Culinary Alumni Spotlight: Ny Cunningham

May 10, 2022

Pictured: Lupo Italian Kitchen Sous Chef Sam “Rusty” Russell and Ny Cunningham

We recently caught up with Milford culinary alumna, Ny Cunningham, to see what she’s been up to since graduating!

Tell us a little about yourself: I have five children, ages 3 to 26. I spent 20 years in the corporate world before I signed up for The Culinary School. I graduated in December, 2019. I love The Culinary School; I’d recommend it to anybody. I have Chef Tim and Chef Tish in my pocket, and by that I mean I hear their voices. I remember their advice all the time.

Why did you decide to enter the culinary world? I’ve always had a passion for cooking, manipulating flavors, making good food, and I enjoy watching people enjoy what I’ve cooked. My favorite style of cooking – Soul Food and Jamaican.  I wanted to do what I loved to do. I wanted to learn all I could.

Your internship was at Crust and Craft. What was that like and how did you get to Lupo Italian Restaurant? I went to the Culinary School never thinking I’d work in a restaurant I didn’t own, then Chef Tish got me the internship at Crust and Craft. I learned all the stations, but with COVID I was out of work for six months. I became prep team leader and made pasta and pizza dough every day, made ricotta, sausage, meatballs. I worked double shifts – prep in the morning and then the line.

And when did you transfer to Lupo? What do you do here? I’ve been here since October or November, 2021 and pretty much the same. Prep in the morning and usually saute’ or the pasta station. I’m grateful to be a part of this – SoDel Concepts — company. There are extremely talented chefs, and I want to be as great as they are.

Note: Ny recently attended SoDel’s in-house training: the SoDel BOH Accelerator Program, held at the Rehoboth Beach corporate office for selected back of house staff. 

And your goals for the future? My goal is to be an executive chef here.

One of SoDel’s leaders responds:  Maurice Catlett, the SoDel corporate chef who oversees Lupo and Crust and Craft, where she worked previously said: “Ny reminds me of myself in a lot of ways. She has a deep passion for cooking that is inspiring to those around her. She is always cooking at home on her days off; it is her calling. She also works really hard and is just a great person to have on your team.”

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