Chef Series #1 — Adrian Sullivan, Behind The Scenes Of An Aisle Mine Chef.
By: Jenny Tungsubutra
Adrian Sullivan is a food blogger, recipe creator and chef hailing from the dynamic foodie city of Columbus, OH. His blog, Sulli’s Kitchen, is devoted to everything food-related, from how to make the ultimate Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwich to where to get the best steak in Columbus. Residing in Ohio for the pandemic myself, I didn’t need to look any further than @sullis.kitchen on Instagram for the best recommendations.
Delicious and homemade dishes made with the freshest ingredients such as Shakshuka, Mac N’ Cheese and Tostones were brought to Aisle Mine through Chef Adrian’s love of cooking since the age of 11. However, besides the “yums”, “oohs” and “ahhs” you could hear throughout the class, Chef Adrian is also looking for a meaningful learning experience among the participants themselves. Are THEY truly learning from the class? As Adrian adds another ingredient to his blender, how would he be able to know what everyone else was doing in that moment? Adrian wants to see what the participants are doing, if they’re doing it correctly, how they can improve, and overall, just to be there as a teacher, as opposed to solely just the chef.
Chef Adrian mentioned how the Instagram of mixologist Leah Tringale contains several useful shortcuts, such as how he spent 2 hours making a super concentrated orange syrup when she could easily be doing it in much less. Leah is killing the Instagram game in the world of bar tending and mixology by doing what she does best. Chef Adrian says if he’s doing the experience himself, he wants you to think about what Aisle Mine walks away with, from every participant on that Zoom call to the founder to the founder and host, Kiana Estevez herself.
Moving forward, Adrian is looking to answer how the Aisle Mine team can ensure that participants have the right tools to be successful. How to ensure that they will have a food processor or a blender, or an alternative. Additionally, Chef Adrian is trying to make his recipes based on a certain grocery store, just so you know you’re getting the right thing.
Aisle Mine is a space for everyone- vegetarian, vegans, or people like myself in-between who eat meat but not dairy. Chef Adrian mentioned how the vegetarian bolognese he made literally looked and tasted like the real thing. Who would’ve known that the dish turned out to be so amazing? He knew the founder, Kiana would love it as a vegetarian and huge foodie herself, but she wasn’t cooking along the way for him to see that. That may change in the next class, though!
The beauty about Aisle Mine is that you get an amazing meal, but along the way you learn a whole bunch of techniques, such as preparing your own salad dressing that will be “healthier than any dressing you can buy in the grocery store.” (quoting Chef Adrian himself!). That’s what the experts, like Adrian Sullivan, Leah Tringale and many others in the Aisle Mine family are here to help you along the way.
To see the participants learning, and growing on their techniques from the comfort of their own kitchen is what Chef Adrian Sullivan hopes to see in the near future of Aisle Mine, one which I too hope that you will be a part of.
Stay tuned for our next events via Instagram.
