Who Is Celebrity Chef Nick DiGiovanni's Girlfriend, Isabelle Tashima?

Many people know Isabelle Tashima as the girlfriend of Nick DiGiovanni, a food content creator with around 45 million followers and subscribers on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube, and the youngest runner up in "Master Chef" (he was only 21 years old when he placed third in Season 10). But, who exactly is Tashima?

She is an accomplished, young, finance professional with a passion for travel, volleyball, and food. She was a former volleyball varsity player from high school to college, attended Harvard University as an economics major, and recently earned a master's degree at MIT Sloan. Friends and family describe her as lovely and sweet, but also fiercely focused, loyal, and committed to accomplishing her goals.

Tashima has been with DiGiovanni for six years. Perhaps it's because they've been together for so long (six years is a lifetime in celebrity standards), or simply that people are always interested about the love lives of famous people, but many have taken interest in Tashima. What is her story? What does she do for a living? What's her relationship like with DiGiovanni? We're taking a look into the life of Tashima (or what she's allowed us to see) to learn more about DiGiovanni's longtime girlfriend.

Isabelle Tashima and Nick DiGiovanni are a competitive pair, and this was very obvious when the two competed against each other in a cooking challenge. The video was uploaded on DiGiovanni's YouTube channel in June 2023. Judged by DiGiovanni's cameraman, Manny, the couple each prepared an appetizer, entree, and dessert, and were scored through a blind taste test.

Tashima prepared a salmon poke bowl as her appetizer. For her entree, she came up with a spaghetti dish with red sauce and seasoned shrimp. Her final entry was a cookie monster dessert: two freshly baked, chunky, chocolate chip cookies with a layer of bright blue ice cream sandwiched between them.

For someone who says she never cooks, Tashima did fairly well. Although her filleting skills weren't the best (there was too much tuna left on the skins) and Manny couldn't stand how the shrimp on her pasta tasted, the overall results still earned such high scores that she beat DiGiovanni! She had a slim lead (3.7 points) and DiGiovanni conceded to a handicap in every round (he prepped his blooming onion appetizer blindfolded and cooked his blueberry crisp dessert in an Easy-Bake Oven), but she legally won–and she got her one-week trip to Japan.

Isabelle Tashima clearly loves food. She has a dedicated highlights collection on her personal Instagram account for delicious, mouthwatering, beautifully-plated restaurant dishes, as well as simple fares like campfire s'mores with Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Some of those highlights include a large sushi and sashimi platter at Nobu, a fresh seafood spread at Eventide Fenway, a fancy course meal at Alinea, and blini with caviar at Harrods. Of course, there are also some glimpses of her boyfriend Nick DiGiovanni preparing food himself, like grilling burgers and cleaning freshly-caught lobsters.

Tashima also posts videos of the food she's enjoyed overseas, like some mouthwatering wagyu, ramen, and street food Takoyaki in Japan (yes, they're videos from the trip she earned from beating DiGiovanni at the cooking challenge); a large spread of halal food in Lebanon; affogato and coffee in Greece; and pizzas and pastas in Italy.

Many of Tashima's "eats" highlights are from restaurants in and around Boston, where she currently lives. Anyone who wants to try some of the city's best cuisines can browse through Tashima's story highlights to find great recommendations. It's been months since she last updated her highlights collection, though, so we hope to see new additions to her food quests soon.

Isabelle Tashima works in finance as a Senior Associate at Volition Capital, a growth equity firm in Boston that invests in founder-owned businesses in the country and abroad. As a growth equity investor, Tashima seeks out companies that, given appropriate funding, have the potential to grow and lead their respective markets or niches. She also uses her Twitter account to share information about some companies she finds interesting. She describes how those with apps work, how they interact with their customers, the benefits and services they offer the public, and other facets about certain organizations that catch her eye.

Tashima plays a vital role in building relationships between Volition Capital, which invests mostly in tech, and its partners. Her position calls for sharp analytical and market research skills, and her insights influence investment decisions. She is also currently a Board Observer for US Mobile, a mobile virtual network operator offering prepaid cell phone plans with the country's largest networks, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon. Prior to working for Volition Capital, she was an Investment Banking Analyst at Goldman Sachs.

