We’re proud to spotlight Chef Marissa, our Lead Chef at Goosefoot Cook & Grow. Clients love her creative menus, mastery of flavor, and the genuine care she brings to every meal she prepares.
If you’ve been curious what it’s like to have a personal chef, like Chef Marissa, curate and prepare your weekly meals, now’s the perfect time to find out. We currently have openings for our weekly personal chef meal delivery service. Click here to get started.
Born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky, Chef Marissa brings nearly a decade of culinary experience to the table, driven by a passion for creating delicious, nutritious, and sustainable food. Now based in Cincinnati for over four years, she’s been loving the city life and the vibrant walkability of downtown and Over-the-Rhine.
Marissa’s culinary philosophy is rooted in accessibility and sustainability—crafting seasonal, locally-sourced dishes while minimizing food waste in an industry that often overlooks it. Her favorite tool in the kitchen? The industrial red-handled rubber spatula (if you know, you know), a trusty companion for everything from sauce work to cleanup.
At Goosefoot, she transitioned from primarily working on the private client side to our lead chef role. In any place, she’s ready with a dad joke or a food pun.
A former cardio kickboxing instructor and lifelong martial arts enthusiast, she channels discipline and energy into everything she does. She looks up to Anthony Bourdain for his fearless authenticity and his unwavering belief in the transformative power of food and storytelling.
Our founder and co-owner, Chef Maggie, recently sat down with Marissa to talk about Goosefoot and where it’s headed:
Maggie: What are you most excited about cooking with right now?
Marissa: Seasonal squash to make fall soup–I love an excuse to dump a bunch of things into a cauldron. And I make my own stock, that’s the perfect application.
Maggie: How has getting to know our farm partners shaped how you cook?
Marissa: It is such a personal experience, when I first met the Finney Farm people it was at the Covington Farmers’ Market. It’s so much more personal, this is their (farmers’) whole life and we’re sharing it with our clients. It feels like a very close relationship that so many people don’t get to have because of their location. These little farms and places that I get to order continuously from – I love keeping them in business while also keeping us in business.
Maggie: What’s your vision for the future of Goosefoot’s personal chef meal delivery service?
Marissa: Pushing people out of their comfort zone and limiting food waste as much as possible. The French term comes to mind “Rien ne se perd, tout se transforme” (nothing is lost, everything is transformed) getting the most you possibly can out of ingredients, people dedicate their whole lives to growing these foods and raising these animals, honoring that by reducing waste by using odd cuts of meats, veggie scraps for stock, preserving things by canning or freezing, repurposing, maximizing the use of product. That’s something I want to keep implementing in our space and encourage clients to do the same because we’re not cooking every meal they have, just a good portion. It helps people to discover things they wouldn’t have gone out of their way for before.
