Rising Stars: Meet Taylor Carroll of Cumming

Today we’d like to introduce you to Taylor Carroll.

Hi Taylor, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My love for food started as a child. I jokingly say I have the original granola mom, everything was made from scratch and all of our produce was picked up from a local CSA twice a week. Some of my earliest memories are sitting on our kitchen counter helping her prepare dinner.
My dad traveled a lot for work, but whenever he was home he always grilled to give my mom a break from all the cooking. I got obsessed with grilling from an early age and he got me my first Big Green Egg.
I started working in restaurants at 16 as a prep cook to try and learn the ropes then went to KSU to study psychology. 2 years in I realized I liked my restaurant job more; I was also catering BBQ to horse shows on weekends. I changed my plan to start to culinary classes as a minor- honestly knowing the industry a major in psychology and minor in culinary is still useful 🤣
I fell in love with Italian food and wanted to learn more about it, so I started bouncing around staging around Atlanta and Alpharetta. I did the same with other interests like sushi (for the knife work specifically), bread baking, classic pastry, and fine dining. In 2016, Big Green Egg found me online and offered me a job as their chef and lead culinary instructor, I took it and taught classes and corporate events until 2018. I had a cool opportunity to start doing private chef work for celebrities through a friend who was a manager for a musician. The first dinner went so well that I ended up cooking for half the people on attendance (athletes, comedians, and actors). I do also cook for “regular people”, but it has always been through world of mouth, I’ve found you get the best clients that way. I’m not one to photograph or post my events on social media, I think there’s something beautiful about creating a gorgeous event with incredible food with the intention that it’s only for those in attendance. I think the intimacy of people celebrating life milestones and accomplishments together has been a little lost, so I love the chance to preserve it a little.
While I was doing all these events I also began consulting for restaurants and bakeries. I also developed and wrote recipes for many brands and bloggers including hey grill hey, grill girl, big green egg, and live fire republic.
I met David Olson, live fire republic, in 2019 and we quickly became friends. I started joining him to create bespoke live fire cooking events around the country. Whether it’s a trade show for a brand or a private event that we’re hanging meat in a cast iron cage over a fire for, it’s always a great time cooking for the LFR crew.
In 2024 Big Green Egg got a new CEO, Dan, who gave me a call and asked if I would be interested in coming back as a contractor for an internal event every week and leading the corporate events. At the time my daughter was only 4 months old- they said bring her. Honestly, it was the coolest thing ever and if that doesn’t say something about the company culture I don’t know what does. I didn’t bring her super often because my husband is great, but she did make at least a monthly appearance for awhile. I’d wear her on my back in a baby carrier or wrap while I worked. She’s 1.5 now, so she’s joined the “too mobile to be near knives and fire” club along with my 3.5 year old son. I still currently lead a cooking class internally with chef driven menu every Wednesday for them and if you book a corporate event at Big Green Egg culinary center, I am the chef who executes them. I still do private chef work on the side because I truly enjoy being a part of special moments and want an honor it is to be trusted to help make them memorable.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Honestly, my culinary journey has been totally led by my joy for cooking and hunger to learn more, so for me it has been a smooth road.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I specialize in creating bespoke events with customized menus for every client.
I’m most proud of my ability to make just about anything.
What sets me apart is that everything I do is purely for my clients, you’re not going to open instagram and see videos of your home and dog to try and build my business. No hate to those who do that, but I believe in quiet luxury and privacy. I don’t think the world needs to be involved or see into your intimate moments with your family and friends.

How do you think about happiness?
Introducing my kids to new restaurants and types of cuisine brings me joy. I take them to a new restaurant every Saturday. I love seeing them try new things and become adventurous little eaters. I have a 3 year old who could sell out all the toro at a sushi bar.

Gardening also makes me happy, I love everything about the process.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/taylor_carroll__?igsh=cjVueGNiMG9mdmxq&utm_source=qr