Chef  Debbie O’Connor graduated with an Associate of Applied Science degree from the School of Culinary Arts at Chicago’s Kendall College in 2004.  She also holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Marketing from Loyola University Chicago.

Debbie advanced her culinary career in the summer of 2004 at Perspectives Charter School undertaking an initiative to create a healthy school nutrition environment for Perspectives students that promotes positive nutrition choices. Part of that initiative included breaking away from the lunch program delivered by the Chicago Public Schools food vendor, designing and building its own kitchen, and staffing the kitchen to prepare healthy nutritious meals. She has been interviewed on both ABC and NBC’s local news regarding this initiative and has been sited as a resource for improving school lunch programs in Morgan Spurlock’s “Don’t Eat this Book”.  She has continued this work in the Healthcare Industry and presently at Stonebridge of Gurnee.

Born and raised in Chicago, Debbie, her husband and two children, reside in Evanston, IL. She of course…enjoys cooking with her family and creating new recipes and spice mixes.