about Chef Andréa

Private chef, cookbook writer, and food historian Andrea Lawson Gray began her journey in New York City’s Little Italy. For more than 20 years, she has prepared meals in the kitchens of San Francisco, Paris, Puerto Rico, and "at the side of my Peruvian and Caribbean family, my best friend who is an amazing Mediterranean home cook. But, more than anything... 

… my cooking style has been informed by that of Mexico, where I fell in love with the old world techniques: the time taken to grind spices with a mortar and pestle, toast seeds and chiles on a comal, working the masa to make tortillas by hand— honoring the ingredients, coaxing out the flavors... These techniques lend themselves beautifully to the locally-sourced, organic ingredients we are blessed with in the SF Bay Area;".

bio

Chef Andréa Lawson Gray has 20 years’ experience as a private chef with a focus on Modern Mexican cuisine; and is the founder of Private Chefs of the SF Bay. Before becoming a chef, Lawson Gray had a long and distinguished career in branding and marketing, working with Fortune 500 companies.

Andréa Lawson Gray has used her platform as a food writer to illuminate the richness of Latino culture, history, and cuisine. Her work includes Caribbean Cocktails: Mixed Drinks and Bites from the Afro-Latino Diaspora (with chef Nelson German, Ten Speed Press, forthcoming August 2025); the James Beard Award–nominated Convivir: Modern Mexican Cooking in California’s Wine Country (with chef Rogelio Garcia, Abrams, September 2024); and her first book, Celebraciones Mexicanas: History, Traditions and Recipes (with Adriana Almazán Lahl, Rowman & Littlefield, 2013), which is held in more than 350 libraries worldwide, including at Harvard and Cambridge. From 2012 to 2016, she also wrote a top-rated column on Mexican cuisine for Examiner.com, where she ranked #5 among 130 columnists.

our team

Chef de Cuisine Baptiste Maillet is classically trained in France, obtaining a Baccalaureate in Hotel & Culinary Technology., after which he interned at the Ritz Carlton in Abu Dhabi, worked as Chef de Partie at Baroniet Rosendal in Norway and then spent a year at The Langhan in London, starting as Chef de Partie and leaving as a Junior Sous Chef. For the past 3 years, Maillet has been a Sous Chef at Mademoiselle Colette in Menlo Park and then at Fleur de Cocao in Los Gatos.

Team Leader James Lucas brings his experience as a production and event manager in fine dining service and upscale catering at some of the Bay Area’s most reputable companies, including BiRite Market, Fork & Spoon Productions, and Elaine Bell Catering, where he was responsible for logistics, staffing, and event coordination. His creative eye shows itself in our Cheesemonger & Butcher Boards, table settings and live runners.

Commis Chef Karla Cristina has been working side-by-side with Chefs Baptiste and Andréa for the past 2 years and is responsible for our cooking classes.