Age: 35
Executive chef: The Abbey
Originally from Virginia, Wooters grew up in Tucson and graduated from Sabino High School. She got her first taste of the restaurant world at age 15 with a job at Dairy Queen.
"All my friends worked there," she said. "We got to eat ice cream. It was fun."
From there, she hit the opposite end of the culinary spectrum - Canyon Ranch. She started washing dishes and segued into cooking. By the time she got to college, she realized she really enjoyed the cooking thing. And, she realized she could combine it with her love of traveling.
"I like the fact that you're always moving, and there's always something going on," Wooters said of restaurant life. "I like the feeling of being busy and staying busy. And you don't have to sit behind a desk."
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Though college didn't stick, she did attend a yearlong restaurant-management program. Otherwise, her culinary training has been on the job as she backpacked around Arizona and the Southwest.
Wooters, who lived in Portland, Ore., for several years and worked as an executive chef there, has worked at the Dish and North, and served as executive chef at McClintock's and Wildflower Grill.
