After graduating from college, the bad economy encouraged Lindsay Kinder to accept her first grownup job: selling life and disability insurance with a large corporation. Instead of pursuing her childhood dream of learning to cook in France, she spent the next chapter of her life folding into the corporate world. But after five years, she realized her boss’s job didn’t excite her.

Lindsay's A-HA! moment came when she wondered what her 10-year-old self would think about corporate happy hours and fancy pantsuits. She knew she would ask her grownup self, “Why haven’t you gone to France yet?” She couldn’t shake that little voice in her head, so she left her job and steady paycheck, packed a 60-pound, bright magenta rolling suitcase, and flew to Paris, letting the Universe take care of the rest.

During her first month in France, she studied under Susan Herrmann Loomis, a renowned authority on French cooking. While living in her 14th-century home in Louviers, Lindsay assisted her with tastings and dinner parties and helped test recipes for Susan's latest cookbook, In a French Kitchen.

Outside the village, she harvested and sold produce at the farmers market with Baptiste, an organic farmer, who daily delivers vegetables and fruit to Michelin-starred restaurants. While working on a foie gras farm, she learned about French country cooking and preparing pâté and foie gras; she foraged for mushrooms, harvested walnuts, and preserved and canned apricots for winter confit.

In the fall she headed to the organic, biodynamic French winery, La Gramière, for their vendange (wine harvest), where the vintners explained the art of winemaking and the perfect moment to harvest grapes. She studied the mystery of French confections at Gastronomicom, a cooking school on the Mediterranean, perfecting her technique with the classic macaron. And during the last month, she studied under master chefs in the fervent kitchen of Le Cordon Bleu in Paris.

Lindsay now lives in San Francisco, where she teaches people all over the world to cook through the FOOD LA LA COOKING CLUB, and hosts unique food and cocktail experiences for corporate events. She created the French Macaron Kit and masterclass in January 2021.