Creston chef and photographer with Mexican heritage shares stories through food
Story by Annie Secrest
Photography by Ruby Wallau
As she prepares candy on the stove, the warm scent of burnt caramel undulates through the air of the kitchen in Candice Custodio’s Creston home, which she affectionally calls “Casa Custodio.” Candice, a private chef and resident chef at Kindred Oak Farm, is preparing elements of her cookbook while friend and photographer Ariette Armella snaps photos. “The smell is nostalgic for me,” Ariette says, remembering her upbringing in Mexico City. “It reminds me of my mother making flan when I was a child.”
In between shots, the duo talks food and business as a small menagerie of animals lazily meanders through the native chaparral that cloaks the farm. The tranquility of this area and lifestyle is what brought both women to San Luis Obispo County. They first met last summer at a potluck, where Ariette and Candice bonded over a shared love of food and their Latina heritage. The two women realized they could work together to amplify each other’s talents and became fast friends.
The Chef
Originally from bustling Los Angeles, where peaceful moments must be scheduled rather than simply exist, Candice and her husband moved to Creston to slow life down and reconnect with each other and the land. “We’ve lost our connection to the food systems. We’ve forgotten the sacrifice that is involved in eating our food — not just eating, but even what is required to grow plants, the water, the labor …” she reflects. As a chef, she now raises the animals and produce that she will harvest with her own hands.
This sentiment can be found in the pages of The Versatile Chef, Candice’s first cookbook. Each recipe offers more than simple instruction, but rather a window into her life and memories, and her passion for sharing food with loved ones. From nostalgic childhood favorites to inventive twists on classic dishes, each recipe is imbued with Candice’s unique perspective and unwavering dedication to her craft.
Her perspective was formed early on in high school when she dreamed of attending culinary school. But Candice’s mother wanted her to be the first person in the family to graduate college, so she studied political science at Cal Poly. After graduating, she worked in the tech industry for several years before a fortuitous layoff and a severance package presented an opportunity to pivot. Words of inspiration and unwavering support from her husband over a stiff martini were the nudges she needed. “I gave myself a year to figure it out or I was going back to the office,” she said of her decision to attend culinary school. Candice didn’t have to wait long for an opportunity to emerge; she took a sous chef position at Cass Winery, then later on as Executive Chef at Calcareous. With her reputation surging from her thoughtful, inventive meals, Candice transitioned to a private chef role, by starting the Central Coast’s first and only Latin-inspired supper club, Club SupSup.
The Photographer
When she met Candice, Ariette and her husband had recently moved to Arroyo Grande from Los Angeles during the pandemic to open Rambling Spirits, a distillery bar at the San Luis Obispo Public Market. But she first found her eye for capturing the heart and emotion of her subject many years earlier while working an office job for the Mexican government. Every day after work, Ariette would challenge herself to be creative by taking photos of the people and landscape around her. She entered and won a contest that took participants to multiple Latin American countries to capture the area through artistic expression. The experience helped her learn the various aspects of photography and filming, which inspired her to study photography. Her passion for capturing life’s moments led Ariette across different continents, where she got to experience unfamiliar music and lifestyles. The common thread in all these events, food photography is where her passion ultimately shifted.
Ariette has built a roster of international clients, including Michelin starred chefs, restaurants and corporate brands. Her skill for seeing and illuminating the heart of her subject made Ariette the perfect partner for Candice’s cookbook. Filled with approachable recipes infused with Mexican and Puerto Rican influences, the book reflects Candice’s culinary journey and her commitment to making cooking accessible to all through approachable, nostalgic and fun recipes. Ariette’s lens showcases each dish as a work of art, inviting readers to savor not only the flavors, but also the stories, behind them.
While Candice swaps out pots on the stovetop, Ariette recalls some advice she learned from her photography mentor, “Once you think you’ve got it, take one more picture.” In The Versatile Chef, Candice and Ariette invite readers to take one more bite, to savor the richness of flavor and the warmth of tradition, and to discover the beauty of food through their eyes. Together, they are not just a chef and a photographer — they are a team, united by their love of food and a shared mission to inspire others on their culinary journey.
