Born in Ohio, raised in Georgia, and a SoCal local for most of her adult life, Chef Amber is an entrepreneur, spiritually-led chef, author, and owner of two restaurants known as The Source Café in Hermosa and Manhattan Beach, California.
Chef Amber brings unique qualities to her cooking and her career path. She believes that food nourishes us from the inside out, and combines her drive to use food to heal the mind and body with her classical culinary training. Her distinct cooking stems from the quality and, most importantly, the intention she puts into her food.
As someone who knows firsthand the struggles of not being able to eat everything you want due to health restrictions and allergies, Amber doesn’t want people to feel deprived because of their restrictions. Her belief in the rejuvenating and restorative powers of fresh, whole, nutritious food has made her unique artisanal foods restaurants must-stop spaces in her two restaurants located in Hermosa and Manhattan Beach. Each dish she creates is a sexy and healthy take on natural, wholesome foods. Along with her flavorful dishes, she is passionate about sharing her diverse knowledge on the various ways to nourish your mind, body, and soul, with her community. Find Amber on her website HERE.
Welcome everybody, welcome to Spiritual Biz Chat for Spiritual Biz Magazine, and today we have joining us a spiritually-led chef and entrepreneur Chef Amber. Welcome, Amber, thank you for being with us, how are you doing today?
CHEF AMBER: I am doing great and so excited to be here and share my story!Thank you for having me!
It’s a pleasure to have you here, Amber! Could you share the story behind your personal journey down the path to your current life’s purpose and work?
AMBER: My food journey has been a wild one! I have had a dynamic emotional relationship with food since the age of 8 years old. My story is a long emotional one and I actually have a book coming out soon on my relationship with food.
I started having disordered eating and abusing food at a very young age. I started off starving myself, limiting calories by restricting, dieting, over-exercising, purging, and binging. This painful cycle went on for over three decades! I was exhausted and “sick and tired of being sick and tired”.
I was ready for a change and knew there was another way. About 10 years ago, my health took a crash. I had hit my rock bottom. I was overweight, fatigued, addicted to caffeine and sugar, full of inflammation and pain, overly stressed, suffering from hormonal and adrenal challenges, depressed, and overall unhappy. I was so tired of walking around with brain fog, feeling bloated, tired, and feeling insecure in my body.
This is when I finally “woke” up and realized that I had been abusing food my whole life. It was time for a change. I was so desperate to feel better in my body and to find another way of living.
After going through a life-changing spiritual awakening, I was on a mission to heal my body. I was also driven to start to heal my relationship with food and my body. I wanted to start to love the way I feed myself and learn to really love and accept myself and my beautiful body.
First I have to say that if I did not have a spiritual practice of meditation, prayer, journaling, and visualization, I do not believe I would have been able to start to love and accept myself. This is a big part of my story with food. I first had to get into acceptance with my body. Then I started to look at why I was eating. Why was I abusing food? I had to get really honest with myself. This is when the real work started and I was able to start peeling back the layers to see why I had been stuck in this painful cycle of disordered eating.
As I started to heal and really take a look at the causes, anxieties, and traumas that lead me to abuse myself with food, I was then able to start to feed myself with love. This is when I opened up my first restaurant, The Source Café. I opened up my cafe because I was so passionate about helping make a difference in people’s lives through food and to start to heal my body with the powerful healing properties of nourishing food.
This became my new mission on earth. To make a paradigm shift in the world through food. I wanted to make a difference in the way people viewed food and how they ate. I believe that what we put into our bodies matters so much now. We either pay now or pay later.
My creativity as a chef today drives my creations based on what I can and can not eat. I do not ever want to feel deprived when it comes to food! Food is my life and I love food and I love to eat! I want people to get excited when they eat my food. And I want people to feel amazing in their bodies!
Over the years as I have been healing from my disordered eating, I have learned what works best for my body. What works today for me is choosing whole nourishing organic foods. I do not follow any specific diet or put any food rules on myself. That is what I did way too long and got me into trouble. I eat a variety of whole grains, grass-fed bison and beef, eggs, wild seafood, tons of veggies and fruits, seeds, and nuts.
When and how did you know you were ready to open your two restaurants, The Source Café?
AMBER: I now knew that it was time for space where I could share my talents with all. I started to visualize exactly what I wanted daily. And this is when I really was devoted to meditation and breathwork. Through my devotion to a spiritual practice, I stayed in faith that the Universe would deliver in perfect divine timing a cafe where I could make a difference in people’s lives through food.
The Source Café in Hermosa Beach opened up 8 years ago. When I was presented with the opportunity to buy the location, I knew it was the perfect place. It was exactly what I had been visioning in my mediations. It was a scary leap to leave my other restaurant of 10 years and go off on my own, but I knew deep in my soul that this was my way. Everything in my body and heart said YES!
