mise. My passion for Asian food has only become more intense after a trip overseas to see things first hand.
My journey has brought me all over the country and world and now I am happy to call Asheville, NC home.
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Founder
My love of food runs deep. My cooking today is heavily influenced by the abundance of cultures, foods and ingredients that surrounded me while growing up in Hawai`i. At 14 I got my first taste of the industry working as a prep cook on weekends for a family friend. An internship eventually landed positions in restaurants at the prestigious Kona Village Resort and Mauna Kea Beach Resort. From here my intrigue with cooking turned to passion, leading me to attend The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in Hyde Park, New York.
Never could I have imagined that my career would take me to such esteemed establishments as Eleven Madison Park, La Fonda del Sol and Mas(farmhouse) in New York City. Olamie and Carpenters Hall in Austin, Texas. As well as Tullibee in Minneapolis, Minnesota and Staple and Fancy in Seattle, Washington.
It has been an amazing journey on the way to Asheville, North Carolina, our home.