FEATURE: Meet Nick Lutz, Americano Chef
If you’ve ever tried one of our recipes, you may have experienced a creation that our Americano chef, Nick, created! We’ve had the privilege of working with Nick to develop some delicious treats ranging from dog treat recipes to Gluten Free Pad Thai. Learn more about his culinary skills and why he's so passionate about cooking.
Where it started
Nick began cooking, and watching the Food Network at age six. Throughout his childhood cooking was always something that fascinated him and when he started off with helping his parents in the kitchen, he even conducted cooking experiments of his own. He was sure to let us know that not every experiment was successful, but that the experience was valuable experience and eventually, he honed his cooking skills to become the main cook of his family.
After graduating high school, he attended the Culinary Arts program at MATC, Madison Area Technical College in Wisconsin and graduated with an Associates in Culinary Arts in 2016. He simultaneously worked for a local catering company which introduced him to the restaurant business. After moving to Arizona, he spent a year and half working for a local chain restaurant and saw an even deeper insight behind the scenes of food. Though he doesn’t work for restaurants anymore, he says “my passion for food has not waivered one bit.”
So what's he stirring up now?
If you have been to the Gilbert Farmers Market in Downtown Gilbert, you have seen Nick repping Americano! We asked Nick to share a little bit about his experience, he explains:
“What you may not know is that I have Autism Spectrum Disorder, or ASD for short. Although Symptoms can vary greatly, some of the most common include difficulty in communication and social interactions. By working at the Gilbert Farmers Market, I have been able to greatly improve in both of those areas, while selling lots of product”
“After selling Americano Nut Butters, I wanted to show how versatile it could be in cooking as well. To that end, I began developing recipes utilizing the various Americano Foods Nut Butters, and several of them are now available on the company’s website. Out of all the recipes I have developed, my favorite is the African Peanut Soup, using the Classic Peanut Butter. Even though Peanut Butter is used in quite a few savory applications, I don’t think many people expected to be able to use it in a soup. I also hope to create more recipes that use peanut butter in a way that people don’t expect.”