Living with Willy Wonka

It's Sunday morning.  It just so happens that I am in Wisconsin this Sunday and that means Chef Dave will be busy in the kitchen creating a breakfast extraordinaire.

In the almost 20 years I have been with Dave I have never known this man to not passionately love food.  Food is Dave's art.

Some people just know what they want to be when they grow up.  Perhaps a doctor, lawyer or engineer.  My Dave knew he wanted to be a foodie.  Not only did he know he wanted to be a foodie, he knew he wanted to market and trend food.  It's no surprise that his favorite movie to this day is Willy Wonka.

20 years ago Dave started his career in the beverage industry.  He began as an intern for Coca-Cola, traveling the country doing event marketing.  It was a dream job, traveling, eating and meeting interesting people. 

Not long after his internship he was recruited to a full-time position with Coors Brewing Company to do marketing on the East Coast.  We packed our bags and moved to Washington, D.C. 

Dave spent years with Coors but it wasn't until after the completion of his M.B.A. that his true calling would come to fruition.  He was recruited to a large, Swiss flavor and fragrance company.  The world of flavor and fragrance was a completely different spectrum from the beverage industry.  Dave was intrigued. 

Dave is a full blown foodie.  Entrenched in the flavor world he has a trained palette and describes food as if he is describing a work of art.

People ask me what my husband does for a living and I typically say I'm married to Willy Wonka.  He is responsible for tasting and trending flavors, much like people trend colors for the fashion industry.  He has introduced the girls and I to foodie terminology that we never knew existed and Saturday evenings regularly include our own version of chopped.

As the Director of Consumer Insights for a flavor and fragrance company Dave is pretty brilliant at what he does.  He traveled to Brazil this past December to do a chef tour and trend Brazilian foods for the up and coming year.  When I asked him what he did in Brazil he replied "I ate a lot of food and watched a lot of people."  He consistently tells me that it's not so much about the food as it is the people.  He is fascinated with the how, why, where and what of people when it comes to food and how that translates to trends.

Not only does he pay close attention to the foodie details and habits of others his own personal dedication to food is apparent as well.  He is believer in the organic culture, a supporter of local suppliers and gardener in his own right. 

What I love most about Dave's knowledge of the food world is his ability to share it with others.  When he isn't traveling and dining with chefs around the world he can be found cooking in the kitchen with Ava and Cate or entertaining friends and family.

Not many people in the world can say that they wake up every morning and work their dream job.  Fortunately for Dave, his dream came true.  Fortunately for me, I live with Willy Wonka.