Hello and welcome!
We are Jenny, Jimmy, Preston, and Chloe. Here is a little bit about us:
Our story began in Los Angeles. Jenny was in grad school getting her Master’s in Clinical Psychology and Jimmy was working as a cook at Nancy Silverton’s Osteria Mozza. We met in a serendipitous moment at one of those romantic locations you might only find in the movies - a bar. We talked a lot about food and cooking that night, and haven’t slowed down on the topic since.
Fast forward several years later and there was marriage, then a move to Fresno, CA where Jimmy would open the The Annex Kitchen, an Italian restaurant inspired by his travels in Italy and Jenny would draw on her experience as a therapist to enter into private practice.
Somewhere along the line the best thing that had ever happened to us happened and his name was Preston - and then 16 months later another best thing happened except this time it was a girl and her name was Chloe.
Why Umami?
We’re thinking of Umami in the broadest possible sense such as “deliciousness” or something so savory and yummy it just makes you smile. We started joking that our kids were “Umami” kids when we realized that Preston’s favorite breakfast (at 14 months old) was fried rice with egg and soy sauce - he enjoyed it so much it allowed us to throw pretty much any vegetable we wanted in there! (Here’s a few more thoughts on why we are obsessed with Umami)
In short, we believe every home cooked meal has the potential to be delicious - and we’re here to share that with you.
