Natascha Hess

Ginger Pig

Natascha Sherman-Hess was born and raised in Connecticut. She played hockey her entire life, going on to play at the University of Wisconsin. She double majored in Chinese and International Relations, graduating in 2001 (Go Badgers!). For three summers during college, Natascha went to China to live with a host family, where she fell in love with Chinese cooking and Asian street food, with her host mother’s home cooking being the inspiration for some of our signature dishes. After graduation she moved to Denver with her husband, Steve, to help launch Fox Sports Rocky Mountain television station as a production assistant. After two years she returned to school at the University of Denver, this time to study Law. She graduated in 2006 and went on to work as an associate attorney and eventually start her own firm. But in 2014 she came to the realization that life was too short to not pursue her passion for food. She turned her sights to fulfilling her dreams of recreating the culinary experiences that were shared with her during her time in China. Those dreams grew from seed to fruit after a dinner at the Chef’s Counter at Brazen, where Natascha met Carrie Baird. After a casual conversation, Natascha mentioned she dreamt of opening a food truck offering the same food she had during her travels. Carrie offered her a position to train on the spot. After over a year of learning the basics and skills under the Brazen team, she opened The Ginger Pig Food Truck in Boulder County in the summer of 2016, which led to opening an inaugural stall in Rosetta Hall– Boulder’s first food hall– in 2019, where she continued to grow her business while still staging and learning under different chefs across the country. Taking that success and knowledge, she rolled into opening a brick-and-mortar restaurant in the Berkeley Neighborhood of Denver in 2020. Since then, we have offered authentic family-style pan-Asian cuisine in a welcoming, comfortable environment. Our ever-evolving authentic menu and passion for hospitality have made us a cornerstone of the community. Playing all the Avs and Broncos games hasn’t hurt that, either.

• Link
• Instagram