Chef Info

Chef / Owner Geoffrey K. Letendre

Geoffrey’s interest in cooking began at an early age when he enjoyed baking brownies at home on Sanibel in the 80’s. Sports occupied much of his time throughout his student days at Sanibel Elementary School and Cypress Lake Middle School in Ft. Myers. He played Little League baseball, basketball and Pop Warner football. He later played four years of high school football at Kimball Union Academy in Meriden, NH and Division III football at Guilford College, Greensboro, NC before transferring to the University of Houston. Pursuing his culinary skills was always in the back of his mind…simmering. In 1998, he graduated from the Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management with a Bachelor of Science degree. Although U of H educated him in the mechanics of running a restaurant, he wanted to master his culinary skills. In February 2002, he received his chef certificate from the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco, CA. Until Geoffrey assumed the role as Chef/Owner of Blue Giraffe in 2016, he had worked in corporate America for 15+ years most recently as an Assistant Kitchen Manager at The Cheesecake Factory, Clear Lake, TX.