Given her work history, it shouldn't come as a surprise that Isabelle Tashima was an academic achiever throughout her schooling. She attended New Trier Township High School in Winnetka, Illinois as a state scholar and was a consistent honors student in all four years. After graduating in 2016, she was admitted to her "dream school," Harvard University, where she earned her Bachelor of Arts in Economics with a minor in Psychology.

While at Harvard, Tashima joined the Harvard Undergraduate Women in Business (HUWIB) and the International Relations Council. The latter is one of the largest educational and advocacy-driven organizations on campus and focuses on International Affairs. As a testament to her stellar academic performance, Tashima was honored with the John Harvard Scholarship in 2019, a distinction given only to students in the top 5% of their class based on their GPAs from the previous academic year. 

Tashima also took a short course on Analysis and Management of Financial Risk at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). After receiving an early admission to MIT Sloan School of Management, she parted ways with Goldman Sachs and pursued her MBA. She graduated and earned her master's in June 2024.

Ever since high school, Isabelle Tashima impressively balanced academics with extra-curricular activities, particularly sports. She was a varsity volleyball player at her high school, helping her team win inter-school competitions and state championships. She joined the team in her sophomore year as a defensive specialist and soon became part of the team's impressive starting lineup.

"It's been hard, but every practice, you have to go 100% and show the coaches and the team that you've earned your spot on the court," she told the Chicago Sun Times. And Tashima did just that with her impressive digs and back line playing that buoyed her sister, Taylor, who was then a senior varsity player. Tashima went on to become co-captain of the New Trier Township's varsity team as a junior, and in her senior year, she was named Conference Player of the Year which is a rare feat for a libero.

Tashima's volleyball varsity career continued well into her Harvard University days. She got into the team as a freshman libero and played against Dartmouth, Cornell, Siena University, and Central Connecticut State University. She impressed everyone with her incredible first year performance, such as bagging the season's highest number of service aces (five) and recording 21 digs in one five-set game against Penn State.

There's no doubt that Isabelle Tashima would have played for Harvard Women's Volleyball until her fourth year. Unfortunately, she had to retire in her junior year because of sustained injuries throughout her years of playing volleyball.

"After five concussions, two-and-a-half years of playing through a herniated disc in my back, and over 25 hours in hyperbaric chambers, I've faced the hardest decision I've ever had to make — I will be medically retiring from the sport that's been my life for as long as I can remember," she announced on Instagram in February 2019. She also thanked her teammates, coaches, and close ones for supporting her throughout her games.

Tashima's position as libero demanded a high level of athleticism as she had to be all over the court, digging, delivering assists, passing to spikers, and hitting service aces. It's a versatile role that takes a toll on even the best of athletes. And to someone as competitive and determined as Tashima, performing well as a libero sometimes means exposing oneself to physical injuries. Bruises are not uncommon for volleyball players, but an athlete can only tolerate injuries to a certain point. Sadly for Tashima, it had to happen when she was only two games in during her junior collegiate year.

Isabelle Tashima's decision to hang up her volleyball jersey mid-year must have been truly difficult because she clearly loves the game. "[Volleyball is] ... the sport that gets me out of bed at 6 a.m.," she once shared on Instagram. Considering her consistency at doing well academically while managing the demanding schedule of a student athlete, Tashima possesses undeniable dedication and passion for volleyball–qualities she shares with her father and sister.

Her sister Taylor Tashima was an excellent volleyball player herself. A skilled setter, she led New Trier to the state championships in 2012, the team's first since 1975. That same year, she captained the United States women's national under-19 volleyball team and won gold at the NORCECA Women's Volleyball Championship in Mexico. She then led the U.S. team at the World Championships in Thailand the following year, where they won silver.

The girls' dad, Paul Tashima, was a coach for the Wildcat Juniors volleyball club teams. He was naturally supportive of his two daughters as they played through high school and college, and, in Taylor's case, with the national team. 

"[Isabelle] grew up all around volleyball, watching my matches and learning the game from our father," Taylor Tashima told The North Shore Weekend. No doubt, the exposure to volleyball at a young age nurtured Isabelle Tashima's interest in playing volleyball as well.

