Meet Chef Alyssa

Growing up in Charlotte, NC Alyssa Wilen (formerly Alyssa Gorelick) has been involved with cooking nearly her entire life. For her, cooking has been a culmination of her love of art and fine food. Alyssa has always had the creative spirit in her – whether it was in dance, art, or theater. In short time, Alyssa found her love and passion for cooking and focused her career path on this model.

Alyssa has made many wonderful stops in her professional journey. A 2005 graduate of the Art Institute of Charlotte, Alyssa started and ran her own catering company while in school. Her professional career has taken her to Italy and several restaurants in Charlotte the range from upscale restaurants, a country club, to small intimate dining.

In 2011, Alyssa was presented with the opportunity to hone her style in a brand new restaurant in Charlotte. Fern, Flavors from the Garden, appointed her the opening Executive Chef and in October 2011, Alyssa officially became “Chef Alyssa.” Working tirelessly for months, Chef Alyssa made countless connections with local farmers to ensure that all of her menu items would be healthy and local. The menu and dessert items, which changed seasonally and daily upon availability, reflected her efforts.

While at Fern, Chef Alyssa was recognized in multiple local, regional, and national magazines, including Food & Wine Magazine. Aside from being named one of Charlotte’s Top 5 Chefs by CBS Charlotte, Chef Alyssa had the opportunity to cook two separate times at the prestigious James Beard House in New York City.

Since starting Chef Alyssa’s Kitchen, Alyssa won the 2014 Iron Fork Competition, named as one of the top 10 chefs in Charlotte to know by The Braiser and listed as one of the top culinary minds in Charlotte by South Park Magazine. In 2015 and 2016, Chef Alyssa’s Kitchen was named Best Cooking Class by Charlotte Magazine. She can been seen cooking weekly on TV every Saturday morning at 9:15 on NBC Charlotte, WCNC.

In 2016, Chef Alyssa launched her product line of condiments: Chef Alyssa’s Spreads. Most recently, Chef Alyssa appeared on June 24, 2016 on Beat Bobby Flay on The Food Network. During that year, she was also recognized as one of the top females in Charlotte culinary scene by South Park Magazine. In 2017, Chef Alyssa was named one of the Top 50 Most Influential Women in Charlotte by The Mecklenburg Times. In 2019, Charlotte Agenda named her one of the most influential women in Charlotte’s food & drink industry.

Her cooking style and passions are to use local, fresh ingredients and add layers of flavor.

Alyssa loves adding her personality, passion and creative sense into all of her menu items. She credits Chefs Joseph Bonaparte, Paul Verica, and Lorenzo Polegri. Chef Alyssa resides in Charlotte, NC and enjoys practicing yoga, exercising, kombucha, and trying new things.

Meet Andrew

Andrew Wilen, an energetic and creative leader, grew up in Baltimore, MD. He has always been an athlete, playing team sports from lacrosse and soccer to basketball and baseball. With his involvement in so many outdoor sports, it’s no wonder that the Carolina weather drew him down south.

In 2008 he graduated from Elon University with a BA in Corporate Communications and double minors in sports marketing and business management. Following graduation, he worked in marketing and media relations for the Carolina Panthers and Bank of America. He also managed promotions for many events including the Chicago Marathon and Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure in Denver, New York, Houston and Dallas. His ability to motivate a team and get the group excited to accomplish its goals contributed to the reason he became an event planner.

Following this career path, Andrew continued event planning with LivingSocial Adventures as the Charlotte Events Manager. He was able to design and manage exciting events for guests seeking to explore Charlotte in a vibrant and new way. Some of the events he designed were music festivals, sushi making and wine tours. He thrives in situations where he can motivate others, add his creativity, transform a space and, most of all, making sure guests have a good time. Following LivingSocial, Andrew worked for Charlotte Center City Partners in South End, the “SoHo” of Charlotte, for 5 years. Amongst other localized events in South End, Andrew organized Small Business Saturday and the Craft Beer Crawl for three years. He loves organizing events which strengthen the community and cultivate the art and cultural scene in Charlotte.

Andrew delivers his dynamic personality to Chef Alyssa’s Kitchen, which brings people together to explore cooking great food and learning in a fun way. In 2015, Andrew was named one of Elon University’s Top 10 Under 10 award recipients. In 2016, Charlotte Agenda named him as one of the Top 30 under 30 professionals. In 2017, Charlotte Business Journal named Andrew one of the Top 40 under 40 award honorees for his professional work and service in the community.

In his spare time Andrew stays active and plays in a softball league and pick-up basketball. He is an avid golfer who participates in several fun tournaments a year with his dad. Previously, Andrew has coached flag football and basketball for the British American School in South Charlotte, served on the Charlotte Alumni Board of Elon University for four years as the Events Program Manager and organized (with Alyssa) the Common Grounds Corncuopia raising funds and awareness for the Urban Ministry Center.

Andrew runs the Operations, Marketing, and Event Management for Chef Alyssa’s Kitchen. Please contact Andrew for all private event and press inquiries: [email protected]

Meet Gloria

Gloria Sellers (formerly Wheeler) joined Chef Alyssa’s Kitchen February 2015 on a part-time basis. In June 2017, Gloria moved into a full-time role with several promotions since then.

