Goosefoot Cook & Grow was created to celebrate the nourishing bounty of this place, re-connect people to what’s edible in the landscape, encourage community, and deepen our collective relationship with nature.
Native American communities throughout the Ohio River Valley region consider goosefoot an essential food source. The leaves are nutrient-dense, and their seed pods, similar to their South American cousin quinoa, are protein-packed and plentiful. Over time, however, identifying regional plants has been systematically eliminated.
For our founder, Chef Maggie, one of the most exciting parts of moving back to her childhood home has been discovering plants that are indigenous to this area. One night she had a dream about a plant native to Ohio, called lamb’s quarters or goosefoot. Through Goosefoot Cook and Grow, Chef Maggie and her team aim to continue building a relationship with the natural world through food and sharing that experience with their clients and community at large.
FOUNDER
Chef Maggie
Chef Maggie is a visual artist and has been a culinary professional for over 17 years. After moving back from Oakland, CA in 2020, she is excited to participate in Cincinnati’s growing food and small-scale farming scene. Maggie is passionate about social justice, healing for herself and her community, and bringing more beauty into the world through art and food. She speaks fluent French and Spanish and loves being in the mountains and swimming in hot springs.
LEAD CHEF
Chef Anna Grace
Chef Anna Grace has been in Cincinnati for the last 18 years. Born in The Hague, Netherlands, to diplomats, she has lived all over the world and graduated from The Midwest Culinary Institute in 2014. She has worked in kitchens both as a baker and a chef, and her favorite tool in the kitchen is a paring knife because they are so useful. One of her favorite food memories is her mom and grandmother standing over the kitchen sink, peeling apples for apple pie.
ASSISTANT CHEF
Chef Liv
Born and raised in Cincy, Chef Liv has been working in the culinary industry for 8 years. She is known for her knowledge of plant-based foods and is passionate about using cooking as a form of meditation. In addition, she is a mental health and human rights advocate and mother to a beautiful daughter. If you’re lucky, maybe she’ll sing for you: Liv trained for 10 years with a professional opera singer.
PREP COOK
Helen
Helen is a jack-of-all-trades and designated Goosefoot dessert maker. She is passionate about food, nature and caring for her 75+ houseplants. She loves being part of a small team of women she respects and cooking delicious seasonal, local food in a healthy and sustainable way. Growing up, she loved helping her mom in the kitchen and pretending to be French chefs with their own cooking show. On her days off, you can find her spending time outdoors, listening to live music, and finding the final missing piece to all the puzzles.
LEAD ADMIN
Caroline
Caroline is an enthusiastic home cook but prefers to whip up a spreadsheet or organize an inbox, allowing the team to focus on what’s going on in the kitchen. As a child, she loved stopping by roadside farm stands for local sweet corn and ripe peaches during family road trips. Currently, Caroline loves exploring historic Cincinnati neighborhoods, hiking in nature, and discovering new bakeries and restaurants.
FARM PARTNER
Old Dutch Hops
Amanda Wilson and Brady Kirwan of Old Dutch Hops currently supply the majority of Goosefoot’s sustainable meat options. As third-generation farmers in Hillsboro, they want to create a future for family farming in Ohio that will improve the soils that we rely on to produce higher quality food. They are hopeful they can also rebuild their rural community through cooperative farming ventures, and local sourcing of feeds and labor.
FARM PARTNER
ETC
Esteban and Toncia Chavez are the owners and operators of a family farm and shop, ETC Produce and Provisions. Their shop in historic Findlay Market is where you’ll find a wide assortment of farm-fresh produce from all over Ohio. They are lucky enough to have 68-acres of pasture, where they raise their 400+ free-range chickens without hormones, steroids, and antibiotics.
Where it all started…
Chef Maggie moved back to Cincinnati after spending 15 years in Oakland, CA building her personal chef brand, The Heirloom Chef.
After seven years of working with the company, Chef Erika Minkowsky became Co-owner, and they currently employ a talented team of personal chefs in the SF Bay Area.
We are honored to be sister companies, expanding our reach to serve fresh, seasonal fare.
“Eating is an agricultural act.”
– Wendell Berry
