Essence White is the creator and head chef of Essential Eats. She was born and raised in Philadelphia, PA, where she grew up surrounded by her grandmother and mother who daily created dishes that were inspired from the soul, that experience spiked a burning desire in her to continue that passion. Essence has been rooted in the kitchen since then, and over the years have expanded her talents and cuisines through continuous hours of self-teaching and extensive research. After graduating from Smith College as an engineer, Essence has been able to fully optimize her creativity. She has since taken the leap to transitioning to one of the most diverse and the 4th largest city in the world, Houston Texas, which is where she now calls home. Essence has traveled across the world training and perfecting her craft, from Italy, France, South Africa, East Africa, Germany, China, Portugal, Cuba just to name a few.  She has been trained by multi-star Michelin Chef Peter Capraro. These learning experiences are the foundation on which she built Essential Eats.