Born and raised in Camden, Cindymarie (Cindy) has always had a love of food. Drawn in by the creativity that cooking offers, she learned to cook from her parents whose unconventional Puerto Rican dishes were complimented by the whole neighborhood.
Now 26 with a two-year-old baby girl and working a dream job, Cindy’s path to get here has been meandering and not always clear.
At 18, Cindy was housing insecure, living out of her car. She began taking community college classes to become a dental hygienist before a friend and mentor, Eileen Tootle, recommended Cathedral Kitchen’s free culinary training. Instead of taking out more loans for school, Cindy dropped out to take a risk and study under Chef Jonathon in the Culinary Arts Training program in 2019. As an 18-year-old, the program taught her basic cooking techniques and helped with soft skills. Chef Jonathon became a cherished mentor to her and the program shaped her career trajectory and goals while helping her stay on her feet in the meantime.
After graduating from the program, Cindy was in and out of different culinary jobs, not staying at any for over a year but learning about herself and about working in a kitchen from each one. After leaving a job at Brandywine Nursing Home for mental health reasons, Cindy thought her career was becoming directionless. But one thing that always remained was her love of food and cooking.
“I regret some of the things I did in those jobs. I was young and definitely didn’t have the professionalism I have now but I did what I could at the time and it all got me to where I am now.”
She decided to apply for the Culinary Arts Program again and joined the winter 2025 cohort. This time around, the program was different and so was she. There was more structure and accountability for the students—which Cindy needed. She learned how to work on a team and how to communicate with team members effectively which has helped her grow immensely. This time, she also had some of the foundational culinary skills under her belt and could focus on more specialized skills.
“Chef Nai had high expectations, but it was so you would meet your potential. You could tell it was all out of love.”
During the program, each student receives cooking books that they get to keep. Cindy skimmed the books during the program based on that week’s lesson, but now refers to them often and flips through them on her off days to learn new cooking combinations and new cuisines. The Flavor Bible, which was donated to her from the Rotary Book Society upon graduation, is her go to when learning new flavors!
During the program, Cindy learned that there was a technical name for her fruit sculpting and carving skills—the art of Garde Manger. With this new language, she was able to apply her niche skills to her job search after graduating. After the program ended in April of 2025, Cindy started working at The Merion, a catering business and luxury wedding venue in Cinnaminson, leading Garde Manger and Hors D’oeurves/Cocktail Hour as one of the only women in the kitchen. She also has her own private catering company called, Mami’s Kitchen in which she creates Garde Manger art, delicious appetizers, charcuterie boards, and hors d’oeurves for events upon request.
After about a year, Cindy is still loving her work. She has flexibility to be creative in her dishes and her supervisors trust her and support her in a way her previous positions did not. Although she felt unsure at the time to go back to Cathedral Kitchen, it was a different experience and taught her lessons that were just as—if not more—relevant to her achieving her goals.
“I’m just really happy. I’m gaining a lot of confidence here. I wasn’t sure if I could do it when I started the job but now I have the skills and knowledge under my belt to prove I can do it.”
