Natalie Kalb
Director of Marketing and PR
The combination of aromas from the cooking of her Jewish grandmother and the foods of her native Mexico seduced Natalie Kalb into the kitchen at a very early age. At age 10 she was already spending long hours making tortillas, salsas, and baking cookies.
Her interest in all aspects of food only grew stronger as the years passed, making her decision to pursue a degree in nutrition a very easy one. She entered Universidad Iberoamericana (Mexico) in 1995 and obtained a degree in Nutrition and Food Service in 2000. Throughout her formative college years she dedicated countless hours researching Jewish and Mexican cuisines, which led her in 1998 to study Mexican Culinary Arts and expand her cooking skills. Simultaneously, she supervised the Mexican Arts Department and assisted the director of the Mexican Gastronomy Festival in Mexico City. During that same time, Kalb also worked at the prestigious event center Ambrosia, a large catering company, which expanded her experience in sales and event planning.
In 2001 Kalb moved to New York City to take her education to the next level. She enrolled in the Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health program at New York University, where she graduated with a Master’s of Arts in Food Studies. In addition to the required coursework, she assisted the coordinator of Food Studies with research in various topics and contributed to the department’s student life by hosting cooking classes and developing the student newsletter. Her commitment and work to this field led to awards from the American Institute of Food and Wine and the Samuel Eshborn Service award for extraordinary service.
Upon graduating from NYU, Kalb’s exploration propelled her into Slow Food USA, a non-profit educational organization dedicated to preserving cooking traditions while sustaining the environment, where she worked in the marketing, membership, and event planning department.
After several valuable years in the non-profit world, she began her foray into the private sector by working with chef Richard Sandoval, a renowned chef with 12 restaurants worldwide. Kalb’s role as the Marketing Director for the New York City restaurants amplified the business status and media visibility, increasing revenue and setting the company’s standards for future growth.
In 2008, Kalb was recruited by Mercadito Restaurants to become the Marketing and Development Director, with responsibilities such as promotions, special events, programming, and training, among others. Simultaneously, she received two scholarships from Les Dames D’Escoffier and Women Chefs and Restaurateurs to enroll in The Institute of Culinary Education’s Pastry and Baking Arts program, where she graduated from in 2009.
In her free time you can find her at different green markets around the city, designing websites, or running in Central Park.
