Welcome to our kitchen! We are Jess and Frank, the partnership (in life and work) behind the Inquiring Chef kitchen.
We are all about good food, not a narrow niche. All eaters are welcome here. Many new readers (hi!) find us through our Thai recipes, but there’s so much more. From easy dinners and delicious desserts to vegetarian and low-carb recipes, the pages of this site include easy, flavorful, from-scratch recipes to satisfy everyone around your table.
Since 2010, Inquiring Chef has been serving up wholesome breakfasts, creative dinners, and simple desserts designed to be shared with the people you love. And not only do all of our recipes pass our own rigorous testing process, but we have our three young daughters test them as well. These are recipes you can feel good about serving your family (even if they won’t eat the broccoli in those delicious noodles).
Meet Jess
Recipe Developer and Photographer
Jess is a self-taught recipe developer, food stylist, and photographer. In 2015 she left her job with the federal government to pursue a full-time career in the kitchen. Her recipes and photography have been featured in a variety of publications including Parade, Honest Cooking, and She Knows. She also creates recipes for the family-friendly meal planning site Cook Smarts. On any given day, you can likely find her in the kitchen baking 5 slightly different versions of the same snack cake while searing a steak and cooking curried chickpeas in the Instant Pot. It’s a delicious job. Contact Jess at jess@inquiringchef.com.
Meet Frank
Site Strategist and Chief Mixologist
Frank is a classic INFP, jack-of-all-trades and has been traveling the world on his stomach for three decades. He traveled the world working for Peace Corps in Eastern Europe and Asia. After getting an MBA in Spain, his of blogging led him to Hallmark in 2016 where manages content and social media. Frank manages overall site and content strategy for Inquiring Chef and works behind the scenes as official taste-tester and drink-pairing expert. He can be found creating elaborate spreadsheets to keep our 900+ recipes organized and shaking up delicious cocktails at the end of long recipe testing days. Contact Frank at frank@inquiringchef.com. Contact Frank at frank@inquiringchef.com.
Our Story
We started Inquiring Chef in 2010 while we were living in Bangkok, Thailand. It was a way to share our adventures with family and friends back home. Over the years it grew into a way for us to explore new flavors and cuisines and for Jess to test, test, and retest new meals and share them with so many of you.
In 2014 we had our twin daughters, Molly and Clara. Four years later, our youngest daughter, June, joined the family. We now live in Kansas City, Missouri where we are happily surrounded by family and friends who are often called upon to eat leftovers and taste-test cookies.