Kelli & Teri

Founders

Kelli and Teri are California natives who currently reside in beautiful Carmel Valley with their three yellow labs, three chickens and tabby cat. Empty nesters, they find pure joy in spending quality time with their two sons and their families as often as possible. Nothing can beat taking their 5 year old granddaughter to the beach or out to ice cream. TRUE LOVE! Working full time jobs as a Store Team Leader at Whole Foods Market Monterey (Kelli) and Designing Homes (Teri) just wasn’t enough to keep these two energetic foodies satisfied…hence the concept of Kuki’s was born from a muni-bus! They welcome you as friends and family and hope you share their enthusiasm for unique, yet comforting flavors.

Kuki

Namesake & Teri’s Mom

Steaming green tea poured over a bowl of white sticky rice…”Chaa-sue-keah” as we pronounced it was a nightly staple at our dinner table. It soothed the soul. A mother of four boys, Fukuko or “Kuki” still draws family and friends into her kitchen, leaving an indelible impression on us all…food binds us to family and friends. Her daily cooking was never ordinary or repetitive…nor was it of just one ethnicity. It was simply great comfort food to be shared with the people you cared about. This is the very premise of Kuki’s…happiness and friendship through good food!

Mark Doton

Chef

Mark Doton grew up on a small family farm in Vermont giving him an early understanding of the hard work and satisfaction associated with producing high-quality food.
After a stint in the media business, an early mid-life crisis led Mark back to his foodie roots. He attended the New England Culinary Institute back in Vermont then moved to the Central Coast– drawn by its abundance of amazing culinary treasures (and lack of snow!).Cooking at a couple of local institutions (Bernardus Lodge & Sierra Mar) reinforced his appreciation for the simple preparation of flawless ingredients. Later, as executive chef and culinary educator, he directed operations in the bustling kitchen at Monterey’s Whole Foods Market. There he experimented with a variety of cuisines and ingredients to create recipes and menus for the store’s prepared foods section as well as teaching cooking classes.An avid shopper at the area’s farmers’ markets, Mark looks forward to each change in season to dive into what’s fresh and new. He firmly believes in the KISS principle when it comes to food and cooking: top-quality ingredients prepared with simple, well-executed technique will always yield something delicious. He looks forward to being a “long haul trucker” at Kuki’s.