While at New Trier, Isabelle Tashima volunteered at Our Place, an organization in her hometown of Wilmette, that provides assistance and support to teens and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Our Place advocates the integration of people with disabilities into the community. Awareness about their real-life situations and needs, and acceptance are crucial for giving these people as normal a life as possible. Volunteers like Tashima help facilitate activities that encourage interactions between the teens and adults at Our Place with their neighbors and the rest of the New Trier Township community.

Tashima also taught young kids in her community the basics of volleyball, passing on her skills and knowledge of the many techniques she learned from her dad and older sister. She was also a volunteer at Midwest Hospice in Greater Cincinnati, Ohio, providing care and companionship to residents with Alzheimer's and terminal diseases. Finally, in her last year at Harvard University, Tashima served as Director for Pets As Therapy, a U.K.-based charity that advocated the health and wellness benefits of companion animals for students, patients, residents at hospices, and people in prisons.

As shown by her involvement with the organization Pets As Therapy, Isabelle Tashima has a deep fondness for animals, especially dogs. If one looks at her Instagram account, it's usually filled with photos of her travels, family, volleyball team, food, and cute dogs.

In February 2020, Tashima uploaded a photo of her hugging and kissing an adorably chunky baby Labrador retriever on Instagram. She captioned it, "(Future) dog mom." And indeed, one year and eight months later, she got her wish! She and Nick DiGiovanni jointly uploaded photos of their gorgeous new puppy, Pepper. She is a miniature Pomeranian-Siberian Husky mix, a veritable head-turner with her long, black-and-white fur that sticks out in all directions and her striking, icy-blue eyes.

The couple adores their fur baby. The two manage an Instagram account for Pepper, which Tashima has linked on her Instagram bio. She uploads photos of the adorable canine lounging at home with mom and dad, playing with them at the beach, boating, trekking, and going skiing.

Tashima and DiGiovanni used to care for a hamster named Pesto, but he sadly passed away in 2022. At present, the couple pours their affection and care for their remaining pet, and Pepper clearly thrives with all their attention and love.

Isabelle Tashima is an avid traveler. Since graduating from college, she has traveled to many countries and enjoyed the best hotspots and cuisines available. One only has to look at her Instagram account to know so: her feed is a traveler's haven and the envy of any aspiring jet-setter. Tashima shares photos of her enjoying the warm sun on the white-sand beaches of Mexico, going out for cocktails with her family in Cabo, posing on the edge of an infinity pool in Indonesia, diving off a yacht in Positano, Italy, and again in Greece. More recently, Tashima enjoyed authentic Japanese cuisine in Japan, walked the streets of London with DiGiovanni, and saw plenty of art and the beautiful chateaus in France.

When she's not abroad on a vacation, Tashima also enjoys spending time traveling all over the United States. She and her family spend winters on the slopes of Park City, Utah. She enjoys the spas in Utah and Arizona, fruit-picking at a family-run farm in Massachusetts, and sailing with family and friends in Newport, Rhode Island.

Tashima's most frequent travel companions are her boyfriend, Nick DiGiovanni, and their dog, Pepper. She's also often accompanied by her family. It's one of the lovely things about her travel photos: she always appears to have the time of her life in the company of the people she loves.

Late in January 2025, viewers of "The Drew Barrymore Show" noticed that guest chef Nick DiGiovanni made every effort to divert the hosts, Drew Barrymore and Sunny Anderson, from discussion of his love life. DiGiovanni would give short answers to questions about his girlfriend, after which he'd immediately bring their attention back to the recipes he was presenting.

Isabelle Tashima appears to share DiGiovanni's preference for privacy when it comes to her personal life. Tashima's Instagram account is the only platform where she willingly shares parts of her life with the public. Despite her celebrity boyfriend's popularity, which has landed some of the spotlight on herself, Tashima is pretty low-key. She hasn't been in interviews with mainstream media, nor does she rub shoulders with other popular content creators. Like DiGiovanni, she's quiet about her personal life and she adeptly manages her social media such that people see enough of her without revealing too much about her, her boyfriend, or her family.

The little glimpses Tashima has granted to the public about her life, career, and interests gives enough insight into who she is as a person without revealing too much of her private life. She is a trailblazer in her own right.