Molly started Westerly in 2020 in response to a shifting restaurant industry and a desire to cook more closely with the land and its producers.

An East Coast native, she began her culinary journey in Nashville, TN, followed by a three-and-a-half year tenure at Alice Waters’ famed Berkeley, CA restaurant, Chez Panisse, where she developed a deep commitment to seasonality, sourcing, and sustainability that continues to define her approach to cooking and hospitality.

Her core cooking model is a direct reflection of the immediate land around her.

Molly consults for hospitality projects of all sizes, applying her 15+ years of restaurant experience and culinary aptitude to kitchen and site designs, programming, menu development, and staff training.

In 2019 Molly led the successful opening of Carissa’s: The Restaurant, on the East End of Long Island, from build out to opening, into what has become one of East Hampton’s most popular restaurants. Molly collaborated on the aesthetic driven kitchen and restaurant design, which went on to win a James Beard for outstanding design.

Prior to Carissa’s, she was the head chef of Martha’s Vineyard darling Behind the Bookstore, where for two years, her spirit of communion and natural cycles inspired the restaurant’s reinvention. She is an avid organizer of farm dinners, natural wine suppers, and collaborative gatherings.

She lives primarily in the Hudson Valley, while maintaining a strong connection to Northern California. Every aspect of her daily life is truly connected to the local landscape and what it yields.