Monica Woodford Cobb loves food. She loves to cook it, eat it, and above all, share it. She comes by her passion honestly, from a long line of foodies and craftspeople. Her family had a grist mill, charcuterie, popcorn farm, and a peanut farm. Monica was taught a respect and appreciation for food and where it comes from.
Monica moved from the small southeast Texas town of Kirbyville to Los Angeles in 1998 to study the culinary arts. She was hired as a line cook at Spago Hollywood under the direction of Wolfgang Puck and Gina DeCew Moi. She was then awarded a scholarship to West Lake Culinary School under Cecelia De Castro.
After her time at Spago, Monica worked as a private chef, commercial food stylist, and chef at Burning Man for a group of 100 festival attendees. After Burning Man, she made her way to Cairo, Egypt. There she was the chef of a 1901 river steamboat on the Nile.
Monica eventually moved back to southeast Texas and married local artist, John Cobb in 2004. Eight years and two children later, Monica started pop-up "Renegade Dinners."
Once a month she would host a private dinner where everything served was "wild caught, shot, and foraged." This paved the way for Banh Mon Renegade Street Food food trailer where she launched her specialty Banh Mon sandwiches and salads.
Now you can find Monica in the kitchen of her first brick-and-mortar restaurant. Regular features include grass-fed beef from Rachel Wilson of Wild Earth Texas and fresh local vegetables from Donna's Farm. Together they seek to create awareness and understanding of the importance of sustainably raising animals and of organic farming.
