Byrdcliffe Cookery, LLC is owned and operated by Melissa Viglielmo, a businesswoman whose lifelong dream has been to turn her love and heritage of cooking into her vocation.

A family heritage that ranges from borscht to bruschetta and chateau briand to wiener schnitzel, provided her with a love of cooking and an appreciation of different cultures. With a fraternal grandmother who began her emigration to America as a cook in Marseille, France, a maternal grandmother who authored a cookbook for children and a mother whose refrigerator with its exotic leftovers was always open to the neighborhood, it's fair to say she was genetically predisposed for this path.

Despite having spent many years working in Corporate America she always had her interest in cooking and the entrepreneurial bug in the back of her mind. As a result of many hours logged away from home on international travel, she often found herself in a variety of exotic locales on business and would often take advantage of sampling the local cuisines, attending local cooking classes and visiting the indigenous food markets during her free time. Through these travels and classes taken at a number of cooking schools at home, she gained an appreciation and understanding of the various ingredients and healthy attributes of the different cultures.

Byrdcliffe Cookery, LLC and her initial product line, What You Do With Tofu!® represents the realization of that dream. While Melissa now lives in Connecticut, she grew up in Woodstock, New York. As most people know, at least those who were around in the 1960's, Woodstock is well known as a haven for musicians, artists and naturalists. Long after the original Woodstock music concert was over, the town continued to represent many of the ideals associated with natural living and the concepts of organic farming and healthful foods.

So, where does the name Byrdcliffe come from? Byrdcliffe itself is an area within Woodstock that was, and continues to be, one of the first established art colonies in town dating from the turn of the last century. Melissa's great grandfather built a summer home in the Byrdcliffe area and much of her family continues to reside in Woodstock, to this day.