After spending her whole life in New York, Marsha G. Orosco decided to move to a place closer in temperature to her family's native Trinidad: Florida. She quickly found work at acclaimed chef Norman Van Aiken's restaurant Norman's, and now works as morning sous-chef at his recently opened Mundo. Orosco spent many years in corporate America before transforming her passion into a career. Her grandmother and cousin were chefs in Trinidad, so she always knew that she'd cook professionally at some point too, Orosco said. She particularly enjoys the blend of flavors and cultures reflected in Van Aiken's food, which is probably why she was so set on working at Aquavit when she started attending ICE: "All I knew was that I'd work there. Instructors used to say I was stalking Marcus Samuelsson," she laughed. But her persistence paid off and after staging on weekends, she landed her dream externship at Aquavit, which quickly turned into a full-time job. Now, whenever Samuelsson cooks in Florida, he calls on Orosco to assist him. The passion she has for her career is obvious to anyone who comes in contact with her, which makes her very media-friendly: she already has been in Essence and Grace magazines and is currently talking to producers about starring in her own cooking show.

2005