Eli was raised in New York City in a vegetarian, Jewish-Italian household, and for every problem there was THE solution: food! Communal cooking was used to connect, problem-solve, nourish, and celebrate. As a public school student, he saw firsthand the chasm between what food could be and what it was, what was served at home and what was offered in the cafeteria. He was always interested in seeing what the school lunch program could be with the proper investment and support. 

Cooking and hospitality have remained Eli’s primary interests. He cooked in restaurants over summer breaks from Tufts University, where he studied Psychology, and then dove in deeper post-graduation, branching out into beer and wine, management, chef roles, and most recently, restaurant consulting. 

At CAF, Eli is thrilled to work as the California School Food Operations Specialist, supporting school food professionals, encouraging local procurement, and keeping money in the community.

In his free time, you can catch Eli growing food and flowers, juggling multiple books, cooking for loved ones, walking to the local library, playing pickleball, organizing for racial, gender, and economic justice, and dreaming of abolition.