Team Bios

Patrick Fagan
Executive Chef - Seattle / Portland / Spokane
Chef Patrick Fagan started his cooking career while he was still in high school. There he found a real passion for bringing his own unique sense of flavor and style to each dish he created. This continued to grow as he worked at some of Seattle’s finest establishments including the Sorrento Hotel and their highly regarded Hunt Club restaurant.

One of the most important things for me is keeping things fresh. I know what I do is being delivered right to people at home so I have to make sure that all my produce, my meats, and my sauce ingredients are the freshest available.” says Chef Patrick Fagan. “I also make sure the menu and meal ideas are fresh in their own right.” 

When asked what his favorite part about being a chef, in particular about being a chef who creates healthy and diet meals he answers unabashedly, “I love using my gourmet background to build healthy and fresh meals from the ground up. Where others focus on the limitations eating healthy can bring I focus on the amazing array of choices that fresh and natural ingredients gives me. Nothing makes me happier than knowing I am bringing something into peoples’ lives that both satisfies a need and will promote good health for them.”

Katia Sabbah
Executive Chef - San Francisco Bay Area / San Jose

Chef Katia's lineage in cooking and catering has deep roots in her family. Born in Casablanca, Morocco she was raised with her paternal grandmother as caterer to Moroccan King Hassan II and her maternal grandparents running a catering business in Madrid, Spain and London, England. At age 17 Katia moved to Paris, France to study mathematics and physics but found her genetics pulling her back to the family businesses, spending the summers in either Madrid or London learning to cook. After graduating she decided to continue her culinary studies in Europe and kept the family business going while expanding her talents. 

Today, Katia is an active member of the French-American community in the Bay Area. She is the official chef of Ecole Bilingue de Berkeley also consulting with the French-American school on what they provide for the kids. Katia's literal world of experience can be seen in the large variety of dishes she brings to the table on a daily basis.  

David Welts
Director, Nutritional Wellness and Coaching

A graduate of Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington and 2 years of law school at the University of Puget Sound, David found his real passion coaching others in the health and wellness industry. David is a self described "workout fanatic" but he did not start out this way. Starting his career with Nutri-Systems as a nutrition counselor and then moving to Jenny Craig he found there was a component lacking and he had trouble achieving personal results on their programs. That's when he joined Chef By Request and within 90 days had lost 60 pounds. 

Since then David and Chef By Request have been a perfect match and David has used his coaching skills and personal experiences to help some of San Francisco, Silicon Valley, and Seattle's top executives achieve their weight loss and health goals. His charismatic style of lifestyle counseling while simultaneously teaching others how to enhance their quality of life is second to none. David now coaches clients and continually trains the rest of our team on best practices in both nutrition and lifestyle coaching. 

David Mori
Fitness and Nutritional Counselor

David has worked as a Certified Personal Trainer and nutritional counselor since right out of high school. His passion has always been in helping others build themselves into the people they want to be through reaching new goals. Living in Walnut Creek outside of San Francisco, David has coached both in the gym and in the kitchen some of the Bay Area's most high profile individuals. 

Growing up on a cattle ranch in Nevada he also has a keen background in food, how it is grown, and where it is sourced . He works tirelessly improving how food is grown and ensuring that our chefs are buying the best quality meats and produce. A self described "foodie" his knowledge in this area has taken Chef By Request to a whole new level in how we source the food we prepare and serve. 

Dane Nelson
Wellness Coach

Having recently graduated college with a focus in Nutritional Science, Dane has worked exclusively in the health industry helping clients pick the right programs to fit their needs. He recently worked at one of Seattle's premier natural markets and was responsible for helping ensure product quality and connecting people with the products they were looking for. 

Outside of health and wellness Dane is also very passionate about music and currently plays in a band for which he writes and produces original music. If you catch Dane on the phone feel free to ask him where his next gig is. 

Kierstin Matsuura
Wellness Coach

The youngest member of our team, Kierstin is a quiet expert in everything nutrition and food related. Another "foodie" she is also passionate about ensuring that no chemicals or preservatives are in the food she eats which makes her the perfect fit for Chef By Request. She is currently enrolled in Nursing School and working on expanding her background in both health and nutrition while working here at Chef By Request. In addition to all this she still finds time to teach dance and aerobics classes 3 times per week.