Michelle Renee Aguilar Pena

There were three great passions for Michelle. Music. Food. Cats. Michelle had cats throughout her life. Her most memorable cat was Jonathan. Jonathan was an orange tabby that her parents bought for her at Los Arcos mall. Later in Michelle’s married life she adopted an orange tabby at the Humane Society. This cat would come to be named Captain Jack. He was the only orange tabby in the place and it was his last day to be adopted or he would have been euthanized. Captain Jack and Michelle were inseparable whenever she was home. It was almost like he knew that Michelle saved his life. Later on two more cats were adopted as well. One was especially interested whenever Michelle was in the kitchen, Maya, our culinary cat. The third cat Michelle named Bourdain after the chef/writer/tv personality.

When it comes to food Michelle’s passion was all encompassing from recipes, to groceries, to restaurants. Restaurants meaning everything involving a restaurant from the front of the house with the host and servers to the back of the house with the chefs, line cooks and management. Michelle had worked all those positions. Michelle started off in fast food restaurants then to bartending and serving food. Then she went to culinary school in Scottsdale. Today the school is known as the Le Cordon Bleu Scottsdale Culinary School but when she went they hadn’t received the Cordon Bleu merit. At the time Michelle focused on savory dishes but oddly enough later in life wished she had focused on pastry. Michelle loved to bake at home and was learning to make artisanal bread. After a stint working as a server for P.F. Changs, Michelle took some classes to be a personal chef and acquired some wonderful clients. As Michelle’s business grew she rented a space within Rejuvent Medical Spa in Scottsdale that had a commercial kitchen. Michelle then opened The Gourmet Girl Kitchen and Catering Company. Unfortunately when the economy soured in 2009 Michelle had to close doors. For a time Michelle worked as a manager for several restaurants like Applebees but her last job was one the she coveted, a culinary instructor for Sur la Table. Michelle collected cookbooks and recipes. In high school Michelle wrote an article for the school newspaper that was a restaurant review. Later in life Michelle did the exact same thing writing reviews and posting them as well as recipes on her food blog online at http://www.thegourmetgirl.net.

In junior high Michelle played the clarinet and was part of the school orchestra in junior high. In high school Michelle joined the choir and learned to play the piano. Michelle’s father told me a story about how they had heard a piece by Beethoven, “Fur Elise,” on the radio and that Michelle had gone to their piano and started to slowly workout out how to play that piece of music. He told me he was so surprised at how fast she figured out how to play that piece of music. In my own experience I saw Michelle sit down at a piano in a pretty crowded hotel lobby in San Francisco and start to play. People really enjoyed it and it seemed so easy for Michelle. Michelle always had Pandora radio on. Depending on her mood she could easily switch to any station as she worked away in the kitchen while the cats either enjoyed her singing or the smell of the food.

These are just a few things I absolutely loved about my wife. One other major thing about my wife that I was so taken aback by when we rediscovered each other was how bold Michelle was. Michelle could strike up a conversation and friendship with anyone. I often thought she lost her calling as a concierge. Michelle had to sit near the expo line at restaurants to hear interaction between the crews. A quick banter and suddenly we offered free plates of food. One time we were at the Phoenix Zoo and they were near closing but a chat with the turtle keeper was all it took to let her into the pen to help feed and draw one of big turtles towards its pen. A birthday gift from my wife was a trip to Snoqualamie, Washington where my favorite tv show was shot. At the resort we stayed Michelle was able to get the manager to lead us on a little late night tour throughout the property were some of the scenes were shot. Then she did the exact same thing at another place. Michelle was just amazing. I had always been a very quiet, shy person and Michelle really helped me out of my shell. Michelle gave me a voice I didn’t think I had and showed me there was nothing to fear in being outspoken.

I’ve known Michelle since junior high school and we even wrote in each others yearbooks in 1986. We were both reacquainted after my parents and I sat down in her section at Carlos O’briens in Scottsdale in 2003. Michelle recognized me right away and had so many questions. Before we left she gave me her number. It took me three days but I did call her. That led to more calls then letters and then finally a date. Our first date was at Coup de Tartes in Phoenix. We had a wonderful multi-course meal but as it turns out it was also a test. Michelle wanted to see if I would share food off my plate with her. She didn’t ask me this but wanted to see how I reacted. I had absolutely no problem with it and enjoyed eating what she ordered that night too. Years later there was a movie, “Maid of Honor,” in which the main characters discovered they enjoyed that same food sharing quality between each other but didn’t know it until they missed it. We were married not much after that in January of 2004. One of my joys of being married to Michelle was enjoying all the amazing dishes she cooked. She loved to try new recipes but also perfect the ones she already had. Michelle had common dishes she would always make and then surprise me a menu board of tonight’s dining experience. We took several trips together and one of biggest and farthest trips we took was to see the Indy 500 in 2003. We were still dating when we took that trip and we felt completely comfortable with each other as though we were already married. Our favorite trips were to Sedona and San Francisco. We also had adventure trips like the tour through wine country via the movie “Sideways.” There was the working trip we had to Sandpoint, Idaho where Michelle had to cook for a client and afterwards we drove to Seattle, Cannon Beach, and then Portland.

Michelle passed away on April 21, 2015 at Scottsdale Osborn Hospital. She is survived by her husband Joe, Children Rachel and Cameron, Sister Robyn, and Parents Peter and Hope. A Visitation will be held at Lakeshore Mortuary, Wednesday April 29, 2015, from 5:00pm to 9:00 pm with a Scripture Service held at 7:00pm. Michelle will be laid to rest in San Jose Cemetery in Laguna, New Mexico.