The award-winning culinary experience she has created at Jill’s Kitchen melds her love of cooking with her appreciation for her customers—and how they feel about food.

Jill’s reputation for an ability to devise dishes that are at once healthy and unique, has led to an appreciative and loyal customer base. “I love interacting with people, making them happy and working with food,” she notes.

“I can pair the person with the food,” Jill says. It’s the kind of sensitivity that led readers of her hometown newspaper, The River Reporter, to consistently vote Jill’s Kitchen “Best Caterer.” Her passion for pleasing palates produces the kind of food that people remember fondly—and tell others about.

As a caterer, Jill is responsive, collaborative and organized. As a person, Jill is fun, energetic and kind. Customers tend to become friends because her enthusiasm for what she does infuses her food with a sensibility that is both classy and comfortable.

Jill discovered her passion for cooking as a teen with working parents. Using whatever food was on hand, she began experimenting with new combinations, trying recipes in cookbooks and inventing some of her own in the process.

A stint at the historic Peggy Runway Lodge in Narrowsburg taught her about the food service industry and she honed her skills cooking extensively for high school functions Richmond Hill, NY.

As an adult, Jill found herself feeding people in Geneseo, NY; Cincinnati, OH and Tucson, AZ as she sampled life in other parts of the country. In the early 80’s, she began working with soon-to-be mentor Marcia Dunsmore of the renowned Settlers Inn in Hawley, PA.

In 1988, Jill assumed ownership of the Midtown Café’ in Narrowsburg, and renamed it the Chatterbox Café. Her menus satisfied a varied customer base with tastes that ranged from meat and potatoes to vegetarian and low-fat cuisine. Jill sold the successful business in 1992 to devote more time to raising her young son, Evan.

Jill’s entrepreneurial spirit came into play as she realized that homeowners, businesses and vacationers in the region needed quality food for casual gatherings and catering for significant events. She began planning the launch of Jill’s Kitchen. Friends and acquaintances urged her onward, having experienced the quality of her cooking.

Today, Jill’s Kitchen is an outstanding community business, due in part to the fact that Jill truly understands food—and takes great satisfaction in connecting with the people who enjoy it.

Whether packed up for an impromptu picnic, relished at one of the region’s many special events or taken in tandem with fantastic tunes at the Bethel Woods Center for the Performing Arts under a starlit sky, Jill’s food is a satisfying and soulful expression of her love for what she does. In a word—it’s “Jillicious!”