"Ever since I could stand over a stove, I've wanted to cook," says AJ Paloni, the chef behind The Porchetta House, which opened earlier this month inside Spices Cafe at 1510 Humboldt Street.

Born in La Jolla in San Diego County, Paloni grew up in Albuquerque but moved to Arizona after finishing high school in order to fulfill his longtime dream of attending culinary school at Le Cordon Bleu. After graduating in 2010, he stayed in Scottsdale for a couple of years and continued working in restaurants before heading to Durango, where he took a job at a country club, a position that led to a private chef gig for a well-known family in the area.