In 2004, Larisa Slaughter decided to leave her life in academia and public health behind to exercise her true passion: cooking – specifically baking.  Chef Larisa has catered events locally for MAC Cosmetics and Ripple IT and even spent a summer baking in Switzerland. For the last three and a half years she has been in charge of the kitchen at Octane Coffee Bar & Lounge.

She has recently joined the team at JCL Global Culinary as Executive Pastry Chef. JCL works in all facets of the food business including: cooking demonstrations and classes, consulting and kitchen design, along with restaurant and food business marketing. She is happy to be involved JCL's newest venture, Hellcat's Gourmet Goodies, where she will oversee the development and production of the lunches and snack lines.