COMPETITOR

Desert Dining AZ

HEAD COOK: Jordan Kiemele

COMPETITION: World Sandwich Championship

I trained at Le Cordon Bleu in Minneapolis following high school, interned at Im Schiffchen in Düsseldorf, Germany (which held 3 Michelin stars at that time), and still operate the catering company I established shortly after returning to the US. At this time, I also went back to school and studied accounting. After receiving my Bachelors of Science, I began working full-time as a financial analyst. However, during this time, I have continued to cater, hone my skills, expand my knowledge, work on new techniques, and develop recipes. I moved to Arizona over six years ago, and it has opened up a whole new world of understanding traditional Mexican cooking and its enormous flavors. I've competed twice now at the WFC with terrible results. But I've gleaned valuable lessons from both, and how much to leave or stay in the box when conceptualizing dishes. I have had the opportunity to cater to a broad audience, from church volunteers and staff to touring musicians, including a Grammy award winner, and also a former President of the United States. I also start each day with a cup of coffee that I roasted myself; I've been roasting my own coffee for about seven years now.