I created Outdoor Eats to help us all have a great meal outdoors.
Think of me as your culinary guide to the outdoors and I’m here to offer you a new path to cooking outside. It all started with one special hiking trip with a special group of friends.
Can a recipe change your life?
I think it can and I’m happy to share our trail-tested recipes with you, your family and your friends on your next adventure. We have a growing community of recipe testers and trail friends and I can’t wait to see what you cook up!
The mission for Outdoor Eats is simple but I think very impactful.
Get outside. Eat well. Share the tasty experience.
A little back story, I’m a classically trained chef training in Napa Valley and Northern Italy with over 20 years of culinary experience. I’ve held positions in many varieties of kitchens, was a research chef for a number of years as well as a culinary consultant and culinary trainer for Starbucks. Food has always been a joy in my life through cooking with my family, turning it into a profession in the kitchen and now creating and running Outdoor Eats. I also enjoy hitting the trail and exploring as much as I can.
The Beginning
Everything changed on a normal backpacking trip into the Enchantments of Washington state.
I volunteered to cook all of the meals for a 6 person group. Keep in mind, this was my first REAL backpacking trip and I think I could do it.
What could go wrong…?
What did I make on that first trip? Tom Yum noodle bowl, flavorful oatmeal not out of a packet, chicken fajitas with fresh toasted tortillas and more. The meals were all met with rave reviews but what we all really noticed on this trip was that sharing of a great meal, in a beautiful place with good friends was the perfect trifecta to a good time and lasting memories.
After this trip, I knew I had something and I wanted to figure out a way to share it.
The Recipes
I have been a curious chef for a long time and the question came up, “can we eat well while hiking and backpacking without choosing dry, salty and expensive packaged meals or spending hours in our kitchen dehydrating?” Through some early testing the answer was a resounding YES and all recipes I create are meant to be EASY, QUICK and TASTY while being mindful of pack weight/volume and
dietary restrictions.
The Evolution
As Outdoor Eats has evolved over the last few years, the recipes that I started creating for backpackers,
I also learned can help support many groups of the outdoor industry.
Of course hiking, backpacking and camping, but also car camping, RV/Van life, hunting, fishing,
bike packing, moto-camping, kayak camping or a great day hike. Even if you don’t have a big adventure planned, you can use our recipes for cooking in the back yard or at a local park.
Outdoor Eats has gone from a few recipes in the recipe bank to over 300(!), a line of popular
pocket-sized cookbooks, a helpful and fun Youtube channel (Chef Corso on YouTube) and now I host of a nationally airing TV show called Outdoor Eats TV. Think of OETV as a combination of an educational food show, combined with a travel show, combined with an adventure show.
But it all this cooking growth goes back to the mission.
I want to help you eat well outdoors.
And I want you to share the wonderful and tasty outdoor experience with you all.
The Future
Outdoor Eats is rolling into its 6th year and we continue to grow the community of folks that want a new path and to elevate their food experience outdoors. I continually create new recipes for testing, and now a lot of energy goes into video content creation whether on YouTube or Outdoor Eats TV.
I also continue to teach cooking workshops around the country.
We are rolling into production of more TV episodes of the show in some fun new locations.
It’s really all about getting outside and sharing of a great meal together!
Thanks for coming along and stay tuned as we grow!
PS. I am from the Pacific Northwest growing up in Port Angeles, WA and I lived in Seattle for 12 years. Currently I live and work remote full time traveling around the country teaching workshops, filming episodes and connecting with different outdoor communities which is the best part of my job.