Kate
Chef · Founder · Community Builder
Food should not discriminate.
CIA Graduation · New York
The journey
Kate was born in Korea. Learned English in California. Moved to New York to study philosophy — and somewhere between feeding people and watching their faces change, fell into food.
She graduated from the Culinary Institute of America — one of the most demanding culinary schools in the world. The same hands that once reached for Aristotle were learning to plate.
CIA Graduation Ceremony · New York
Wine Studies · New York
The day everything began
New York to Melbourne — by satellite
Getting back into the US after CIA didn't go the way she planned. She told them honestly she wanted to chase her dreams there. They told her not to come.
So she and her husband took a long honeymoon to Melbourne instead. He had been watching it on Google satellite — impressed by the buildings, the possibility of it.
It looked like a country town to me. But that's what I loved. It felt like opportunity.
With my professor · New York
They were, as Kate puts it, simple people making a simple decision. That simplicity built something that lasted.
Ten years. One kitchen. Everything changed.
The path
Korea
Born and raised. The beginning of everything.
California
Learned English. First taste of a world bigger than home.
New York
CUNY — Philosophy. Then food found her instead.
CIA
Culinary Institute of America. Graduated. Toques in the air.
CMS
Court of Master Sommeliers. Introductory Sommelier Course · United States.
Melbourne
Honeymoon. Never really left. Chick In — 10 years of Korean fried chicken.
2020
COVID. Second child. Five years of waking before dawn, making things, waiting.
Now
Tiki Taka Melbourne. Stories, gifts, gatherings — and food that doesn't discriminate.
The dinner that started everything
A close friend called. His sister was visiting from London — the whole family wanted to gather, and they wanted Kate to cook. No budget limit. Just cook.
At the table was her friend's brother. He has a disability.
Kate cooked. She served. She watched the family eat. And something she had never thought before arrived quietly —
Just because I'm not uncomfortable doesn't mean their life isn't. This family — going out to eat — how many limits do they carry that I've never had to think about?
Food should never discriminate. But for so many people, the table already has. That night, Tiki Taka found its reason.
What she's building
Tiki Taka is a community platform — interviews, events, gifts, cooking classes. A way of connecting Melbourne people to each other.
But underneath all of it is one belief Kate has carried since culinary school — that the skills of a fine dining kitchen belong at every table. Not just the ones with white tablecloths.
Fine dining should be for everyone. Tiki Taka is just closing the gap.
Catering · Melbourne — Fine dining, every table
Be part of it
This is your table too. Pull up a chair.
TikiTaka is built by the community, for the community. If you have a story worth telling, a skill worth sharing, or simply want to be in the room — we want to hear from you.
Be interviewed
You have a story. Let us tell it.
Join an event
Come to a gathering. Meet someone new.
Share your gift
A maker, a product, a story to share.
Cook with us
NDIS, private dining, catering.
No formal process. No application form. Just reach out — we'll take it from there.
