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    About

    Hi, I'm Gen, the professional chef and certified food nerd behind Two Cloves Kitchen. Here you'll find contemporary California-inspired recipes packed with bold flavor.

    I'll share my culinary knowledge, tips, and tricks to help you utilize your equipment and ingredients to their fullest potential for the most flavorful, well-executed dishes possible.

    A couple stands in front of the ocean with a ship in the background.

    I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, the youngest of two. My older brother and I helped our dad grow and harvest gardens teeming with heirloom tomatoes, peppers, lettuces, corn, cucumbers, and fresh herbs. We made our own pickles with constantly revised recipes, carefully tuning the proportions of salt and dill to create the perfect bite.

    I loved cooking in the kitchen with my family, learning how to sauté Swiss chard, make marinara from scratch, or fry a perfect chicken cutlet. I learned French flavors from my mother, too: wine sauces, delicate herbs. These flavors are the basis of the recipes I create for you – bold, fresh, rooted in classical flavors but decidedly modern.

    In addition to developing recipes, I am a health coach and a culinary coach, meaning I can help you make measurable healthy changes in your life as well as teach you meal planning and kitchen skills. If you're interested, sign up for a discovery call or check out my full service list.

    Badge displaying "IIN Health Coach (INHC)" with a red border and a small graduation cap icon at the bottom.

    You can also check out my meal planning service, Meal Planning Pro.

    I am a contributor to the online publication Food Drink Life and have been quoted in major publications like Food & Wine, Woman's World, Homes & Gardens, Lose It!, DeliveryRank, Eat This, Not That! and Chowhound.

    There’s a joke on the Italian side of my family: if a recipe calls for one clove of garlic, we will undoubtedly use two, or three, or eight. It’s with this spirit of flavor-forward cooking that Two Cloves Kitchen takes ordinary meals and reimagines them in innovative and delicious ways.

    Let me teach you how to make impressive, enticing meals for your friends, your family, or just yourself, so you'll never have a boring meal again.

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    Photo shows chef Gen La Rocca,  a woman with blonde hair styled in a side braid, wearing a blue sweater and yellow apron.

    Hi, I'm Gen! Welcome to Two Cloves Kitchen. I am a professional chef, lifelong recipe creator, writer, and editor. As a native Californian and a major food lover, I am constantly developing new California-inspired dishes with bold flavor to share with you here on the site.

    More about me →

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      Hearty Marinara Sauce Recipe
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      Quick and Easy Pickled Serrano Peppers

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