Chef Gaby Molina

With nearly 15 years of experience working in kitchens throughout the Monterey Peninsula and Santa Cruz Bay Area, Gabrielle Molina knows what it takes to make food that hits home. With every carefully crafted bite, Gaby imagines she’s feeding her loved ones.

Growing up in the central coast of California and working under seasoned and knowledgeable chefs, Gabrielle quickly learned that it takes more than high quality ingredients to make her favorite style of food, which she describes as “elevated comfort food”.

Gabrielle starting her professional kitchen career at Wild Thyme Deli, but quickly moved on to working in iconic restaurants like restaurant 1833 and Venus Spirits Cocktails & Kitchen (which she helped open two locations under owners Sean and Grace Venus). Through her years working in restaurants, she was inspired by fellow chefs to never settle and always push herself. But after years of personal growth and burn out from the toxic cultures that weaken so many great kitchens, Gabrielle learned that her love language was food and that positive and healthy kitchen culture was the only way to foster the passion that initially drove her to kitchens. And this longing for a supportive, balanced and fun kitchen brought her to HJE, where she fell in love with cooking all over again. And you can taste that love in every single bite.

You can follow her on Instagram @chef_gabrielle_molina