Ranney Moran, who grew up in Chester Springs, is the Director of Culinary Programs at the Chester County Food Bank, the nonprofit in Exton that mobilizes the community to ensure access to real, healthy food.

Moran earned a bachelor’s degree in International Business from Hofstra University and a Grand Diplôme in Professional Culinary Arts from the International Culinary Center, formerly the French Culinary Institute, in New York City.

He credits his good friend and mentor, Chef Michael Hamilton, with having the biggest impact on his career.

“For almost four years I worked closely with him,” said Moran, who began working as a busboy at Molly Maguire’s in Phoenixville when he was 16. “We met while working at the Surf Lodge in Montauk (on Long Island). Together, we helped to open restaurants in the East Village of Manhattan and in Woodstock, N.Y. It was in these kitchens that I learned much of the inner workings of restaurants and gained inspiration for the FRESHstart Kitchen.”

The launch of the aforementioned FRESHstart Kitchen at the Chester County Food Bank is Moran’s proudest professional achievement. The program educates and prepares under or unemployed individuals for opportunities and sustainable employment in the food service industry.”

“After several years of personal research and development, the program and I found a home at the Chester County Food Bank,” said Moran. “After our first year of classes, the program has proven successful, and I hope it will help to change the lives of many to come.”

Moran and his fiancée, Aleksandra, recently moved to Malvern, where they can often be found enjoying coffee and pastries at the Malvern Buttery or dining at Restaurant Alba, eating what Moran thinks is “the most consistently great food around.”