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For most dancers, injuries are devastating. But when Kari Brunson got a stress fracture in her foot last May, all she could think was "Thank God." Then a corps member at Pacific Northwest Ballet, Brunson had just come off a highly successful season and was cast in a number of soloist and principal roles. "It was so odd," says Brunson, 27. "I should have been excited for the opportunities. Instead, I was relieved to get injured."

Six to eight weeks off for recovery was a welcome opportunity to explore the world outside of dance. Up to that point, Brunson had dedicated her life to ballet: She left home at 14 to train at the School of American Ballet and had performed with PNB since 2002. "Suddenly I had all this time. So I called Francia [Russell, PNB's founding artistic director] to ask if her son, Ethan Stowell, wouldn't mind me coming in to cook at one of his four restaurants," says Brunson. Although she had no experience working in a professional kitchen, Brunson had inherited a passion for food from her mother. She kept a popular food blog and even taught a cooking class at PNB's school one summer.

Stowell agreed to test out Brunson's skills one weekend, and after a successful shift, he invited her to be a "stage," or apprentice, for the summer. "I was addicted from the minute I started," says Brunson. "I did prep work, they had me taste things and asked what I would add to it, and they even let me cook right away." Instead of attending culinary school, she honed her skills by working directly with experienced chefs. …