Chef Natasha Calvert

Our new in-house chef and food guru comes to us from our Denver, Colorado stores. Natasha believes her culinary career began when she was a small child, learning to cook classic American cuisine from her mother and grandmother. Coming from a large family that gathered weekly for home prepared meals, she was a skillful chef by the time she left for college. While studying for her degree in business at the University of Colorado, her professional culinary career began with chef assistant positions in local restaurants. After several years in several kitchens, she expanded her culinary skills in classic European restaurants while working abroad in New Zealand. More recently, Natasha become a nutritional supplementation specialist in Whole Body and began a very successful cooking class program in the Denver Tamarac store. Her culinary claim to fame is assisting Keegan Gearhart of the Food Network Challenge at the Taste of Colorado Culinary Showcase.

Beyond her skills in the kitchen, she is passionate about leading a conscious lifestyle with extensive knowledge about enjoying fresh and nutritious whole foods.

Produce Must Haves: Coconuts, Fresh Parsley, Garlic and Artichokes

Guilty Pleasures of Choice: Southern Red Velvet Cake, New York Strip Steak & Tawny Port

Favorite Cookbook: The Junior League of Denver's Colorado Cache

Best Advice for Cooking: Practice makes perfect. Never cry over a ruined recipe- its nothing but a lesson learned.

Favorite TV Chef: Julia Child- she taught for real cooking at home and was never afraid to improvise or makes mistakes.

Best Answer for a Sweet Tooth: Cranberry Cake with Hot Butter Cream Sauce

Cover to Cover Magazine Reads: Martha Stewart Living, Bon Appetit & Sauvuer

Most Impressive Kitchen Trick: Beautiful homemade pasta with nothing but eggs, flour, a fork, knife, cup and her hands.

Questions or class suggestions? Please contact our new Salud! Culinary Instructor, Natasha Calvert, at natasha.calvert@wholefoods.com. We do offer private or corporate group lessons, luncheons and dinner parties or kitchen facility rentals.