RED HEN GASTROLAB CHEF

 

Annette "Nettie" Colón has been surrounded by talented cooks for most of her life. Born in New York City and raised in Puerto Rico, Annette spent her formative years learning traditional cooking methods of the island with her Grandmother and her friends. This passion for food has led her to work with talented chefs in Key West, Cape Cod, Boulder, San Francisco, Montreal, Turks Caicos Islands, Wales and England and to culinary adventures through Spain, France, Costa Rica, Panama, Sardinia & Southern Italy.

In the spring of 2000 Annette moved to Minneapolis from Provincetown, Cape Cod, Massachusetts and worked with Chef Lenny Russo at W.A. Frost for a short stint before being offered a position at Lucia’s Restaurant & Wine Bar by Lucia Watson. She was the Chef de Cuisine at Lucia’s until her departure in October 2010 when she decided to found Red Hen Gastrolab, work at Sun Street Breads with owner/ baker Solveig Tofte and teach the history of Mayan cuisine with Mayan Chef Ruben Lopez Ayala in the Biosphere Reserve of Sia’an Ka’an in Tulum, Mexico in the winter.

Annette divides her time between The Lynhall, Red Hen Gastrolab, The Break Room Minneapolis at at The Historic Machine Shop. She spends summers doing Farm Dinners in River Falls, WI, teaching at the Mill City Farmers Market as a Market Chef and holding court as the Camp Chef for Chef Camp Minnesota. She is also a Board Member of the Northern Clay Center.