Meet Leah Burback of Heirloom & Native

Today we’d like to introduce you to Leah Burback. They and their team shared their story with us below:

Chef Leah began her career in Denver while attending the Art Institute of Colorado’s International Culinary School. She has worked in several high-end kitchens including Jax Fish House Glendale, True Food Kitchen Cherry Creek, and Footers Catering. Chef Leah saw the disarray of the food distribution network and how the impact intensified in a state like Wyoming, so far from the distribution centers.

During the shift of 2020, Chef Leah began to look for ways to support and share local foods with her fellow Wyomingites. In May of 2022, she started her catering company Heirloom & Native. They offer Wyoming-sourced Prepared Meals, Catering & Special Events, and Educational Workshops.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The biggest stumbling block in Wyoming is not just money but the availability of product and startup resources. Many cities and towns in Wyoming don’t have year-round access to fresh Foods or places like commissary kitchens to start a food service business. Collaboration is always the key.

Chef Leah helps to promote producers, farmers, ranchers, local venues, and other like-minded restaurateurs. Together we can change this sparse landscape of Wyoming Foods.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Heirloom & Native celebrates local ingredients with WY Chef Crafted Foods. Using our heirloom skills, we can bring WY food to catering and special events to let the WY ingredients shine. We also provide prepared meal services that are customizable for busy professionals, families, and/or those navigating a new dietary restriction/allergen.

Our passion carries through to educational workshops that include cooking classes, food preservation classes, kitchen gardening consultations, and native plant identification/foraging classes.

We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up.
Some of my favorite childhood memories are from the ranch I grew up on in South Dakota and Nebraska. My grandmother taught herself to cook and shared that passion with her grandkids. My mother has a passion for Native plant life and conservation and taught me to look closer and what grows all around us. These cooking and plant experiences shaped how I interact with the world.

Contact Info:

• Website: Www.eatwyoming.com/heirloomandnative/
• Instagram: Instagram.com/heirloomandnative
• Facebook: Facebook.com/heirloomandnative/

Image Credits
Wyoming Out Loud Checked In Media, Four Feathers Photography, Kristin Colson, and Schaffer Eat Wyoming