It all began in a kitchen in Charleston SC…
My name is Norwood Pryor and I grew up in and learned to cook, and subsequently make biscuits, in cafes and kitchens all over Charleston, SC. I quietly watched true biscuit artist turn a few basic ingredients into buttery clouds of flavor. I began my chef career in Charleston too, starting as a sous chef at Cordavi, the top restaurant in the city two years in a row and one of Esquire magazines top 20 restaurants in America. I left Cordavi for the Carolina Yacht Club, running the two restaurants and multi-million dollar catering program where I planned events for members like Stephen Colbert at is one of the top 5 private venues on the East Coast.
After the CYC I took on the role of Pastry chef and then as Sous Chef at Oak Steakhouse, one of the Top 25 steakhouses in America, where I was able to travel to NYC and cook at the prestigious James Beard House multiple times. While in Charleston I worked with some great visiting chefs like Bobby Flay, Wylie Dufresne, and Sara Moulton and with some amazing charities such as Darkness to Light, Louie’s Kids, and the March of Dimes. I received my degree’s in both International Cuisine and in Culinary Management while in Charleston and passed the first level of court of sommeliers and my second levels for the WSET (Wine and Spirits Education Trust in London).
A trip over to the West Coast!
In 2012 I moved to San Francisco and was recruited to open and run cafes at Apple and work on special projects inside the culinary program. This was a great experience where I was able to help plan and execute 26k person events and cook for Apple’s executive committee with members like Tim Cook and Al Gore. I was also asked to cooked for special guests, from visitors in thetech world to culinary greats like Gordon Ramsey! While at Apple I was able to take part in the AppleU leadership program and attend Harvard’s online management program. While in SF I did personal chef work for clients such as the Canadian ambassador cooking for guests like the Korean consulate, the executive teams of over half a dozen Fortune 500 companies, and was able to continue my charity work with St Anthony’s and local food banks (as well as vonteer as a poll worker!).
I left Apple in 2019 to take on the super unique challenge of helping the Warriors open the Chase Center, opening the eateries and clubhouses. We had a great opening, immediately setting a new benchmark for any arena but our first season would come to an early and unforeseen ending due to the Covid pandemic. After the pandemic started we worked with Jose Andres’ charity, World Central Kitchen, to help feed the Princess Cruise line guests stuck in port and the the city to feed our neighbors in need. We did all sorts of unique events through the pandemic like the PGA championship at Hyde Park and internationally-viewed video cooking demos. We opened back up with the spotlight on us, leading the way on safely holding large events. Before leaving the Chase Center I opened the first Vegan Eatery in America in an arena and an eatery focused on highlighting the different cultures of the Bay Area.
We are finally home and SLOing down ;)
We are extremely proud and fortunate to serve the Central Coast and the SLO community! We are new in town but are already ambassadors with the SLO Chamber of Commerce, have joined numerous civic groups, have started working with the SLO Food Bank and the 5-cities Women’s Christian Group to make sure any extra food we have is properly donated. We are at local markets and events doing everything we can to meet our new neighbors and share our amazing food!
Now that we have started serving the Central Coast we are looking forward to our next step in bringing you a public facing storefront so we can expand on our catering and markets and share more of what we do with you! After the we will be bringing more and more southern themed concepts the the central coast! Until then we are popping up at all sorts of local events and farmers markets and are available for catering.
SLO and the five city’s are a magical place that my partner was fortunate enough to grow up in and I am over joyed to be welcomed with open arms. I am excited for the next steps in our amazing journey together!
