After 30 years of corporate life as a Senior Packaging Design Engineer and owning two of his own businesses, Chef Jay D. Allen took his long-time love of cooking to the next level. He studied recreational cooking for a year with Chef Donna Crivello of Donna’s restaurants in Baltimore and most recently Cosima at the Mill; then began training professionally as a chef at one of the nation’s top ten culinary schools – L’Academie de Cuisine in Gaithersburg, MD. Jay graduated with honors – gaining both the President’s Award and “The Culinary Trust” Scholarship. He completed his externship at Tersiguel’s French Country Restaurant in Ellicott City, MD. Upon graduation, he spent a year at The Buttery in Lewes, DE.
Jay then applied to and used his scholarship to attend The Italian Culinary Institute in Calabria, Italy; where he attained a Masters in Italian Culinary with 18 chef’s from around the world, graduating in the top of his class.
Chef Jay returned to Rehoboth Beach, DE where he was part of the opening team for Restaurant a(Muse), working with Chef Hari Cameron, a three-time James Beard award nominee. He worked with the a(Muse) team for the next four summers as Garde Manger and personal chef. During that time, Jay was also a casual employee of Blue Moon Catering. In the summer of 2015, he worked with Brenton Wallace to open Crust & Craft.
Jay has decided to pursue his passion for teaching and personal services by opening The Elegant Plate. He is excited to bring his blend of French and Italian training into your home for an experience in fine dining, one normally reserved for high-end restaurants.
Jay received Certification’s from The Rouxbe Culinary School in Culinary Rx and Professional Plant Based Cooking.
Chef Jay is Serv-Safe Qualified, licensed, insured and is a Member of the United States Personal Chef Association (USPCA).
