Kristel Arabian- Proprietor & Recruiter
Kristel Arabian was born in Beirut, Lebanon to an Armenian family rich in culinary traditions. Food and big meals were a central focus of their family gatherings and culture. As a child, she was always interested in determining the "whys and hows" of all things. This stretched from the sciences to the daily occurrences in her mother's busy home kitchen. Instead of cartoons, she would watch hours of Julia Child, Jacques Pepin and her favorite show, "Great Chefs", which had her watching over the shoulders of the world best chefs as they worked and explained their techniques and the secrets of how they worked their magic. During her younger years, Kristel dabbled in both food and science; working first at a bakery at the age of 14, then spending 8 years as a pharmacy technician and later in science laboratories. During this time she earned her Bachelor’s of Science in Microbiology. Food continued to captivate and inspire her during her time off and during her travels to some of the world’s best food cities. After graduating, on sheer instinct, Kristel found a job cooking casual, simple American food at Marshall Blair's restaurant in Silverlake, CA. She thrived in the fast-paced kitchen environment and parlayed her kitchen training with her knowledge of science to help understand the “whys and hows” of all the techniques she was absorbing. She later worked at Joe Miller’s Michelin starred restaurant in Venice, CA as his daytime Chef de Cuisine and also helped in the opening of Milo & Olive in Santa Monica. Following her time in the kitchen, Kristel spent 3 years recruiting chefs at DD Factor in Los Angeles as their sole culinary recruiter and later at One Haus, NYC as an integral part of the opening team of the international hospitality firm, as their Director of Recruitment. She now enjoys running this small, boutique recruiting firm, Kitchen Culture (named as a nod to her Microbiology background), where she is dedicated to working with a small, like-minded group of Chefs, Managers and Operators to help further their success in the realm of hospitality. Kristel's love affair with food and restaurants is constant, whether she is cooking at home, traveling, dining out or reading restaurant menus & cookbooks.
