In The Media
Interview with Sara on Everything Frederick LIVE! with Dani Grubbs Gurrie
June 2024
Top Women in Food
Sass: The Food Issue
January/February 2023
Sara Kep’s Kitchen gives back to the community
DC News Now
November 2022
2022 Best of the Best:
Best Catering Company (Finalist)
Frederick News Post
October 2022
2022 Best of the Best:
Best Organic or Specialty Food Store (Finalist)
Frederick News Post
October 2022
Shared Kitchens in Frederick
City of Frederick Department of Economic Development
March 2022
Dinner Delivered
FiND iT FREDERiCK
Spring 2022
Reflections from a First-Time Donor
Frederick Rescue Mission
February 2021
Sara Kephart started cooking in the kitchen with her dad when she was just two years old. Her favorite show was Emeril Live and she would run around the house yelling “Bam!” When she was only five years old she told her mom she wanted to be a chef when she grew up.
Today she would tell you “If you are what you eat, then between the ages of 4 and 14, I was 99% Hamburger Helper.” With her mom working in Washington, DC with a long commute and her tradesmith dad coming home after working in the hot sun all day, nutrition wasn’t a priority. “We ate whatever would get on the table the fastest.” This is what fueled her interest in cooking.
When she was a teenager, she began cooking dinner once a week and would spend hours looking through cookbooks to find the perfect meal to make from scratch. Just for fun (and to earn some extra spending cash) she would make food for her friends in the neighborhood and for extended family.
Being raised in a sports family, Sara played travel softball from 12U-18U while her brother played travel baseball. She enjoyed prepping the lunches and snacks the night before a tournament which led to her becoming interested in sports nutrition.
In high school she attended the Frederick County Career and Tech Center (CTC) for three years — two years for Culinary Arts and one year for Baking & Pastry — and competed at various levels of SkillsUSA competitions.
After graduating from high school, Sara attended her dream college (and Emeril’s alma mater) Johnson & Wales University in Providence, RI where she received a Bachelor’s degree in Culinary Arts.
While at JWU Sara placed in the Top 10 at the SkillsUSA National Collegiate competition in Louisville, KY. She was the president of the National Student Organizations (NSO), an umbrella organization that includes DECA, SkillsUSA, FFA and FBLA among others. Being a member of NSO gave her the opportunity to meet and compete against other college students in Louisville, KY, Orlando, FL, Washington, DC and Anaheim, CA.
Sara also spent time as the president of the Delta Zeta sorority, Pi Omega chapter and was honored to be selected as a 2021 “35 Under 35” recipient by DZ Sorority National for her accomplishments in business as well as in the community.
Following her passion for sports, Sara spent two seasons interning for Delaware North in Catering & Special Events for the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards. When Billy Joel performed at the stadium she had the honor of cooking for him and his staff.
Just before graduating from college in the spring of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic had already drastically affected the restaurant industry. Sara decided that she wanted to take her life’s experiences and what she learned in her culinary and nutrition classes to help busy families like hers eat healthy at home by offering an affordable meal prep and catering service. That’s when Sara Kep’s Kitchen was officially born!
Today, Sara enjoys supporting local businesses by highlighting them in her menus. She not only gives back to the community as a Girl Scout troop leader in her free time, Sara Kep’s Kitchen also has special events where 100% of the profits from the sale of a food item will go to support local non-profits such as the Frederick Rescue Mission, The Heartly House, Inc. and local fire departments.
