Celebrity Culinerdy Extraordinaire, Keith Breedlove, was born with a passion for learning and creating special dishes those close to him can enjoy. Along with the typical comic book interests of the average 10 year old boy, a young and awkward Keith was fascinated by his mother's college textbooks and the cooking shows aired on his favorite San Francisco TV station, PBS Channel 9. His childhood heroes weren’t Superman and Batman, but rather Julia Child, Martin Yan, and the Rajin Cajun. He expressed his talent and love for cuisine by preparing weekly spaghetti and marinara lunches for his third grade classmates. During summer breaks he began to collect cook books from different regions of the US that celebrated the local culture and cuisine.

A definitive moment in Keith’s life happened a few years later when his grandfather, and mentor, shared some career forging wisdom with his 15 year old grandson. “Work in a restaurant and you’ll never be unemployed and you’ll never be hungry.” Papa Dale advised
Keith. It has been the direction Chef Breedlove has embraced ever since. Being young and
inexperienced, his start in the Restaurant Industry was as busboy for Baxter’s in Dublin, CA. Keith’s penchant for obscure trivia endeared him to the kitchen crew but it it was his ability to quickly learn and efficiently duplicate cooking techniques that impressed them. During one busy Sunday brunch, a line cook failed to report for the shift. Without hesitation or permission, and with a dreamer’s enthusiasm, Keith grabbed the chance to jump on the line and transformed from busboy to chef within the beautiful kitchen chaos which still captivates him to this day.

After high school graduation, Chef Breedlove was part of the opening crew for the local Carrow’s. He worked double shifts, starting the day as server and ending it as a cook in the kitchen. Support he received from Papa Dale encouraged him to enroll in the Hotel and Restaurant Management Program at Diablo Valley College where he finished at the top of his class. Keith chased his dream of a Music career while supporting himself through various jobs as a cook. Ever the purposeful and driven knowledge connoisseur, Keith pursued positions with opening crews for brand new eateries located all over the Bay Area where he enjoyed digesting the latest styles, techniques, and trends being utilized within the eternally evolving Restaurant industry.

When he became apprentice to Masa Nishiyama at the Hyatt Regency in Downtown Sacramento, he made the choice to put his Rock and Roll aspirations aside and focus solely on the culinary arts. Over the next five years, he earned a BA in Philosophy and graduated from line cook to Sous Chef while working for a Family Italian Restaurant in Pleasanton, CA.

He credits Barone’s Executive Chef for giving him the experience and confidence to create his own recipe for the future and served as both Executive Chef and Executive Sous Chef for several Bay Area conference centers and luxury resorts. In Santa Clara he managed more than 250 crew members who were employed throughout the seven cafes located within Intel’s Global Headquarters where foreign dignitaries and heads of State were frequent welcomed guests.

He developed his artistic expertise carving fruit and ice sculptures while working the high volume of large scale corporate banquets until life changed unexpectedly. Chef Breedlove suffered a debilitating blade wound that required a year of rehabilitation, during which he found work teaching high school thanks to the degree he earned years before. Although receiving several awards for his classroom contributions, the fulfilling chaos of professional kitchens relentlessly called him back. He then spent time as an Executive Chef with Doubletree and consulted for numerous bars and grills. Finally, he was appointed as Corporate Chef for the restaurant group owned by Food Network star, Guy Fieri.

His affection for food and technique plus his yearning for learning led Keith to create his own brand,Culinerdy, which decorates his own Mobile Food Truck today. The Culinerdy Cruzer can regularly be spotted serving delectable custom creations perfected for the residents of California's Capitol City. The legacy of creativity, quality, and enthusiasm that Culinerdy pioneer, Keith Breedlove, worked tirelessly to establish, has earned him the respect and faith of the Sacramento community. He was named the Official Head Chef for the California State Fair in 2015, entrusted with representing California’s agricultural quality and diversity. The Head Chef has been featured on the covers of several publications such as Comstock Magazine, The Sacramento Bee, and San Joaquin Magazine, as well as being the subject of stories found in Sacramento Magazine, The Sacramento News and Review, and California Bountiful. His influence can be credited on TV shows such as Bar Rescue (Spike TV) Food Factory:Night Shift and Man vs Child:Chef Showdown (FYI Network), Guy’s Grocery Games and Cutthroat Kitchen (Food Network), Home and Family (Hallmark), with regular monthly appearances on Sacramento networks CW31 and Fox 40. He will be a guest speaker at this years Farm to Fork Event in addition to giving demonstrations and educational seminars live and via videos found on YouTube.

The head Culi-Nerd aspires to host his own show about Urban farming as he continues to grow the Culinerdy brand. Chef Keith Breedlove has come a long way since those first feasts of Spaghetti and Marinara and definitely isn't quite ready for the check.