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“I wanted to move away from that mentality of how restaurants operate,� says Laura Chamberlin, the owner and Executive Chef of Culinary Concepts Southwest. “Just like everything in life, it's good to pay attention to your surroundings, and for me, it's about the long haul and wanting to continue to be inspired and love it and not get burned out. I want that same quality of life for the people that work with me.�

Chamberlin is the owner and Executive Chef at Culinary Concepts Southwest and has worked in numerous award-winning restaurants around the country, including Brix Restaurant and Wine Bar as a founding partner and executive chef. In 2018, she returned to full-time culinary pursuits and opened her catering and weekly meal business. She has since catered many events throughout Northern Arizona and the surrounding areas including weddings, parties, retreats, high-altitude athletic and Olympic training in partnership with HYPO2, commercial production companies like Puma, Kia, Eddie Bauer and more. Her team of collaborators also works to put together farm-to-table dinners, made from scratch with locally sourced ingredients.

Chamberlin’s journey to becoming a chef wasn’t straightforward and it wasn’t always easy. Originally from Tucson, Chamberlin moved to Flagstaff to follow her lifelong dream of becoming a veterinarian and whilst here began working in various restaurants where she put in a lot of work in many hard kitchens, forging a new path.

“I just realized that I had more of a passion for cooking and so I decided to work in a really nice restaurant on the East Coast for a year,� says Chamberlin. “I had to be creative and learn how to work with what was available. I owe a lot of that to my mom. She was great at making something out of nothing. And I told myself that if I still felt that strongly I'd go to culinary school, and I did.�

Chamberlin attended Johnson and Wales in Denver and finished a bachelor’s degree from the University of Colorado Boulder in Environmental Science. During her time working on the East Coast and in Denver, her passion for cooking locally flourished. Under the mentorship of many great chefs such as Eric Skokan, who were constantly attending farmer’s markets and developing connections with local farmers, Chamberlin felt herself drawn to continuing to cultivate relationships with local farms when she returned to Flagstaff.

“Rather than write a menu and then source it, I try to pay attention to what seasons we're in. What's growing, what's available?� says Chamberlin. “I try to do that by keeping in touch with farmers going to the markets. Sometimes it's easier said than done when you're quite busy.

But now that I have this wonderful team, I can spend more time focusing on that. I just feel like good ingredients create great food.�

In 2004, she returned to Flagstaff and felt something was missing. Inspired by her travels and work in various kitchens, she wanted to create a space where locally sourced food drove her culinary vision and helped open Brix with Paul and Laura Moir. She strengthened relationships with local farms, working to cultivate farm-to-table practices sustainably. She’s a big advocate of farm to restaurant.

A few years later Chamberlin left her full-time position and pivoted to private cheffing in the wintertime and took on the role of a food manager for Canyon Explorations, before becoming a full-time river guide. She circled back to culinary more full-time around 2016 after being contacted to cater for HYPO2. Lexi Striker of Sugar Mama’s rented out her kitchen to Chamberlin and the two have been collaborating ever since. Eventually, Chamberlin’s service became so popular she outgrew the shared space and moved into her own commercial kitchen.

“I wanted something that didn't pigeonhole the business into one lane. This [concept] gives us leeway to be adaptable and Southwest because we do some work out of state, and to also incorporate the regionality of the food trying to work with farms from the region,� says Chamberlin.

Culinary Concepts Southwest curates a variety of cuisines, with as much local produce and protein as possible. They work directly with clients to create personalized menus or brainstorm together what works best led by Chamberlin’s culinary expertise. In the past few weeks of the summer, Chamberlin has been on-site for multiple days for several events and retreats. She has specifically designed a trailer based on her experience in river guiding and in commercial kitchens to be able to go off the grid for lengthy durations. Weekly meals showcase restaurant-quality food that can easily be taken home and heated, serving up vibrant and fresh flavors with something for everyone.

Chamberlin began including her weekly meal service alongside her catering during pandemic restrictions, where many of her contracted clients decided to withhold their events, many of them Olympic athletes set to train for the 2020 Olympics. At a time when many restaurants were also forced to think outside of the box, this service allowed her to continue to create restaurant-quality food without a physical restaurant. Her team includes a full-time marketer and an additional professional chef and collaborates with local chefs and businesses like Sugar Mamas, AZ Sunshine Kitchen and Just Delivered.

“I think the camaraderie of kitchens is something that drew me in pretty quickly and keeps me going back. We have a team and I feel like we all really depend on each other and that's inspiring to have that,� says Chamberlin. “So to me, the community aspect is really important and trying to make our town a better place to live and still keeping it with a local feel. I hope to continue to see Flagstaff evolve as this culinary destination known for great food and see local farms continue to thrive while maintaining our small town feel as we continue to grow.�

Culinary Concepts Southwest is located in East Flagstaff and offers an array of catering options, farm-to-table dinners and weekly meals. It is a space she shares with her collaborators for pickups from Wildheart Farms and Sugar Mama’s. You can contact Chamberlin or learn more via her website.