Culinary Concepts Southwest believes in gourmet dishes and sustainable practices.
“Of course, I didn’t appreciate it at the time. But my mom, who was single, was a really great cook. She was a scratch baker and made wonderful dishes with pinto beans and other staples. Bean burritos, quesadillas and marinara were a huge part of my childhood.”
Along with learning some valuable cooking techniques, Chamberlin said, “I also got my entrepreneurial side observing her. She started her own graphic design business, and she was also a fine artist and sold her paintings in galleries. I watched her closely when I was young.”
Thinking Flagstaff would be a good fit for taking her first steps out of her hometown, Chamberlin sojourned to the mountain city in 1992. “I was interested in snowboarding and hiking, and Flagstaff offered all of that. I started my studies at Coconino Community College (CCC) and Northern Arizona University (NAU) and then transferred to UC Boulder where I finished my undergraduate degree and obtained my degree in environmental biology.
“My goal was to be a veterinarian, so I worked at restaurants to pay for my college tuition and rent. I also had a job exercising horses, but I had an accident and broke my back, so I moved back to Tucson for a couple years.”
Coming back to Flagstaff, Chamberlin changed gears and was the founding partner and executive chef of Brix Restaurant and Wine Bar. Within one year of opening, she was invited to cook at the James Beard Foundation and the restaurant made Conde Nast’s Top 99 New Restaurants in the world.
“I was underwhelmed at the available restaurants in Flagstaff at that time, so I wanted to fill a void,” she said.
Stepping into the culinary world, Chamberlin worked at numerous award-winning restaurants around the country before attending Johnson and Wales University, where she earned an associate’s degree in applied science, culinary arts.
Drawn to the great outdoors of Arizona, Chamberlin became a professional river guide for several years and a private chef before purchasing commercial property with her husband to build her dream.
With sustainability a top priority, Culinary Concepts Southwest is a multi-faceted catering business, backed by a team of talented chefs and culinarians. From catering to private events, retreats and professional athletes, weekly farm-to-table pre-made meals are also on her list of offerings.
“Laura is one of my favorite people and I have so much respect for her,” said Sugar Mamas owner Lexi Striker. “We worked together for a long time and she is probably one of the best chefs I’ve ever known. She cultivates an environment where employees genuinely want to work for her forever. She has great organizing and catering skills and because of her river running, she knows how to organize a remote kitchen.”
Culinary Concepts Southwest ethos include fair wages to the team, composting – they are City of Flagstaff Water Wise certified – recycling and working with farms and ranches to procure their food. “I try really hard to work with local farms and ranchers and it’s important to me that I work with nonprofits.”
“I like to consult with my team about schedules and workloads, so we work hard but then we get time off,” said Chamberlin. “I feel like I pay competitively for Flagstaff. I know it’s tough to make a living here.”
HYPO2 owner Daniel Bergland says that Chamberlin goes above and beyond for her clients. “We do training camps for professional Olympic teams from all over the world, such as New Zealand, Australia, Great Britain, Japan. Laura will come and prepare all their meals, providing all their nutritional needs. The teams love her food and we get great feedback. Our teams from Japan really appreciate her authentic Japanese food.”
To enhance her Japanese cooking, Chamberlin just returned from Japan. “I learned so much about the flavors and ingredients used. Getting to taste authentic food will help me prepare more familiar food for Japanese athletes. I also got to attend the national swim meet in Tokyo, so that was pretty cool, too.”
Specializing in off-grid, remote catering, Chamberlin has a customized outdoor kitchen with a propane oven and grill. “We can go places that other caterers can’t go. We have worked with dozens of outdoor wedding and production companies.”
“We were filming in a very remote location and Laura and her crew came in and prepared a fantastic meal for our cast. Her years of cooking at the bottom of the Grand Canyon and other isolated locations is over the top,” said PJ Connolly, of Locations Southwest and Production Services (LSW).
When she’s not cooking, Chamberlin can be found hiking, mountain biking, rafting or snowboarding. She lives with her husband, Mike, who is a tortoise biologist, and the animals they have rescued. FBN
By V. Ronnie Tierney, FBN
Chef Laura Chamberlin can be reached at info@culinaryconceptssouthwest.
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