Background
Vanessa Cantave was born in Washington, District of Columbia, in 1977. Her father served in the United States Army, which resulted in Cantave"s moving around a lot as a child.
Vanessa Cantave was born in Washington, District of Columbia, in 1977. Her father served in the United States Army, which resulted in Cantave"s moving around a lot as a child.
Cantave graduated from James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia, in 1999.
She is of Haitian descent. She lived in Mons, Belgium, until the age of six. Her family then returned to the United States. and lived in various places including Arizona, suburban Chicago, and northern Virginia.
She earned her Bachelor of Arts in political science with a minor in French.
After completing her degree, Cantave worked in several positions in banking, marketing and advertising. She worked at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation in Washington, Doctorate.C, and later the Federal Reserve in Atlanta, Georgia.
She then moved to New York City and accepted a position at the Ogilvy & Mather agency. In 2005, Cantave attended an open house for the French Culinary Institute, where she says she “fell in love.” She decided to quit her job and pursue her passion for food.
Cantave began attending the French Culinary Institute (FCI) in 2005.
While attending FCI, she interned at the Daniel restaurant in Manhattan"s upper east side, where she studied under renowned French chef Daniel Boulud. After graduating as the valedictorian of her class, she began working as a private chef in New York City and shortly thereafter co-founded her own catering company, Yum Yum Chefs, Incorporated. (later changed to Yum Yum Catering and Events).
Based in DUMBO, Brooklyn, Yum Yum offers catering services for private clients and corporations and themed cooking classes.
She has appeared on a number of other television programs, including National Broadcasting Company’s The Today Show.