in Food watercress, pickled green tomatoes and barbecue potato chips (that’s right, you guessed it, the chips are in the sandwich). The plain grilled cheese sandwich also does really well, confides Rebecca. That Rebecca is thriving as a chef should come as no surprise to her AFS contemporaries. A chili cook-off winner at the age of 12, Rebecca was teaching cooking classes at Chestnut Hill’s Water Tower Recreation Center by the time she was a teen, and for her Middle School EGIS project, she took on a comprehensive study of the eggplant.
Rebecca Foxman ’07 Chef Philadelphia, PA and Brooklyn, NY When AFS teachers Kristina Denzel ’93 P’28 and Andrew Bickford P’28 feel like having some comfort food with a twist, they often zip down to the Reading Terminal with daughter Stella and head over to Meltkraft, a stall in the market that serves some of the best grilled cheese sandwiches you’ll find anywhere. AFS alum Rebecca Foxman, 25, is the chef at Meltkraft, and, as company chef for Valley Shepherd Creamery, in Moorestown, New Jersey, she also helps run a similar restaurant in Park Slope, Brooklyn. “I design the menu and run the culinary side for both places,” says Rebecca. “I act as managing chef in Philadelphia, and in Brooklyn I have a team I’ve hired to run the place when I’m not there.”
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The focus for both restaurants is to showcase the 35 or so varieties of cheese the creamery produces, and what better way to do that than with a grilled cheese sandwich. Rebecca’s most popular creation is the Valley Thunder, made with sharp cheddar, brisket and macaroni and cheese (yes, mac and cheese, in the sandwich). Another favorite is the Melter Skelter, made with raclette cheese, jalapenos,
“I’ve always liked history and food anthropology,” says Rebecca, “and just the history of the eggplant in America alone was fascinating. I also came up with my own challenge to make 15 dishes using the eggplant. I remember I did roasted eggplant soup, eggplant with goat cheese and crostini garnish, eggplant napoleon...” Rebecca also started an AFS culinary club for both students and teachers, with cooking classes held in the kitchen at the Meetinghouse. On graduating from AFS, Rebecca attended the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, and took advantage of their partnership with Cornell University to also earn an accelerated bachelor’s degree in hospitality management at the Cornell School of Hotel Administration. “I really like food and I like eating,” says Rebecca as she explains her career choice. “It’s hard work, but it allows you to interact with food and be artistic and express yourself. It’s nice to get a lot of instant gratification, too. I like the community of people that are in it and I like a job where I can be creative and not sit at a desk.”