CINDY HUTSON
CHEF - MIAMI, FLORIDA

Cindy Hutson is a self-taught chef who developed a passion for cooking at the age of nine. Inspired and amused by the “Original” television culinary genius of the “Galloping Gourmet” and “Chef Tell”, she would emulate their creations on Saturday afternoons. In her teen years she was exposed to Italian and Portuguese cuisine through her best friends father, a successful restaurateur from New Jersey. After leaving New Jersey to head for the sunny skies of Miami, she honed her skills as a sport fishing captain and mate on a 36 foot Bertram Yacht. It was over those years of fishing, she procured a touch for handling and preparing many ocean delicacies.

Taking time out from fishing in 1985, Hutson married Jamaican born, Charles Hutson. Together they opened Blue Mt. Imports, a coffee imports company. During her travels back and forth from the Blue Mts. and beautiful Jamaican coastline, Hutson began cooking Island cuisine. She relished in the highly aromatic herbs and spices that grew in the mountains, bringing them down to prepare fresh caught Parrotfish from the North Coast reefs. Her Island hopping included the Bahamas, Barbados, Martinique, The Virgin Islands, Mexico and more. With every island stop she learned something about that islands history and cuisine.