Chef Jeff is a Certified Chef de Cuisine through the American Culinary Federation. With over 27 years of food service experience. His career began at the young age of fourteen, working at a small family owned Italian restaurant in Richmond, Virginia. Within a few weeks of beginning work at L'italia Restaurant, he knew he had found the working path he wanted to pursue, chef. While working at the restaurant, he began his culinary training at Hermitage Vocational Education Center under the guidance of Rebecca Philips. She introduced him to different styles of cooking and baking while encouraging Jeff to participate in youth leadership development organizations.

After graduation from high school 1985, Jeff traveled to Providence Rhode Island to attend one of America's premier culinary training facilities, Johnson and Wales University. While attending the school, he worked in the schools weekend work study program and did his cooperative education term at Walt Disney World aboard the Empress Lilly Riverboat (now known as Fulton's Crab House) in Orlando Florida.

Upon completion of his studies at Johnson and Wales University, a series of short travels awaited Jeff as he ventured to Pawling New York to work for Marriott Corporation at Trinity Pawling School as the head baker. After six months, he returned to Richmond to work for Master Chef Paul Ebling at acclaimed La Petite France where he began an intense three month internship learning the true meaning of French cuisine. After this short time, he headed to Williamsburg, Virginia returning to work for Marriott as head baker for the history filled College of William and Mary. In addition to his baking duties, he also helped with catering operations and other areas of food service with the college. Nine months pass and Jeff once again finds him self back in Richmond working for Hilton and helping open the Richmond Airport Hilton Hotel (Now a Doubletree Hotel) with Chef Winslow Goodier for a tremultuous eight months. While working for the hotel, he is pursued by the Downtown Club of Richmond and he finally agrees and starts working for the club in January of 1990.

Jeff spent three and one half years at the Downtown Club as Sous Chef and in charge of most dining room and banquet operations. During this time, he found himself ever more honing his chef skills and in 1992, became an adjunct instructor at J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College teaching a variety of classes including Purchasing and Cost Controls, Nutrition, Culinary Basics, Garde Manger, Baking and Pastry Arts, and many other classes. He also became active in the Virginia Chef's Association Apprentice Program, acting as co-chair with Chef Bruce Clarke. For the first time, Jeff also competed in his first Culinary Salon, earning a fourth place Culinary Diploma, a tremendous accomplishment for such a young chef. He was also a featured contributor to Culinary Secrets of Great Virginia Chefs with various recipes and photos included in the book.

In 1993, Jeff started his first job as executive chef at a small, trendy restaurant in the Shocko Bottom area of Richmond, Pillar's. His time at this restaurant was short lived but he gained notoriety with local media and critics. Jeff then moved to the award winning Buckhead's Restaurant in the far west end of Richmond, just a few short miles from where he began his career, and before long, he found himself again executive chef. While chef at Buckhead's, he entered his second culinary salon and earned a silver medal.

In 1996, Jeff helped open Palm Beach Grill in South Richmond. This small restaurant was praised for the fusion cuisine it offered, but a bad location choice made his time there limited. Jeff continued to teach at J. Sargeant Reynolds and became head instructor for the schools Ukrop's Culinary Institute, a program developed to help educate and train the local supermarket's food and culinary staff.

In 1998, another opportunity was presented to Jeff. Teach culinary classes at Laurel Park High School in Martinsville, Virginia. Jeff seized the moment and accepted the job and made the move to South Side Virginia. Martinsville did not turn out to be a positive culinary experience but he savored his time teaching and working with the children. In 1999, Jeff made a move to Roanoke Virginia to pursue other interests and earned a second college in a computer related field where he worked for a company for a seven year period. He taught classes at a local public cooking facility, Foodies, during part of this time and kept his ideas fresh and up to date.

In March of 2007, Chef Jeff returned to the restaurant business helping a family open a restaurant in the Smith Mountain Lake area of Southwest Virginia. His time at the Tasting Room Bistro was mainly on a consulting level but he put in long and hard hours for that restaurant.

In September of 2007, Chef Jeff has finally landed in what he hopes to be his permanent home,US Foodservice, Roanoke Division, as their Center of the Plate Specialists. In this roll, he gets to work directly with restaurants and food service facilities in Virginia, West Virginia, and Tennessee.

In addition to his chef duties, Jeff also gave of his time through out the years, volunteering with youth organizations like FCCLA(formally known as FHA/HERO), VICA, and FBLA, traveling around Virginia and the nation conducting educational seminars, cooking demonstrations, and coordinating and judging cooking competitions.