The Team

Nicole grew up in the Loire Valley in France, lived all over the world, and eventually settled in Los Angeles. In 1989 she started Nicole’s Gourmet Foods (the first iteration of Gourmet Imports) out of her home, selling specialty foods to discerning L.A. Chefs - many of whom are still our customers today. In the early days, she was CEO, salesperson, delivery driver, and accountant, all wrapped up into one.

Nicole passed away in 2020. She was beautiful, tough as nails, dedicated, unforgiving and unapologetic. She was impulsive and fiercely independent. She said what she thought and believed what she said. She was funny, private, loving, and generous.

Nicole loved classical music, wine, and cheese. She loved travel, as well as the outdoors, and spent most of her free time in her garden. Whether it was 105 or 50 degrees, she drove with the top down on her convertible. Nicole had a profound impact on the Los Angeles culinary scene, and everything we do today at Gourmet Imports is because of the path she forged.

Steve is an only child, raised by a single mom who was born in France. Steve’s mom, Nicole, was the founder of Nicole’s Gourmet Foods & Gourmet Imports. In 1997 Steve began working part time with his mom, and after about 6 months, he left his career in Hollywood pyrotechnics and committed full time to the family business.

As a kid Steve loved the show Knight Rider. He’s had a lifelong love of automobiles, and enjoys anything that has an engine. He loves to cook, travel, practice yoga, and camp. He also loves pizza and the music of Sting.

Most of Steve’s job today involves making sure that Gourmet Imports and its artisan makers are growing and sustainable. His goal is to guarantee that the work of Gourmet Imports will continue long after him. In practice, that means working closely with our staff and stakeholders to understand their needs and ensure that we are doing our part to support them and to communicate their stories.

Ted has been with Gourmet Imports since 2020. Prior to joining the GI team, Ted was the Co-Owner and Executive Chef of The Bellwether in Studio City. His early culinary career included L.A.’s Michelin-starred Water Grill, Father’s Office, Lukshon, and an appearance on “Iron Chef.”

He has 2 daughters, 3 French bulldogs, several Poison Dart Frogs, Klemmeri Day Geckos, Crested Geckos, and a lovely wife named Ann-Marie. He is a licensed race car driver and loves cars, cooking, plants, and old movies. 

Ted does a bit of everything at GI, but his primary focus is strengthening operations and making decisions to help the company grow and evolve. On any given day, you can find him outside our Alhambra warehouse, pacing the parking lot while talking on the phone.

Julia was born and raised in LA, an only child to a single immigrant mom. Julia loves to read, puzzle, do Pilates, and eat. Some friends call her the Lifestyle Concierge, but she considers herself a social introvert. She loves all kinds of food, but especially sushi, Italian, and Mexican (of course).

Julia and Nicole Grandjean (the founder of Gourmet Imports) started a book club together several years back. Since Nicole’s passing, the book club has continued and in its new version includes Steve!

Julia joined the GI team in 2016 as the AR Manager. She especially values the positive work environment and the people she collaborates with each day – the wonderful team at Gourmet Imports.

Brandon attended culinary school in San Francisco, and spent 15 years working in and running kitchens in Northern California. He held every position from dishwasher to Head Chef, until he joined Gourmet Imports in 2011. In his current role, he oversees the Purchasing Team, works one on one with all our producer partners, manages all our imports, and coordinates all our logistics.  

Brandon is super into music, with extremely diverse taste, and plays bass, guitar, and drums. He has 2 rescue dogs: a chihuahua named Melody Pond who loves to nap, and a ball of chaotic energy terrier-mix named Maggie. Brandon works remotely out of his home in Oregon, surrounded by the ocean, the Coquille River, and the dense forests of Coos Bay.

Caitlin joined the GI team in 2018. She works with and supports the Customer Relations team, oversees all the orders and invoices, and works with the driving team on daily routes. Her primary role is to ensure everything customer-based runs smoothly, so that customers receive their orders correctly and efficiently.

