A Culinary Adventure Begins: Chef Katrina Parsley Joins Gladfelter's Team
Eli Styles | November 8, 2023
Warren Wilson College (WWC) recently welcomed new Executive Chef Katrina Parsley to their ranks of Gladfelter employees.
Originally from central New York, Parsley grew up with a passion for cooking. She took a mandatory cooking class in sixth grade and immediately fell in love with it. From then on she decided that she would be a chef, just like chefs she had watched on television such as Wolfgang Puck.
In seventh grade, she found out that there was a culinary school close to her parent’s house and set her mind on going there. The school was the Culinary Institute of America (CIA). At the time Parsley did not know that it was ranked second in the world for culinary schools.
Despite the CIA’s prestigious reputation, Parsley was accepted and thrived at the institution.
“It was not like regular college at all,” Parsley said. “I mean, it gave me kind of the college experience. I remember I lived on campus the first semester because we had breakfast class and we had to be in class at three a.m. because we had to be serving breakfast to the regular students by six.”
With a new class every three weeks, Parsley was kept busy for the 21 months she spent at the CIA obtaining her associate degree.
Prior to coming to WWC, Parsley was the executive chef at Pfeiffer University. Both Pfeiffer and WWC have accounts with Sodexo, a company that provides various services including food service. Parsley had come up to WWC to help out with homecoming, which led the Sodexo district manager to ask her to take the opening executive chef position at the college.
For Parsley, the change was welcome.
“I love the mountains, so I was excited to be back in the mountains again,” Parsley said. “I love Warren Wilson. I’ve only been here about three weeks now, but I feel like I fit in. I feel like I’m part of the team, like the philosophies and mentalities of the students and staff here at this school fit me better than at Pfeiffer.”
Many of WWC’s core values, such as recycling and farm-to-table cooking, resonate with Parsley.
“I’m really into exploring vegetarian and vegan foods, even though I’m not vegetarian or vegan,” Parsley said. “But I like that food, and I want to be able to take it to the next level so that meat eaters can be like ‘Oh wow, that was vegetarian? That was really good!’”
One of Parsley’s preferred dishes to make is one that she made for Kitchen Cameo Day on Nov. 8, 2023. Her red bean kiev — a vegetarian version of chicken kiev — was a hit with the students.
“That’s my favorite dish,” Parsley said. “But because of the school I went to I get a lot of French influence in my food. I can cook pretty much anything [though]. Honestly, my favorite thing to do is to walk into [a] kitchen and see what’s on hand and make something with it. That’s my favorite form of cooking.”
Parsley says that students may notice some minor changes to the menu in Gladfelter in the coming months.
The new chef is excited to be at WWC. Though it has been a change to adjust to, she is finding the experience of working at the college to be rewarding.
“It’s hard not to love what I’m doing here,” Parsley said. “I’m working a lot of hours, and yes I’m tired when I get home, but I’m happier here. I hope that’s being reflected in what you guys are seeing in our food.”
Parsley has been cooking for 27 years now and does not plan to stop any time soon. Outside of work, she has two cats — Oliver and Odysseus — and loves to read and play tabletop games.
“I love what I do,” Parsley said. “And I’ve spent a lot of my life dedicating it to food.”
To contact Katrina Parsley, find her in Gladfelter or email her at katrina-parsley@warren-wilson.edu.