Julia Helton

Born in Nashville, Julia moved to Memphis in search of Dusty Springfield but was late by a few years. Disillusioned by the age of 6, she left the state after Elvis died. Drifting aimlessly around the country she found solace in regional cuisine And vowed to learn to cook. Iowa offered steak and unbelievable empanadas. It snowed the year she was in Michigan. Oregon hosted the kind of Asian food to which she had never before been privy. Back in the south, she toured North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Tennessee sampling all the kinds of BBQ offered. She spent a year in France under the guise of “student”, but all she really did was pester the little-old-ladies for recipes. Upon returning to the States, she declared herself unfit for school and found a French ex-pat willing to mentor her in the mysterious ways of the Cordon Bleu. After years of training, and a four year tenure under Pano Karatosis in Atlanta, she returned to her home in Nashville. A couple of years later she bought her very own place, The Family Wash, and was content. Soon after, another rock death forced her to reexamine at her life. “James Brown ruined my Christmas!” she wailed. Four months later she sold her little restaurant and opened a catering firm specializing in fantastic affairs for the Nashville music crowd. Sometime later a friend asked her to help guide him though the opening of his now widely-acclaimed deli; he had the idea but not the know how, and voilá thejuliakitchen was born. Specializing in restaurant consulting (concept to completion; turn around; and brand development) she was able to use her wide range of skills to help other realize their dreams.

As it had been a few years since her last move, the feeling struck again; this time the big city beckoned, and Julia moved to Chicago just in time for the Groundhog Day blizzard of 2011. "Whew, I very nearly went my whole life without experiencing a storm of that size!" she exclaimed. One day a friend asked her to help him open a wine and cheese shop, while another friend asked her to take pictures of her delicious pastry, and thejuliakitchen had officially reopened in Chicago.