Archives: Profiles

Kanako Koizumi is a Japanese chef following her dream of bringing authentic Japanese home cooking to Seattle. Kanako’s clients range from the Seattle Japanese Garden, the Gates Foundation, and the Los Angeles Dodgers to everyday Seattleites at home and at work. Kanako loves sharing the culinary traditions she grew up with in the northern prefecture of Akita—combining seasonal ingredients, native tools… Read more

Vindi is a trained baker and a pastry chef originally from Sri Lanka. After migrating to Australia as a software engineer, she gave in to her lifelong passion for baking by attending bakery school in Melbourne. The journey led her to work in renowned artisan bakeries and patisseries in Melbourne and Seattle, where she honed her… Read more

Professional Pastry Chef Thanh was born and raised in Seattle. Thanh (that’s John with a T) always loved to be in the kitchen and aspired to be a teacher since the age of 5. After two years at the University of Washington as a Drama major, Thanh decided that his heart belonged in the culinary… Read more

Jennifer started her gastronomic journey attending Kendall Culinary school in Chicago in the mid 90’s where she soon discovered that most of her favorite things to eat start with celery, carrots and onions; or at the very least, one of the three. She cooked professionally as a caterer, line cook, and pastry apprentice, but never… Read more

James has lent his creative touch to many restaurants in his native Seattle, as well as San Francisco. In San Francisco he worked several positions at Jardinière and then went on to take the sous chef position at the two Michelin-starred seafood restaurant, Aqua. In Seattle, he worked with Jason Wilson at Crush. He then… Read more

Iole credits her love affair with fine Italian cooking to the early teachings of her mother back in her homeland of southern Italy.  After many years of refining her cooking techniques in the United States (and on continuous yearly return trips to Italy), Iole continues to share her sensational Italian cuisines here in Seattle and… Read more

Chef Hend Yahya is a culinary trained professional and graduate. She has trained and worked in various kitchens under Michelin Star chefs as well as high end catering companies. Her love and respect for regional and international cuisines has brought her to work in celebrated food cities such as Paris, Washington DC, Los Angeles, Portland,… Read more

Drew is a Culinary Instructor at Seattle Culinary Academy. Drew grew up surrounded by farms in the heart of Oregon wine country. His childhood was spent eating cornbread and fried chicken cooked by his southern grandmas. He started cooking in his uncle’s restaurant in high school and fell in love with the hospitality industry. He… Read more

Baylor is a Chef-Instructor for Seattle Culinary Academy, where he instructs future professional bakers on breads, viennoiserie, and all manners of fermentation. Baylor is an alumni of the pastry program at SCA, he was the executive pastry chef at Choukette, an eclair shop in the heart of Pike’s Place Market, sous chef at Bakery Nouveau,… Read more

Barbara grew up in a large Italian family in Chicago cooking with her mother, grandmother and aunts where huge Sunday dinners lasted for hours.  After ditching a career as a chemical engineer, she returned to her culinary roots and graduated with honors from the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco.  She went on to work… Read more