Guest Chef Night with Chef Kristen Watts Schumacher

Guest Chef Night with Chef Kristen Watts Schumacher of Carnation Farms

Please join us as we welcome Chef Kristen Watts Schumacher of Carnation Farms for a special evening as we celebrate our students, build community and enjoy an incredible meal. Guest Chef Night pairs premier local chefs with FareStart students to create a three-course meal served by volunteer community members. All revenue and donations from Guest Chef Night support FareStart’s job training and placement programs.

Chef Kristen Schumacher (Chef Schu) can’t think of a time when cooking hasn’t played a crucial role in her life. Her cooking classes at a school in Chicago called The Chopping Block were the impetus for a career in the kitchen. Later, Chef Schu relocated to Washington to attend the Seattle Culinary Academy. Chef Schu participated in a summer program at the Quillisascut Farm School of the Domestic Arts where she cultivated her passion for getting her hands dirty as she worked with local and seasonal products and livestock.

In the years since her time on the farm, Schumacher has worked as a chef and consultant in the Seattle restaurant scene, taught cooking classes at the Pantry in Ballard and other local cooking schools, produced her own private label of goods and food products and worked as a personal chef for local celebrities — all the while carrying with her the lessons learned back on the Quillisascut Farm. She also founded and ran Heirloom Cookshop in downtown Snoqualmie, where she hosted cooking classes, lunch and dinner service, themed brunches and a farmer’s market in the parking lot.

Today, Chef Schu is the Director of Culinary Operations and Education at Carnation Farms, a 820 acre certified organic farm with diversified production in livestock, vegetables, culinary events and a curated seasonal farm. Carnation Farms aspires to create a thriving regional food system connecting farmers and culinary professionals around the shared values of regenerative food, health and equity.