My drive to open The Source came from my desperation to feel better in my body. But also I wanted to help make a difference in people’s lives through food. My creativity to this day is still driven by what I can and can not eat. I never want to be deprived! I love food and food is my life. I want to enjoy food and love how I feel in my body after eating a meal. I believe that we need to pay attention now to what we are putting into our bodies. I do believe that we will pay now or pay later. I am so grateful for my rock bottom and awakening. It has led to a very fulfilling career where I get to make a difference daily in people’s health.
I opened up my second restaurant last July 2020 during Covid in Manhattan Beach. This is the second Source Café. It feels amazing to bring my nourishing beauty to Manhattan Beach. My mission still to this day is to help people love the way they feed themselves and to love their bodies.
Amber, our magazine is committed to making a paradigm shift in the world, and so are you. You classify yourself specifically as a spiritually-led Chef. So how exactly do you integrate your mind, body, and soul connection into your dishes and career overall?
AMBER: When I opened up The Source Café, I knew I wanted to make food with intention. I also wanted to start to pay attention to how important it was for the people preparing the food and their energy. I do believe that my food is special because my employees are also very passionate and understand the importance of putting positive energy and love into every dish. It makes such a difference and my customers can feel it!
When I create a dish, sometimes it just flows. Most of the time, I do not even have to think about what I am creating. Many of my best creations come from a vision during meditation or a breathwork session. And sometimes I do not even remember how I came up with the idea or dish. This is when I know that I am definitely in the flow and I am being divinely inspired.
With my career, I always listen to my intuition and never second guess myself. I always make sure that my YES is a full-body YES. That I feel it in my soul. I lean on my faith and meditation to help me make decisions in my businesses. I also have a practice of journaling and visualization to help me really get clear on what I want to manifest. These tools have been vital in the success of my businesses. And I always try to connect to my inner self when making big decisions. I have learned to pause and slow down and really listen. I keep an optimistic mindset knowing that God and the Universe always have my back. This helps me stay in faith and truth and love the mystery of life.
With the coronavirus pandemic and all this current negative noise around us today, more and more people are turning to lightworkers in their search for peace and comfort. As a chef, can you recommend us some daily, easy meal preparations in directly supporting our body health and inner peace?
AMBER: I do believe that nourishing our bodies with the right foods helps keep our bodies strong and healthy. When I am nourishing my body with the right foods and loving the way I feed myself, I am so much happier, grounded, and calmer. One tool I use is meal prepping. Meal prepping is a top form of self-love and care that I do weekly. Meal prepping brings me peace knowing I am taking care of myself and fueling my body with the right foods.
A couple of favorite meal prep ideas that I love:raw oatmeal for a quick easy breakfast. Raw oatmeal is loaded with protein, healthy fats, and omegas and in a low inflammatory meal. I like to make an adaptogen cacao drink in the morning. This helps calms my nervous system and gives me clean energy throughout the day. I like to make quick nut milk using organic nut butter and blending with water and cinnamon! I use this milk for everything from my raw oatmeals to the adaptogen hot cocoa to smoothies. I think it is important to have ready-to-go snacks like fresh fruit, nuts, hard-boiled eggs, hummus, and my favorite almond butter blueberry oat balls! These all nourish and fuel my body and keep my body supported for optimal health.
What is your ultimate goal with your work? What is your mission? Your dream?
AMBER: My ultimate goal is to make a paradigm shift in the world through food. I want to make a difference in the way people view food and continue to help inspire people to realize what we put in our bodies is so important now. My mission is to help people love the way they feed themselves and to help people love their bodies. I will continue to help inspire people through my restaurants, my books, and by speaking and sharing my story. My dream is to have a healthy fun cooking show so I can reach millions! Another one of my dreams is to have a Chef Amber product line that ships nationally and internationally so everyone can experience The Source Café. I also see more Source Cafés around the world!
Is there a final message you want to let our readers know? Or just any last little words that you have for them?
AMBER: I want to say that if you are wanting to make a change in your health now, make a list of everything you want to change and let go of. Also make a list of what you want to bring in like a meditation practice, more exercise, a meal prep day, more play; pick 3 things and start there. Small changes lead to long-lasting results. When I started my journey towards optimal health, I wanted to do it all at once! But that does not lead to long-lasting changes. Health is such a journey and I am still on it! My intention that keeps me going: to nourish and fuel my body, mind, and soul, to feed myself with love, and to honor my beautiful strong amazing body! This keeps me going! Stay tuned for my 2 upcoming books: HUNGRY Why I F*cking Eat and my cookbook: Sexy Nourishing Foods to fuel your mind and body!
Thank you, Amber, very much! It has been such a pleasure chatting with you today!
AMBER: Thank you so much for having me! It was great chatting with you as well, and I’m honored to be part of and featured within this community! I think it is so important for us all to share our stories so we can all continue to uplift, inspire and support each other! Thank you for letting me share my story with you!
