By Susan Gemson

Kathy Casey wears a rainbow of many different chef hats that span her 25-year culinary career. She chose food as a means to support herself early on.

“It’s a great medium to work with and it is artistically satisfying,” Casey said.

Her roots in cooking have her making cookies while growing up and helping her grandmother do the canning.

So, what’s her greatest achievement in her culinary and mixology career.

“In the 80’s,” Casey mused, “I was named the top chef in the United States. I also got a Small Business Award from Food and Wine magazine.”

It also named Casey one of their hottest new American chefs. She now has nine cookbooks to her name, the most recent aptly titled,” Sips and Aps.”

If you want to find Casey and company, you’d best head toward 5130 Ballard Avenue, “deep in the heart of Ballard.” Her headquarters answers to, “Kathy Casey’s Food Studios and Liquid Kitchen.” It has been there for 12 years, representing a mix of retail and industrial.

In laymen’s terms, her Food Studios is in charge of food, beverage, and concept consulting. She does 90 percent consulting to earn her daily bread.

Yet, Casey does not run her business alone. Her husband, John, has helped her fulltime with the financial and legal aspects of her food business

Casey is going international, with her Food Studios having as a client the Fairmont Hotel and Resort chain. She admits to creating a cocktail program for the places she will travel to, which include Egypt, Dubai, China, and the United Arab Emirates.

Casey positively bubbled about her retail stores, “Dish D’lish. Sea-Tac Airport houses two of these stores, which actually are cafes.

“One of these is past security and the other is pre-security,” Casey notes.

Both have food to go. Business is brisk there, with receipts up by 25 and 23 percent, over the past two years

How about some advice for beginning cooks who desire to make cooking their profession.”

“Cooking is a great profession,” she said with a smile. “There is a great cooking school at Seattle Central Community College and at the Seattle Art Institute.”

And, would she do it all again? Casey enthusiastically replied, “Absolutely!”

Visit her on the Web at www.kathycasey.com.

Susan Gemson lives in Bellevue.