As a kid, Caitlin was obsessed with dalmatians and had an impressive collection of dalmatian-themed housewares. Caitlin enjoys brewing beer and loves all things food. She also loves hiking, fishing, camping, skiing, and springboard diving. Incredibly, despite all her adventures, she’s never broken a bone!

Daniel has been with Gourmet Imports since 2016. He does a bit of everything around GI, but most importantly he manages all the warehouse operations. Daniel’s favorite part of his job is creating a great work environment for his team, and seeing them happy and thriving in their jobs. He also loves all the unique challenges that pop up in this line of work and says even though it can be stressful, it’s always satisfying when he’s able to solve a problem.

He’s an avid home brewer, and he has a cat named Baby Keets, and a dog named Winston. If he could be any animal he’d be a house cat so he could sleep all day, eat all he wants, and never pay rent.

For 10 years Sarah owned and operated Mission Cheese in San Francisco, a beloved neighborhood cheese shop and wine bar focused on American producers. Sarah joined the Gourmet Imports team in 2023 to lead the expansion to the Bay Area. She currently oversees operations, sales outreach, and community partnerships in Northern California. She was on the board for the California Artisan Cheese Guild for 4 years, and she has continued to advocate for local cheesemakers in her role at GI.

Sarah and her husband Oliver have a son named Henry. She enjoys dancing, hiking, biking, skiing, yoga, and seeing live music. Her son Henry says Sarah’s facial expressions are one of the funniest things about her.

Straight out of culinary school Aislinn fell in love with the cheese world. She spent the next 17 years working in all sorts of cheese industry roles, before joining our Gourmet Imports team in 2025. In her NorCal Operations role, Aislinn runs all the operations elements for our warehouse in the north.

Aislinn and her husband Dan have a menagerie of animals: 2 dogs (Gracie May and Walter) and 2 cats (Jordy & Moo Moo). Walter, the Blue Heeler, makes it his life's mission to herd the entire family – generally in the direction of treats. Aislinn loves to read, cook, and garden. Her favorite food is a summer garden tomato BLT with chili crisp. In college she received a large scholarship for a one page essay she wrote on Ranch dressing.

Kia has been with Gourmet Imports since 2024, but she was a loyal GI customer for a decade before that and brings her experience as a customer to everything she does at GI. She is the former owner of Cheesemongers of Sherman Oaks, a neighborhood cheese shop in LA’s San Fernando Valley. Kia’s role at GI is to tell the story of People, Passion, and Product: who we are, who our makers are, who our customers are; why our work matters and why it means so much to us.

Kia and her husband Tyler have a son named Riker and 3 cats. Her happy place is Grizzly Peak Pass at Disney’s California Adventure. She also loves Frasier, 90s Star Trek, low budget Christmas movies, and cheesy romance novels.

Alex started at Gourmet Imports in 2005 when it was just a 3 person team. He has done almost every job in the company, from secretary, to collections, to sales, to management. Having been at GI for so long, Alex fills the unofficial role of Village Elder and still does a bit of everything. His main focus is on relationships: between GI and the producers, and GI and the customers. He’s a storyteller at heart, and it shows in the way he talks and writes about products.

Alex and his wife Lake have 2 daughters, Nevada and Dusty, as well as 2 dogs, and 3 chickens. He is a seasoned gardener, avid reader, and belongs to the ancient occult industrial sludge group Robedoor.

Before coming to Gourmet Imports in 2022, Ryan was a cook and then a chef in a wide range of places for over 16 years, from 2 star Michelin restaurants to professional wilderness cooking. After many years of being such a product driven chef, Ryan loves that he still gets to work so closely with epic producers, world class artisanal products, and super talented chefs, connecting like-minded professionals to incredible products from really special artisans.

Ryan loves riding motorcycles and owns 3 of them. He is a rock climber, a hiker, and an all-around adventurer who’s been to 37 countries and counting! He loves storytelling, dabbling in wood working, hosting parties, live music, and cooking with live fire.