Farina Achuck

FARINA ACHUCK was raised in a traditional Cantonese family in San Francisco and travelled extensively in Southeast Asia. After graduating from the Full-Time Culinary Course at Tante Marie's, she attended the Hong Kong Kowloon Restaurant School in Hong Kong and the Oriental Hotel Thai Cooking School in Bangkok. Farina specializes in French and Asian Cooking and integrates Asian ingredients with western cuisine in many of her classes. Farina has been teaching at Tante Marie's for many years and is a dedicated teacher.

Jennifer Altman

JENNIFER ALTMAN has been baking since she was eight years old. She studied food science and microbiology as an undergraduate and worked for many years in molecular biology. In 2003 she graduated from the baking and pastry program of the California Culinary Academy and is currently the pastry chef of Bay Wolf in Oakland. She is a passionate and dedicated teacher of pastry.

Penelope Alzamora

PENELOPE ALZAMORA, a native of Peru, loves to share her knowledge of cooking with others. After graduating from Newbury College in Boston, she attended Johnson & Whales. She has been in the catering and restaurant business ever since. In 1995 she and her partners started BOHEMIA, which now has four locations in Lima and Chile. She is a talented and enthusiastic teacher.

Mary Evely

MARY EVELY was a winery chef in Sonoma County for over 20 years, during which time she pursued the study of food and wine pairing. She now teaches this at Santa Rosa Junior College Culinary Center; at UC Davis Extension; as well as at various wineries and restaurants. She is the author of the VINTNERS TABLE COOKBOOK, which is being revised and will be available soon. Her classes are very interesting.

Bob Helstrom

BOB HELSTROM has 25 years experience in the restaurant business. After twelve years as executive chef of KULETO'S on Powell Street, he left to work as a corporate chef for Kimco. He returned two years ago to KULETO'S and is making all kinds of salumi from hogs. (See Tante Marie's December 2007 Newsletter for the kinds of preserved pork items you can eat at Kuleto's). He not only loves hogs and what he can make with them, but he loves to share his knowledge.

Margaret Hemley

MARGARET HEMLEY, a graduate of the Six-Month Full-Time Culinary Course at Tante Marie's,  cooked for a year at Insalata's in San Anselmo.  At the School,  she has taught Basics,  Entertaining,  and cooking parties.  She loves to share her knowledge and enthusiasm for food with her students.

Laxmi Hiremath

LAXMI HIREMATH has over 15 years of experience writing about and teaching Indian Cooking. She teaches family recipes with creative adaptations learned by observing the classic styles of her grandmother and mother. She is a columnist for THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE an is Food Editor of INDIA CURRENTS. Her first cookbook was LAXMI'S VEGETARIAN KITCHEN (Harlow & Ratner, 1995). THE DANCE OF SPICES, CLASSIC INDIAN COOKING FOR TODAY'S HOME KITCHEN was published last year by John Wiley & Sons.

Jen Knapp

JEN KNAPP worked at various Bay Area restaurants and in Ketchum's Food and Nutrition Marketing Group after graduating from the Six-Month Full-Time Culinary Course at Tante Marie's Cooking School. For the past several years, she has been a personal chef and a party class teacher. Her classes are very informative, and she enjoys sharing her love of cooking with others.

Heidi Krahling

HEIDI KRAHLING trained at Tante Marie's after running her own restaurant in San Luis Obispo. From here she went on to cook at Square One, become the executive chef of Butler's in Mill Valley, and then of Smith Ranch in Marin County. Ten years ago she opened INSALATA'S in San Anselmo, which serves fabulous Mediterranean food in a warm, friendly atmosphere.

Jessica Lasky

JESSICA LASKY graduated from the Full-Time Culinary Course at Tante Marie's after being sous-chef at the Restaurant Enoteca in the East Bay. Specializing in Mediterranean cooking, she has been teaching at Tante Marie's for ten years and she runs a very successful catering business. She has also studied cooking in Provence, Sicily, and Turkey. She is a terrific cook and teacher—her students love her energy and style.