Gloria was born in Washington D.C and is from Bamburg, SC. A 2015 culinary graduate from Johnson & Wales, Gloria has spent her career working in restaurants such as 300 East.

Gloria assists our cooking classes and team building events. She also helps plan many of our private events and keeps things organized! In 2018, she was promoted to lead chef for Saturday brunch service. After just 8 weeks, brunch was named top 12 in the city by Charlotte Agenda.

Gloria was one the leads starting Chef Alyssa’s Kids Culinary Camps. In 2017, after just 2 summers, the kids camps were named Best of the Best by Charlotte Magazine. In 2019, Gloria began leading public and private cooking class events.

Meet Randy

Randy Townes joined Chef Alyssa’s Kitchen in Spring 2019 as the Catering Chef and Kitchen Manager. Randy leads all of the office catering and Family Table Meal dinner meals.

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Meet John

John Camp joined Chef Alyssa’s Kitchen in December 2018 initially in a part-time role. Beginning in September 2019, John was promoted to a full-time position with CAK. You can find John assisting with all parts of the company: catering, family table meals, cooking classes and special events.

Meet Brittany

Brittany Nolen joined Chef Alyssa’s Kitchen in Fall 2021 as a culinary assistant. In Summer 2023 she was promoted to lead pastry chef. Brittany received her culinary degree in Virginia and grew up in West Virginia. With background as a line cook at the Greenbrier Sporting Club in West Virginia along with several bakeries.

Brittany has a very kind, happy and approachable demeanor and is a fantastic part of the team. She is also an event manager for some of our chopped challenges and tapas tasting events.

Meet Jaquari

Jaquari Mallory joined Chef Alyssa’s Kitchen in January 2022. JQ received his culinary degree from Johnson & Wales in Charlotte and grew up in Leesburg, VA. With strong background as a line cook, JQ has worked at Sea Level, BLT Steak and Carmel Country Club

JQ is a patient and informative chef and loves leading events. He also is an event manager for many of our private events and on occasion cooks dinner during chopped challenge events.

Meet Kaegan

Kaegan Parks joined Chef Alyssa’s Kitchen in Spring 2022 as a culinary assistant. She grew up in Asheville, NC and received her associates degree in culinary from Johnson and Wales in Charlotte. After graduating with her culinary and culinary nutrition degree in Spring 2023 and completing her internship with the University of Georgia Football Team in Nutrition, she joined CAK in a full-tine role. Kaegan has cooked in a variety of roles for restaurants and catering companies in Asheville and Charlotte. She is a fantastic member of CAK.

Meet Chase

Chase Muhammad joined Chef Alyssa’s Kitchen in Summer 2023. Chase received her culinary degree from Johnson & Wales in Charlotte and grew up in Chicago and Charlotte. With a background in health and nutrition, Chase enjoys to take a holistic approach to food and ingredients.

Chase has a wonderful enthusiasm for cooking with a warm, patient demeanor when assisting guests. Chase also is our beverage manager.

Meet Mike

Mike Noll joined Chef Alyssa’s Kitchen in Summer 2023. Mike has an extensive background working in restaurants throughout the country predominately in Chicago and Charlotte.

Mike is known as one of the best chefs in Charlotte after previously owning and leading restaurants Bardo and Vana.

Mike has a patient, knowledgeable and fun approach to leading his events

Meet Claire

Claire Renaldo joined Chef Alyssa’s Kitchen in Fall 2022. Claire received her culinary degree from Johnson & Wales in Charlotte and grew up in Greenwood, SC. Claire led her own catering company for several years in Charlotte, and also comes from a teaching background.

Claire is one of our leads for culinary camps, help manage our retail area and spearheads CAK brand development and partnerships

Claire has an engaging presence and demeanor working with guests.

Meet Brittany

Brittany Moulton joined Chef Alyssa’s Kitchen in Summer 2019 as a culinary assistant. She received her culinary degree in Orlando, Florida and has worked her way through various roles within the industry. From a Publix Bakery Manager to lead baker at Duke’s Bread, Brittany is a wonderful part of CAK.

Meet Clayton

Clayton Sanders joined Chef Alyssa’s Kitchen as chef instructor in Fall 2021. As one of our private event instructors, Clayton leads event for teams and groups of friends covering all types of menus. Clayton is a natural presenter who loves cooking and sharing his knowledge.

Previous stops for Clayton include Sous Chef at Halcyon, Executive Chef/Owner of  The Davidson Street Public House. He is currently a Sous Chef at Supperland.

Meet Karina

Karina Estep joined Chef Alyssa’s Kitchen in Winter 2023. As our social media guru, she guides us through content producing on-site while she works to create and showcase all that is Chef Alyssa’s Kitchen.

Karina works remotely but we occasionally get to visit with her. Visit her website for more details on her creative business.

Meet Charlie

Charlie Reid joined Chef Alyssa’s Kitchen as chef instructor in Summer 2021. As one of our private event instructors, Charlie leads event for teams and groups of friends covering all types of menus. Previous stops for Charlie include Sous Chef at Upstream, Executive Chef of Tin Kitchen Food Truck and Executive Chef at Clean Catch Seafood. Charlie is a Johnson & Wales culinary graduate and the Owner of Crafted Plate for private chef services.