Chefs to Watch: Gwinnett County (Ga.) Public Schools’ Taylor Blake rocks the cafeteria with culinary chops, nutrition know-how

Gwinnett County (Ga.) Public Schools’ chef-dietitian Taylor Blake, MS, RDN, LD, brings dual skill sets to her position as coordinator of nutrition support. She was first drawn to the “rock star” lifestyle she perceived of the chef life, so she studied at Le Cordon Bleu and got her chef skills. Then came her desire to dig deeper and her path to becoming a dietitian. Nowadays, she considers school foodservice managers to be the real “rock stars,” and as our most recent Chef to Watch, Blake tells us why.

She also talks about how the district has stood tall during the challenges of the pandemic, having already dipped their toes into remote feeding with Bookmobile summer programs in the past. Now, with summer in full swing and the next school year waiting in the wings, Blake is most excited about being back in person with chef demos, samples for kids and the sense of community that comes from the physical lunchroom.