Lala Ziemski | Tastemade

Chef Lala loves food! Cooking it, talking about it, traveling to get it, eating it…if there is one way to connect with people, it’s through food and that’s what she loves. Lala began cooking in Los Angeles and her style is rooted in seasonal & farmer’s market driven dishes. She believes when you have beautiful Ingredients, you don’t necessarily need to gussy the food up to make it taste amazing. Having learned this opening famed restaurant Gjelina in 2008, it has been her mantra ever since. Food can be simple. Food can be fun! And food should be delicious! Who says you need 35 ingredients, 4 different techniques, a complicated recipe and a foam? Beautifully plated and family style is her favorite way to present a dish. Her specialities range from Californian cuisine to Mediterranean, grilling slabs of meat to plant based meals and exploring the cuisines of places she has traveled to over and over again (particularly Mexico & Thailand; her favorites). She loves teaching so many different types of food, grilling meats, to beautiful French dishes, veggies that won’t just want to be sides, seafood inspired by the caribbean & Mexico, and desserts to have in your back pocket for those who hate baking 😉

Lala owns a small hotel and restaurant on the caribbean side of Panama on the island of Bocas Del Toro called The Firefly. She created/built it in 2012 and spent three years living there and immersing herself in the culture. Her restaurant focuses on locally available ingredients and seafood and draws from caribbean influences. Now traveling back and forth between there, Los Angeles and Nyc, her career has moved into the food tv world. In 2017, she was lucky enough to travel with Food Network and film a pilot called Hungry For Paradise. In 2019, she was a resident food/travel correspondent on Los Angeles Morning show “Carlos & Lisa” Currently, you can find her on the new So Yummy Network show HOT MESS EXPRESS as a resident chef/food judge. When not private cheffing in NYC & LA, she is throwing pop up events, curating dinners and teaching cooking classes. She can’t wait to interact & share her passion with you while cooking. @ohheylala