CIA Alumni Bio
As food stylist and owner of Gourmet Butterfly Media & Special Events, Kersti Bowser provides food, prop styling services, and catering for special events, chef book tours, culinary demos, and television. But prior to her foodservice career, Kersti was involved in an entirely different kind of “styling.”
Fashion and Travel
Discovered on the subway at the age of 16 by an editor from Seventeen magazine, Kersti became a top fashion model in the 1980s, a profession she would pursue for 12 years. “It was a dream job,” says Kersti. “I traveled all over the world and met lots of interesting people.” She graced the cover of numerous magazines and was named by Revlon as one of the most beautiful women in the world.
Amid all the glitz and glamour, Kersti harbored a secret passion. “While all the other girls were reading fashion magazines and shopping I was reading cookbooks and hosting dinner parties,” she says. “When I traveled to foreign locales I spent all my free time hitting the streets to see what kind of crazy food was out there.”
Food and History
That love of food began at an early age for Kersti. “I’ve always had a deep love of food. I love the history behind it, the culinary methods, and the origin of indigenous dishes. I happily spent part of every year visiting my grandparents who lived in the mountains of Sweden,” Kersti recalls. “My grandmother made everything from scratch, often on her wood-burning stove. We would forage for mushrooms and pick blueberries, cloudberries, and raspberries while hiking through deep forests. There was always fresh fish and wild game. I still go back every year where my family has a cottage.”
The CIA was Right for Me
In the late 1990s, Kersti was living in Europe with her own thriving business—a mail-order company selling healthy alternatives in specialty foods and organic cosmetics, as well as retail stores located in three health spas in Sweden. While on a visit home she accompanied her mother to a luncheon in the Escoffier Restaurant at The Culinary Institute of America. “As I walked on the grounds and saw the students, I thought ‘This is me.’ I just knew it. I felt in my heart that I was going to be a student. It was a calling. Within a year I sold everything and was back in New York enrolled at the school.”
“It was the best decision I have ever made,” Kersti says. “It changed me, clarified me, and made me strong. I learned so much at the CIA, the most important being mental mise en place. Have everything in its place; be one step ahead; work hard with a solid, honest attitude; taking on tasks and physical work; and always paying extra attention to detail.”
Food Network and Food Styling
It was on internship that Kersti was first introduced to food styling. “I had an interview at the Food Network. The crew was in the process of moving to their second location on the west side and they asked me if I could lift boxes. I said yes and they said you’re in. That was my ‘banana peel.’ I slid into the job. At the Food Network, everything was new and you could feel something was happening. There was a sense of excitement and energy. I learned so much every day,” recalls Kersti. She worked her way up the ranks with a can-do attitude and a zest for learning.
The CIA Difference
Today Kersti is proud to be a CIA graduate. She was instrumental in pulling the culinary team together to support Iron Chef and fellow alumna Cat Cora ’95 for two seasons on the popular Food Network show, and they remain dear friends. “There is a kinship among CIA grads that stays with you in your career. There is a clear difference in students who come out of the CIA versus other schools. There’s a real work ethic and preparedness,” says Kersti. “The truth is you have to go to culinary school, you have to learn the basics. And if you want to go to culinary school, I say bar none, go to the CIA. It’s worth every single penny. It will be your ticket to anywhere you want to work.” Chef Kersti Bowser majored in culinary arts at The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY. She is the owner of Gourmet Butterfly Media & Special Events in Red Hook, NY.