My Mission

My passion for cooking and desire to help others is rooted in my belief that food has the power to connect us with our bodies, our families, our community, and our planet. It is my mission to help my clients build and strengthen healthy relationships with food by making delicious and nutritious home cooked meals more accessible. I understand that meal planning, grocery shopping, and cooking at home takes time and energy and can be challenging to manage for busy individuals and families. I am committed to creating customized menus using the highest quality whole, unprocessed ingredients so that my clients know the path their food traveled to get to their plate, and the clean, confident hands that put it there. I believe that eating well is an essential part of living a healthy balanced life, and that home cooked food brings comfort and joy. I am here to help achieve that, one meal at a time.

Laurel Cruz

Home Chef & Founder of Bay Laurel Kitchen

I am a wellness advocate, culinary instructor, and home chef in Chicago. I grew up in rural Northern California, where I was raised on a small organic farm. My parents sold their produce at local farmers markets and restaurants, and it was during those formative years of my childhood that I learned about my own connection to food, how it is grown, and how to cook. I went on to work in the restaurant industry for years, picking up culinary skills and knowledge along the way (including a month of cooking courses throughout Thailand), before moving to New York City to pursue a career in wellness and food education. While in NYC, I partnered with public schools to teach adults and children how to cook using whole, seasonal ingredients. I also began working as a private chef, preparing healthy customized meals for busy professionals throughout the city.

I moved to Chicago in 2019 to be closer to my sister, who was expecting her first child. It was around this time that I began to recognize the many gaps in care for new families, and how I could help them. To learn more about supporting new families during postpartum, I completed the First Year Specialist and Postpartum Doula program through the Wisdom Way Institute.

Since then, I have worked with individuals, families, and new parents throughout Chicago to create consistency, maintain balance, achieve goals, and positively transform their relationships with food.

Bay Laurel Kitchen is more than a “meal prep” business. It’s about serving and supporting others through the oldest and most enduring form of comfort and nourishment: delicious, nutritious food.