Tasia Malakasis, president and head cheesemaker, Belle Chevre, Elkmont, Ala.
First food-related job?I worked in a gourmet-to-go deli under a French-trained chef in order to get the experience and recommendations I needed to get into the Culinary Institute of America.
Where did you learn to make cheese?When I found out about Belle Chevre, I bugged the founder to teach me how until she let me into the creamery to learn first-hand.