Jodi Liano

JODI LIANO graduated from the Six-Months Full-Time Culinary Course of Tante Marie's several years ago and has since worked in many aspects of the food business. She has spent time in the kitchens of THE FOOD NETWORK in New York City, on the line at Rose Pistola retaurant here in San Francisco and worked many hours with Mary Risley testing the recipes for THE TANTE MARIE'S COOKING SCHOOL COOKBOOK. Her true passion is teaching cooking, particularly classes relating to cooking and entertaining at home. Her focus in on making the kitchen an approachable and fun place for everyone.

Shelley Lindgren

SHELLEY LINDGREN opened the popular A16 on Chestnut Street in February 2004. It has been chosen over and over as an outstanding San Francisco restaurant. In preparation for opening her own Italian-inspired restaurant with a fantastic selection of little known Italian wines, Shelley worked for six years at Fleur de Lys, as well as spending time at Masa's, Boulevard, and Bacar. She is a graduate of Tante Marie's Cooking School. Her newest restaurant SPQR which opened this year on Fillmore Street has been really well received.

Alice Medrich

ALICE MEDRICH founded COCOLAT in 1976, a world-famous store specializing in chocolates and desserts. Alice has been written up in many food magazines. Her cookbooks, COCOLAT, CHOCOLATE AND THE ART OF LOW-FAT DESSERTS, and BITTERSWEET were named cookbook of the year by the James Beard Foundation and received Awards from the IACP. Her most recent book is PURE DESSERTS (Artisan), which is a pure delight!

Carlo Middione

CARLO MIDDIONE is the well-known Chef/Owner of VIVANDE PORTA VIA on Fillmore Street. He has taught at the California Culinary Academy, done television series on Italian cooking, and written several books. Everyone at Tante Marie's loves his classes.

Meg Ray

MEG RAY is the very creative owner of MIETTE, the fabulous patisserie in the Ferry Building. She started baking as a child and is totally self-taught. In the fall of 2001, she started selling her cakes and cupcakes SF Ferry Plaza Farmers Market In October of 2003 she opened her full-time shop inside. We are really looking forward to her a candy shop which opened last year in Hayes Valley.

Mary Risley

MARY RISLEY started Tante Marie's Cooking School as a full-time School over 25 years ago. In 1997, she was honored "The Cooking Teacher of the Year" by BON APPETIT magazine. In 1998, she was awarded "Humanitarian of the Year" by the James Beard Foundation, for her efforts to help alleviate hunger in San Francisco, through the volunteer organization she directs called Food Runners. She is the author of THE TANTE MARIE'S COOKING SCHOOL COOKBOOK published by Simon & Schuster in 2003.

Tori Ritchie

TORI RITCHIE graduated from Tante Marie's Cooking School and has taught cooking and food writing classes at the School for many years. She spent 20 years as a cookbook author and editor, was the food editor of SAN FRANCISCO MAGAZINE, and is a frequent contributor to BON APPETIT. Tori hosts the Five-Minute Cooking School on THE CBS EARLY SHOW and was host of Ultimate Kitchens on the FOOD NETWORK. Her latest cookbook is BRAISING AND STEWING; Everyday Slow-Cooked Recipes (Chronicle 2006).

Juliana Urubura

JULIANA URUBURA has been involved in the Bay Area food scene for the past fifteen years. She is currently the program director and cheese buyer for THE PASTA SHOP. She loves to share her knowledge of cheeses, affinage, and cooking with cheese; and she has given classes at the Napa Valley Cooking School, Sur La Table, and a Cote.

Frances Wilson

FRANCES WILSON has 20 years of experience both as a chef and a teacher. She was educated in her native Ireland to be a home economics teacher, was the chef of LALIME'S in Berkeley for 10 years, and has been a private chef and teacher at a chateau in the south of france for the last five years. She is takes full responsibility for the Six-Month Full-Time Culinary Course and gives the demonstrations on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons unless otherwise noted.

Tom Worthington

TOM WORTHINGTON graduated from the culinary program at City College over 20 years ago. He is the partner with Paul Johnson of the MONTEREY FISH CO., which for 30 years has been the best purveyor of fresh fish and seafood to the Bay Area's best restaurants. He is a great teacher!