29 Jan Emerging Chefs – Rehival

Feature Story from June 29, 2011

Chef Kimberly McCune’s roots are planted deeply in the memory of her Geauga County childhood, where her parents established early, lasting, and intertwining beliefs on the nature of food and community.

Daughter of a beekeeper, McCune witnessed firsthand the interdependence of the land and it’s people when she visited the Amish farmers who leased beehives for orchard pollination. As a student at the Auburn Career Center, she was supported by the community with scholarship awards that allowed her to train in classical European cuisine at the CIA in Hyde Park, New York.

Grateful for this community support and respect of the fresh local products, in which she was raised, Kimberly has gained a pointed urgency to give something back. She now champions the “Farmer to Restaurant” and “Pasture to Plate” causes and is a strong supporter of independent restaurant operators everywhere.

A veteran of Classics, Moxie, Red, One Walnut, and Loretta Paganini’s ICASI, she has now partnered in a new venture, Vine & Dine which specializes in catering and personal chef services.

A new project, ReHive Ale has also become a passion which links Kimberly’s childhood hobby of beekeeping with her father to her growing business. Her modesty about her cuisine masks deep passion and talent for her art, and understates the forces that give it character and expression.