Sandy Pike

While cooking has always been a favorite pastime of chef Sandy Pike, it was not until the Louisvillenative moved to California as a young adult that she would truly acknowledge her passion of cooking. Shortly after the move it was in San Francisco that Pike was first exposed to Alice Water's monumental "California Cuisine" movement. Challenging chefs to use locally grown and fresh ingredients in all of their dishes, Pike quickly found herself enthralled with the world of culinary arts and spent the next ten years as an owner of both a small catering company and a backstage caterer to a well-known music and concert producer in Berkeley, California.

Always searching for new ways to improve her culinary skills, Pike decided to move her family back to Louisville in 1980 where she would merge her new California techniques into the Southern dishes she had always loved. Eager to use her talent and expertise, she opened Jack Fry's Restaurant, offering Louisvillians innovative cuisine in a fun, sophisticated atmosphere. It was an overnight success, establishing her among the handful of chefs who would change the way food was regarded by the River City's growing population of urban diners.

While Jack Fry's success continued to grow, after eight years Pike found herself longing to create something new. She sold the restaurant and turned her attention to Café Society, a stylish, downtown bistro where she worked for four years before leaving to open Queen of Tarts, a dessert café that had all of Louisville craving something sweet. Teaming up with her daughter Mae, the duo made a major impact in the Louisville dessert scene before eventually selling the company.

After doing extensive research on healthy eating, Pike found herself back in the culinary world in 2000 as founder of Home Cuisine, a healthy food company which she manages today with her daughter Mae. As head chef, Pike's dishes, which never use white flour or sugar, canned ingredients or trans fats, beautifully showcase Alice Waters' cooking philosophy that originally inspired her to follow her culinary passion.

When not in the kitchen inventing new dishes for her customers to enjoy Pike likes to read, spend time with her family and cook.