Our Story

How Farm to Feast Catering Began

Chef and Proprietor Alexis Starkey
Chef and Proprietor Alexis Starkey

Chef Alexis Starkey has always loved food and entertaining. In 2010, after years of cooking and catering events for friends, colleagues and family — while also working professionally in public relations — Alexis decided to make her longtime passion her profession. She left the public relations business, donned a chef’s toque and embarked on a new culinary journey.

Alexis received formal training at the French Culinary Institute (FCI) in New York and at La Scuola Internazionale di Cucina Italiana in Parma, Italy, a course of study that combined the precision of French technique with the Italian devotion to fresh, local ingredients. Since graduating from FCI, Alexis has also studied Turkish cuisine in Istanbul, regional Mexican cooking in Oaxaca and southern German food in Bavaria. Alexis’s diverse training and unique cooking sensibility allow her to showcase and meld extraordinary flavors from these far-flung traditions.

We love being part of the Washington, DC food community. Our kitchen at Mess Hall in Brookland ensures we have the best connections to the freshest and most unique food vendors in the DC area.
Our kitchen at Mess Hall in Brookland ensures we have the best connections to the DC area’s freshest and most unique food vendors.

Alexis also cooked in one of the leading kitchens in northern Italy, Ristorante Zum Lowen in Blozano, a restaurant led by one of the first female chefs in Italy to earn a Michelin star. Her experiences in Italy — particularly her work at Zum Lowen and her exposure to the Slow Food movement — made a deep impression on her that informs and underlies Farm to Feast’s commitment to organic, biodynamic and locally sourced ingredients.

In 2011, Alexis formed Farm to Feast, and in 2014, joined Mess Hall Food Community to build the business out by leveraging the experience and expertise of other local businesses with similar commitments to community.