About
The chef behind The Culinary Curate
The Culinary Curate began the way the best things often do, with a decision to stop waiting. After years in the corporate and nonprofit world, Charmaine DaCosta left in 2022 to return to the industry that brings her the most joy: food, and the way a good meal brings people together. Her first culinary venture, Crude Food, closed in 2019, but the industry was never far from her mind.
Charmaine DaCosta
Chef and Founder
In over a decade she has catered just about everything: political fundraisers, corporate and media events, film and TV sets, weddings, small dinners at home, and the occasional backyard barbecue.
Large or small, formal or easy, the standard never changes.
In the kitchen
The cooking.
Charmaine cooks elevated American bistro with deep Mediterranean and Caribbean influence. It is a point of view you can taste: oxtail and escovitch next to coq au vin and a careful beef burgundy, comfort and technique on the same table. She builds every menu from scratch, around the client rather than a template.
Clients
Why clients stay.
The Culinary Curate is not a faceless company. It is a chef you can actually reach, who listens, adjusts a menu the day before an event without missing a beat, and treats your guests like her own. Over a decade of events, from film sets and corporate rooms to weddings and private dinners, has been built on exactly that.
Recognition.
- Finalist in the SCORE New Jersey pitch contest
- Featured on WBNJ 91.9 FM
- Spotlighted by Rising Kitchens
- Under Crude Food, winner of the 2013 Harlem Business Alliance Business Plan Competition
To add: links for each, and any other awards, certifications or memberships, including WBE or WOSB once certified