Lets Cook

Greg Hanle

Patricia — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 21:10:29 +0000

Greg Hanle is an instructor for the Culinary Arts program at Cabrillo College. He teaches the Meat Cutting and Sausage Making class during the Fall semester and the Thursday Basic Culinary Arts Lab, a lunch shift in the student run fine dining restaurant. As an instructor for the Meat Cutting and Sausage Making class, Greg has taken a keen interest in the foundations of charcuterie, especially with advanced techniques in cured and dried meats.

Greg has many years of experience working in local Santa Cruz restaurants and has been teaching in the Culinary Arts program since 2010. Eager to learn and expand his areas of expertise, he is quick to offer a hand in any class, such as the History of Sauces class last spring.

In addition to teaching Culinary Arts, Greg teaches Economics at Cabrillo College and San Jose State University, where he earned his M.A in Economics.

May Let’s Cook Newsletter

Vicki Winters — Fri, 18 May 2012 21:34:29 +0000

Check out our May newsletter for all the latest news, including our featured recipe from Mediterranean 101: Fennel Stuffed Seared Artichokes!… Read the rest

David Graham

Patricia — Thu, 17 May 2012 18:04:53 +0000

David Graham has been making sushi in the Santa Cruz area since the early 1990′s, and has managed and created the menu for several of Santa Cruz County’s most successful sushi bars.
He currently is sushi bar manager and executive sushi chef at Geisha Sustainable Sushi in Capitola Village, Santa Cruz County’s first sustainable sushi bar.

Marisa Johnston

Patricia — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 19:11:02 +0000

Making it easy for people to eat well is my calling in life.

As a Private Chef, I want to make sure you and your family have healthy, yummy food to eat at the end of a busy day. Cooking what you want to have for dinner is something I put my heart into.

As a Caterer, I LOVE to give parties. When someone would like to have a gathering, I come in and we create a fun, festive feast together for their guests and them to enjoy—anywhere from 2 people to 200. I can handle everything from appetizers, to linens, to wine glasses, to party favors.

Sourcing local, seasonal ingredients is important to me and easy in a place like Santa Cruz. I have relationships with many local farms and artisan producers.

Working for Disney Studios for many years, I felt creatively at a crossroads. After entering and placing in a grilled cheese contest, I was inspired to take it professional. I graduated from California School of Culinary Arts Le Cordon Bleu program in Pasadena in 2000.

I worked as a Chef for Fetzer Vineyards in Mendocino with John Ash as my mentor right out of school. I had the joy of working with Emeril Lagasse at many events there during that time and enjoyed their 5-acre organic garden.

As a Sous Chef at Soif in Santa Cruz, I enjoyed the first year of the restaurant being open and then I moved back north.

I helped build & opened Barndiva in Healdsburg as Executive Chef. We received SF Chronicle 4-stars and were on Michael Bauer’s Top 100 List for 2005.

Then I moved south again and was the Executive Chef Costanoa, helping to create Cascade Restaurant.

Craving a change from the restaurant scene, I followed many area chefs to Google, where I ran a vegan gluten-free cafe for a year.

Currently, I have my own company, by Marisa, in Santa Cruz. I cook for private clients and enjoy catering for all kinds of events, from 2-200.

Kevin Koebel

Patricia — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 23:57:00 +0000

Kevin Koebel aka-The Rogue Chef has been in active pursuit of the simple premise that food should be uncompromisingly unaltered, fresh, sustainable, and local. Be it as a child on his family farm, an internationally trained chef, the proprietor of a food education center and restaurant in Half Moon Bay, CA, a collaborator with farmers and food purveyors globally, or as a food historian and pioneer of the slow food movement, Kevin has consistently inspired dialogue and raised consciousness about food origins and farm-to-table practices. Whether discussing farming principals with farmers in the field, utilizing the kitchen to train anyone from elementary school-aged children to corporate leadership teams, or cooking for private events, Kevin’s passion for his vision, his no nonsense style and rye sense of humor allows for open dialogue and advocacy for change in the way we all eat. Kevin also founded Local F.A.T.T (Food awareness through teaching) www.localfatt.com

Rebecca Mastoris

Patricia — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 20:41:27 +0000

Rebecca Mastoris has been active in the restaurant and catering business for many years. Her passion for healthy food from a healthy farm system is her driving force. She takes pleasure in her relationships with local organic farmers, selecting from the wonderful, seasonally available foods, creating beautiful and delicious meals.

Rebecca has been cooking professionally for 40 years as both a restaurant owner and currently a caterer at www.vibrantfoodscatering.com She is currently an instructor of culinary arts at Bauman College of Holistic Nutrition in Santa Cruz, Ca. She is a nutrition consultant and educator, as well as the recipe guru for the Live Earth Farm weekly CSA newsletter.

Curt Pieratt

Patricia — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 23:39:49 +0000

Curt graduated from the California Culinary Academy in 1989. He has cooked in restaurants all around the world including a 6 year stint in Indonesia, a year in Venezuela, eight in the Caribbean and the South of France where he was a private executive chef for a wealthy movie producer (involved most notably in the the movies Scarface and Rocky) In the not so distant past Curt owned a healthy Seafood Restaurant in Los Gatos. When Curt became a dad, long hours in a restaurant and his cooking career took the the back burner so he could be more involved with his son. Since that time Curt has opened a happening and successful coffee house in Live Oak, Peoples Coffee. Curt is charismatic, knowledgeable and passionate about food and cooking.

Give a Let’s Cook Gift Certificate!

Vicki Winters — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 23:34:58 +0000

Give a gift certificate redeemable for class registration at Let’s Cook. Please submit the form below, then check out securely with Paypal to complete the gift certificate purchase.

Check out the write up..

Vicki Winters — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 22:40:07 +0000

New Cooking School in Soquel Caters to the Home Chef

In January, classes will begin at Let’s Cook!, which aims to fill the void of recreational culinary classes in Santa Cruz County.

Jonathan Miller

Patricia — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 03:59:18 +0000

Jonathan’s not-so-secret mission in life is to see everyone eat well, especially at home. For over 13 years he has cooked in clients’ homes and worked small events and parties. His focus is healthful, seasonal, family centered cooking with the occasional high end wine or beer pairing dinner thrown in. He cooks for anyone in the area and provides private cooking classes as well. See his website eatrightathome

Most of his cooking career has been in the Monterey Bay area where he has been able to work very closely with smaller farmers, smaller ranchers, and have access to quality cheeses from the greater west coast area. He also writes the recipe column for the Mariquita Farm weekly newsletter, with recipes utilizing the farm’s weekly harvest.

Jonathan spent nearly four years out of the area, cooking for producer J.J. Abrams, then actress Charlize Theron, in Los Angeles – a fun time for him, less fun for his spouse! He has two young children who are constantly critiquing and challenging his cooking and eating traditions. His classes are entertaining and interactive, with practical and useful recipes for attendees to take home.