My name is Suyai Steinhauer and I am the creative inspiration and executive director behind New York Fork. I am a creative and versatile chef with a diverse educational and cultural background. Born in Argentina and educated in England and France, I have always had a passion for exploring the world. Through hard work and good fortune, I have been able to travel extensively and enjoy adventures that make me who I am today. These experiences around the world lend an international flair to my cooking and food.

For over 7 years I have been catering to the needs of busy New Yorkers and have grown a loyal and special client base to which I owe much of my success. A private chef in New York since 2000, and a cooking class instructor since 2004, my food is delicious and innovative with an emphasis on fresh and seasonal.

Trained at the Natural Gourmet Cooking School, I spent time at London's River Cafe and at Po, Mario Batali's first restaurant. Before cooking professionally, I studied nutrition in London and trained as a massage therapist. Food has always been, and continues to be a very personal and evolving journey for me. I wholly believe in the connection between what we eat and who we are. Over the past two decades I have tried different eating philosophies: raw food, vegetarian, vegan and macrobiotic. Currently, I cook and eat everything, but I approach food with a deep knowledge and understanding of nutrition, the many different approaches to healthy eating and the profound effect that food can have on our health, our mood and our lives.

I recently appeared on Bravo's second season of Top Chef. It was an incredible experience from which I learnt some valuable lessons and made some very dear friends. The pressure and format of a talent-based reality show allows you to learn more about yourself in a short period of time than you could have anywhere else. For viewers it's a thrilling competitive pressure cooker of a show. For us, it is a transformational life experience - from the first elimination to the final winner. Long live Top Chef!

With some exciting new projects coming up on the West Coast, I can now be found in Malibu and Venice Beach, where I am cooking up a storm and stirring up my next culinary adventure. The opportunity and challenge life now offers me is to bring my food concepts to a wider audience - from New York to Los Angeles. I can be in just one kitchen at a time - but I hope eventually to have my food and cooking philosophy in many places.

Happy eating and remember that good food should make you look and feel great!