Perry VoScott is the Certifiable Foodie

Watching Julia Child cooking on television was one of my childhood joys. I quickly realizing I was doomed to a life of gastronomy.  At the ripe age of twelve, I founded my first food business, baking fresh baguettes in my family’s kitchen for door-to-door delivery to subscribers. At fourteen, I landed in my first restaurant kitchen, directed by a charming Army Chef who barked orders and in rages sent hot pans flying across the kitchen.  Later as a line cook, in the quaint seaside community of Boothbay Harbor, Maine, I mastered the fine art of deep-frying the freshest most delicate seafood into something that resembled an asteroid that survived re-entry.

I realized that there had to be more to the culinary world I so longed to taste and create. In 1980, I commenced my studies in the Champagne-Ardenne region of France. As you can imagine, an emerging gourmet was right at home in France. This was the perfect place to hone my palate and learn some classical French cooking theory. After five wondrous years in Europe, I set sail aboard the Queen Elizabeth II and traveled the globe tasting and scheming along the way.

I returned to Maine and founded a fresh juice business, and then moved to San Francisco, heart of the California culinary revolution in 1993.

I founded a gourmet organic Belgian Waffle venture in 2013, I created a very addictive all in one pastry and wholesaled waffles all over San Francisco ( Philz Coffee, Martha Bros Coffee and the Bay Cafe at Williams Sonoma. Rumor has it Chuck Williams was a big fan of my sour cherry waffles.

I founded the Certifiable Foodie in 2007 and decided to pursue my passion full time. I learned that at the epicenter off the California Food Revolution there were communities that weren’t benefitting from the abundance of fresh locally produced fruits and vegetables available in over 20 local farmers markets across the city. It made me sad to think that people were still surviving on heavily processed, canned or frozen foods when so much quality food was being grown all around us. I learned how little cooking people were actually doing. I longed to introduce this community to all these delicious fresh ingredients. To broaden palates from salty and sweet to bitter, sour, umame and fresh herbs. I longed to empower folks with tools to improve their food choices and make delicious simple meals to share with friends and family. I teach cooking to folks in San Francisco’s Bayview and Fillmore districts. I’ve partnered with Bayview Seniors , San Francisco Housing Development Corporation, and Solutions for Women to provide cooking classes and inspiration about healthy cooking using fresh ingredients and grains.

I’m passionate about sharing my favorites, so I maintain this blog where I write about food, restaurants, cheese makers, recipes, local farms, farmers markets and tools of the trade. I love teaching home cooks and their families to prepare delicious and nutritious meals at home while enjoying this body and soul nourishing process. Food is a gift from the earth. Proud family farmers cultivate a healthy environment to grow the best produce, meat, poultry, dairy and byproducts. The pride of the farmer is transferred to the consumer through these fresh agricultural products. I long to share these treasures with you via tours that include great restaurants, food producers and little known pearls of culinary history.