Hi there! I’m Riley Thompson, a 42-year-old self-taught chef living in Asheville, North Carolina. I grew up in a small town just outside of Minneapolis, where my earliest memories are soaked in the smells of Sunday pot roasts and warm cinnamon rolls cooling on the windowsill. My family wasn’t fancy, but we sure knew how to gather around a table. Food was love, and I learned early on that a good meal could heal just about anything.

I didn’t go to culinary school. Instead, I took the long, winding road through countless cookbooks, late-night YouTube rabbit holes, and a thousand experiments in my tiny apartment kitchen. There were triumphs (my first homemade pasta that didn’t turn to mush!) and disasters (a sourdough starter I killed three times before it finally took). But every flop taught me something valuable, and every success felt like pure magic.

My cooking style? I like to call it “comfort with a twist.” Think mac and cheese laced with smoked paprika and crispy shallots, or chicken pot pie topped with a thyme-scented biscuit crust. I lean into seasonal produce from the local farmers’ market and try to make vegetables the star of the plate more often than not. But don’t get me wrong—I’m also the first to reach for the butter when it feels right.

What drives me more than anything is sharing. Whether it’s a weekend backyard BBQ, a recipe I post online, or a simple dinner for two, I believe food connects us in a way few other things can. I want every home cook to feel empowered, not intimidated. To play, to taste, to trust their instincts.

These days, I spend my time teaching small cooking classes out of my home kitchen, writing recipes for a local food blog, and dreaming up new ways to make everyday meals just a bit more special. I’m not perfect, and I’m certainly not fancy, but I cook with heart. And I hope that when you try one of my recipes, you can taste a little of that joy too.