Katy Osuna is the Host and Co-Creator of the Copper & Heat Podcast based in Oakland, CA. Her podcast was awarded a James-Beard award in 2019. Her first season, ‘Be A Girl’ tackles the issues of gender equality and the toxic masculinity in the industry, set in the time she worked at Three-Michelin starred Manresa in California. She talks with us about her anthropology degree and how that shapes her view of the hospitality industry. Katy jokes about only eating foods out of a box, like her favorite Kraft mac n cheese. Later working on a goat farm and being a cheese fiend, she laughs about the contradiction and how she still loves some humble foods despite her intense culinary training. One of her early mentors and one of her #UnsungHospitalityHeroes is Edalyn Garcia who discusses her own experiences being a girl in the kitchen, and thriving!

Website - copperandheat.com

Instagram - @copperandheat @krosuna

Where are you from originally?

San Diego, CA (only lived there for 6 months after I was born) and was raised in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.

First job in the industry?

I was a line and prep cook at a gastropub in Boise, Idaho, when I was 21. Unless you count working on farms. I worked on a goat cheese farm, making cheese and helping with the herd my sophomore year of college, when I was 19.

Two things most people don't know about you?

1 - I play bass and sing. Ricardo (my partner) and I have been playing music together in different bands for 6 years. 2 - My go-to comfort listening is Harry Potter. I listen to the Jim Dale narrated audiobooks to go to sleep.

Food and/or drinks staples in your house?

We always have cheese, tortillas, and beans to make quesadillas. Right now I'm on a Thai food kick after working with a friend on her pop-up, so I have nam jim jaew in the fridge all the time to make laab.

Words to live by?

Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible. - The Dalai Lama

Who is one of your #UnsungHospitalityHeroes?

Edalyn Garcia, executive sous chef at The Village Pub in Woodside, California - she's in our podcast. She was my sous chef in my first job in the Bay Area and she was such an inspiration. We reconnected when I interviewed her for the podcast and she's just kicking ass and continues to inspire me.

While Katy was pursuing her anthropology and sociology degree, she discovered her love for creepily observing social interactions while making cheese and playing with baby goats (she was doing research about food culture and cheesemaking). After graduating college, she worked for a couple years at a nonprofit in Boise, Idaho before deciding to pursue her love of the culinary arts by attending the International Culinary Center in California. She did her externship at the Plumed Horse and worked for a year and a half at Manresa Restaurant as a chef de partie before leaving to start Copper & Heat. Now she spends her time doing food experiments, editing weird mouth sounds and taking too many pictures of the cat.