Chefs | Tante Marie's Cooking School San Francisco

Sasha Crehan

SASHA CREHAN is the Chef/Instructor for Tante Marie's Six-Month Part-Time Pastry Course. After graduating from the course herself in 1995, Sasha has been a pastry chef in various restaurants in the Bay Area; opened Sweet Adeline Bakeshop in Berkeley; and has given private pastry classes on a freelance basis; as well as baked wedding and specialty cakes to order. She is a caring and very capable pastry teacher.

Jim Dodge

JIM DODGE is best known in the Bay Area as the former Pastry Chef of The Stamford Court Hotel. Since leaving there 10 years ago, he has been senior vice president of New England Culinary Institute; food and beverage manager of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; and he is now in San Francisco working as the Director of the Specialty Culinary Programs of Bon Appetit Management Company. He is the author of BAKING WITH JIM DODGE, and THE AMERICAN BAKER (Simon & Schuster).

Laurie Gauguin

Tante Marie graduate LAURIE GAUGUIN is a personal chef and kitchen coach specializing in gluten-free and special diets. Her passion is creating gluten-free meals that are so delicious and creative, that
her clients no longer crave foods that contain wheat. Laurie has cooked and baked professionally for 16 years for caterers, restaurants, and doctors in Boston and the Bay Area. Her recipes and food writing have appeared in publications such as VEGETARIAN TIMES, DELICIOUS LIVING, and 7X7 Magazine. We welcome her back to Tante Marie's.

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 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.

Laxmi Hiremath

LAXMI HIREMATH has over 15 years of experience writing about and teaching Indian Cooking. She teaches family recipes with creative adaptation learned by observing the classic styles of her grandmother and mother. She is a columnist for THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE and 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. She is also the creator of LAXMI'S DELIGHTS.

Malcolm Jessop

MALCOLM JESSOP comes to San Francisco with over 30 years of experience in fine dining restaurants and hotels. A graduate of Westminster Culinary School, he completed a 4-year apprenticeship at London's Grosvenor House. It was in his two-year stay in France that he truly learned to appreciate cooking with the freshest seasonal ingredients from local farmers markets. He has moved here from Chicago with experience in food development, teaching cooking, and catering private events. He is a great addition to Tante Marie's.

Joyce Jue

JOYCE JUE is an authority on Chinese and Southeast Asian cuisines. A native San Franciscan, Joyce learned traditional Chinese cooking from her mother and grandmother. Her Asian food expertise is continually expanded through her travel amd research throughout Southeast Asia and China. She has been writing and teaching since 1983. Her cookbooks include SAVORING SOUTHEAST ASIA. She has also written about food for many national and local publications including the SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE. We welcome back to Tante Marie's.

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, caterer and 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. Eight years ago she opened INSALATA'S in San Anselmo, which serves fabulous Mediterranean food in a warm, friendly atmosphere. This year she opened her second resturant MARINITAS, also in San Anselmo which specialized in Latin flavors. Her classes are always fun!

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. She has studied with Lydie Marshall in Provence, Anna Tasca Lanza in Sicily, and most recently in Turkey. She is a terrific cook and teacher - her students love her energy and enthusiasm.

Shelley Lindgren

SHELLEY LINDGREN is co-owner and wine director of A16 and SPQR in San Francisco. She is also a graduate of Tante Marie's Cooking School. As a native of the Bay Area, Shelley has been in the restaurant business for eighteen years. Before opening A16 and SPQR, she was a sommelier at Bacar and worked in the dining rooms of Fleur de Lys, Boulevard, and Left Bank. Shelley was named Best Wine Director 2005 by SAN FRANCISCO MAGAZINE. Last year she and her co-author received awards from both the IACP and The James Beard Foundation for their cookbook, A16 FOOD & WINE. This year Shelley was nominated for the Outstanding Wine Service Award from the James Beard Foundation.

Kate McMillan

KATE McMILLAN graduated from the Six-Month Full-Time Culinary Course at Tante Marie's in 2002. She is the chef and owner of KATE McMILLAN CATERING, where she handles everything from intimate dinner parties for eight to hors d'oeuvre soirees for four hundred. Kate is currently authoring a book for Williams-Sonoma which will be released this year. Her passion is to teach you a love of cooking and enjoying food. Her website is www.katemcmillancatering.com.

Carlo Middione

CARLO MIDDIONE was the well-known Chef/Owner of VIVANDE PORTA VIA on Fillmore Street for 24 years. 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.

Jen Nurse

JEN NURSE owned a high-end specialty cake bakery in Seattle for several years. She has a very strong background in all things cake/cupcakes/dessertbuffets (tartlets, cookies, truffles, pies) and is really looking forward to showing people her skills at Tante Marie's. She has lots of experience dealing with clients and students. We welcome her to Tante Marie's.

Alex Ong

ALEX ONG is the popular and talented Executive Chef of BETELNUT on Union Street. A native of Malaysia and a frequent traveller to Asia, he loves to share his knowledge of Pan-Asian Cuisines with his students. He brings 25 years of kitchen experience to his classes.

Mary Risley

MARY RISLEY started Tante Marie's Cooking School as a full-time School over 30 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. In 2008 she received the Jefferson Award in San Francisco for Food Runners. She is the author of THE TANTE MARIE'S COOKING SCHOOL COOKBOOK published by Simon & Schuster in 2003.

James Schenk

JAMES SCHENK is the chef/owner of the very popular restaurant DESTINA (www.destino.com) on Market Street and lounge next door called PISCO LATIN LOUNGE (www.piscosf.com). He is a San Francisco native with deep family roots in Peru and Europe. After graduation from culinary school in Vancouver, he worked at Zuni for 1 1/2 years before opening his bistro. He has--over the last 16 years--consistently applied his personal vision of modern Latino cooking food and drink making his cuisine and cocktails on the cutting edge of culinary trends. We welcome him to Tante Marie's.

Maritess Tse

MARITESS TSE was an outstanding student in the Culinary Course at Tante Marie's four years ago. Since then she has cooked at NOPA. She started out as a prep cook; then on the cold line; then on the
grill; and now she is in charge of the kitchens in the days. We think she will be a energetic and fun addition to the roster of teachers at Tante Marie's.

Frank Villa

FRANK VILLA is the chef of MARINITA'S in San Anselmo. He grew up in a Mexican family in Fresno, attended Contra Costa College, and cooked in many restaurants and hotels in the San Bernardino and the Bay Area, including Margaritaville, Lark Creek Inn, Cafe One, Insalata's, and Mamacito's on Chestnut St. He will bring alot of knowledge and skiils to his demonstrations of his native cuisine.

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 takes full responsibility for the Six-Month Full-Time Culinary Course and gives the demonstrations on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons unless otherwise noted. Click here to watch Frances' Video: Cutting Up Chicken

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!