About

Chef Nicole Andrea Guzman a.k.a Chef Nikki Meow

Greetings, Mystic Meows!

Thank you so much for visiting my site! It’s a constant work in progress and I hope you enjoy my food blog posts, recipes, interviews and other bits of madness that I’ll be posting here from time to time. Folks call me Nikki Meow because I say the word meow all the time, and it helps to set me apart from the other “Nicole’s” in the workplace and the world! 😛 And now a brief bio on who the flip I am… Ahem!

I was born and raised in The Bronx, N.Y. being heavily influenced by my Colombian grandmother’s love of cooking and creating all types of cuisine, and my Puerto Rican mother’s need to just cook for her kids and have food on the table. Growing up watching all sorts of cooking programs on PBS,  I was always intrigued by the art of cooking and baking. I starting cooking professionally when I was 18 and once I graduated culinary school, I had the opportunities to work with some of New York City’s finest Chefs including, Alfred Portale of Gotham Bar & Grill, Tom Valenti of Ouest, Gary Robins ( The Russian Tea Room, The Biltmore Room) Amanda Freitag ( Food Network’s Chopped) and Anne Burrell (Host of Worst Cooks) just to name drop a few.

In 2010 after bouncing around the country living and working in various places, I decided to move out to Los Angeles, Ca. By the end of my first week in L.A., I landed a job working for non other than Rick Bayless at his West Hollywood restaurant, Red O. Crazy! My most recent gig was working at The Hollywood Bowl for James Beard Award winners Chef Suzanne Goin and Carolyn Styne. One of the best jobs I’ve had. Needless to say, I have been in great company throughout my culinary travels.

In addition to being a highly trained Chef, over the years I’ve been on a few food related competition shows, co hosted a podcast called The Phantom Zone Radio Show and another podcast called The Flow. I’ve interviewed celebrities from all corners of the entertainment industry, have written and contributed food related articles for various prestigious online publications, and I feel as though I’m just getting started!

I’ve worked beside some of the worlds most recognized Chefs and have learned so much about how to cook good, nurturing food. Now I’m about to embark upon my latest adventure with my Mystic Meals brand of Culinary Sorcery and Food Magic. I want to share with you what I’ve learned so far, tell my food stories, impress my love of cooking and showing you how easy it is to create a mystic meal of your own, and encourage anyone and everyone at any kitchen skill level that it doesn’t have to be complicated. A few simple, fresh ingredients, and lots of TLC goes a long way! There is so much beauty and magic in putting a meal together! Let’s get cooking and have some fun, shall we?

Meow!

xo Nikki