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When we last spoke with Peter McQuaid in 2016, he was just starting culinary school at the International Culinary Center in New York City after winning a scholarship from Careers Through Culinary Arts Program (C-CAP). Today, the 24-year-old McQuaid is the executive chef at Cala, a Clive Collective restaurant in the new Senna House Hotel in Scottsdale. After culinary school, McQuaid spent time in the kitchen with chef Beau MacMillan at The Sanctuary and then...

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Valley native Peter McQuaid developed an interest in cooking at a young age. He read cookbooks and experimented with dishes at home, but it wasn’t until he got a job working for Silvana Salcido Esparza at Barrio Urbano that his culinary talents emerged. Now 18-years-old, McQuaid is attending culinary school at the International Culinary Center in New York City. He won a scholarship with Careers through Culinary Arts Program (C-CAP) and was a recipient of the prestigious 2015 James Beard Foundation’s Taste America scholarship. He’s back home in the Valley this week to participate in the James Beard Foundation’s Taste America tour Sept. 22-24. We caught up with him by phone last week.