Our instructors

Jennifer Adler, M.S., C.N.
Jennifer Adler, M.S., C.N., holds a master’s degree from Bastyr University. She has a mind-body approach to nutrition, integrating her training in Ayurveda and spirituality, health and medicine. She ...
[learn more about Jennifer Adler]

Iole Aguero
Iole Aguero credits her love affair with fine Italian cooking to the teachings of her mother in her homeland of southern Italy. After 25 years of refining her cooking techniques in the United States ...
[learn more about Iole Aguero]

Shauna James Ahern
Shauna James Ahern has loved food all her life. In May of 2005, she was diagnosed with celiac disease, a fate which she joyfully embraced. Since going gluten-free, she has started a successful Web ...
[learn more about Shauna James Ahern]

Daniel Ahern
Daniel Ahern has been a chef all his adult life, most notably at Gramercy Tavern in New York, Papillon in Denver, and Cassis Bistro in Seattle. He is currently the executive chef at Impromptu Bistro ...
[learn more about Daniel Ahern]

Birgitte Antonsen, N.T.P.
Birgitte Antonsen, N.T.P., is a graduate of the Natural Gourmet Institute and is a certified nutritional therapist in Washington state. Birgitte is also certified in Denmark as a practitioner of ...
[learn more about Birgitte Antonsen]

Lee Baker
Lee Baker’s passion for cooking began at an early age while helping her grandmother prepare the delicious homemade meals for their family-owned Okemo Lantern Lodge. She graduated from the Culinary ...
[learn more about Lee Baker]

Anne Bly
Anne Bly learned the joys of cooking for a crowd from being raised in a family that had monthly dinners where all were expected to contribute. Even though she is not formally trained, except for a ...
[learn more about Anne Bly]

Carlie Bockelman
Carlie Bockelman’s passion for vegetables and seasonal cooking sprouted while growing up on a farm in Fall City. Her eclectic cuisine taste has blossomed through frequent entertaining and ...
[learn more about Carlie Bockelman]

Goldie Caughlan
Goldie Caughlan, PCC’s Nutrition Education Manager, founded the FoodWorks program (now PCC Cooks) in 1983. Goldie writes, does staff training and consulting, and teaches the Walk, Talk and Taste ...
[learn more about Goldie Caughlan]

P.J. Cawley
P.J. Cawley has been working with fresh produce ever since he attended business school at the University of Washington, and he is currently the produce coordinator at the PCC Redmond store. He ...
[learn more about P.J. Cawley]

Christina Chung
Christina Chung was born and raised in Hong Kong, where she learned to cook from her grandparents. She studied Japanese cooking in Tokyo, and French cooking at Le Cordon Bleu, Japan. She also took ...
[learn more about Christina Chung]

Vida Collery
Vida Collery is a professional chef, caterer and party planner and has cooked at the PCC Fremont deli since 1994. Vida balances her time between cooking and art, creating colorful and whimsical ...
[learn more about Vida Collery]

Rita Condon
Rita Condon is a graduate of Bastyr University with a degree in nutrition, and has worked at PCC since 1990. She has a passionate interest in natural foods and has been a vegetarian for 24 years. She’...
[learn more about Rita Condon]

Jeff Cox
Jeff Cox’s enological epiphany occurred with a bottle of Côtes du Rhône on the walls surrounding Avignon, France. With more than 20 years in the wine and food business, seeking wines with character, ...
[learn more about Jeff Cox]

Marie Donadio
Marie Donadio is known to friends and family as the Soup Queen. Marie believes that delicious, home-cooked foods can be a calming facet of our busy lives. While trying to keep her life and her ...
[learn more about Marie Donadio]

Seppo Farrey
Seppo Farrey is a culinary instructor, personal chef and author with more than 25 years of experience in the culinary field, and a background in nutrition science. His cookbook, “3 Bowls: Vegetarian ...
[learn more about Seppo Farrey]

Krista Fay
Krista Fay is a Northwest native who was born in Seattle and studied English literature at Whitman College. She is a passionate organic gardener and a dedicated rower, competing nationally with ...
[learn more about Krista Fay]

Julie Filips
Julie Filips is a culinary instructor, caterer and personal chef who received her culinary arts degree from the Seattle Culinary Academy, where she refined and expanded her knowledge of Northwest ...
[learn more about Julie Filips]

Alicia Guy
Alicia Guy has been working for PCC since 1997. With two young children, she is always practicing inviting and fun ways to introduce healthful foods into family mealtimes. She feels that early ...
[learn more about Alicia Guy]

Pranee Halvorsen
Pranee Halvorsen learned to cook from her mother and grandmother in Phuket, Thailand. When she came to Seattle, she brought her mortar and pestle and began cooking for friends. She is now a member of ...
[learn more about Pranee Halvorsen]

Maria Hines
Maria Hines was named one of Food & Wine magazine’s top ten best new chefs in America in 2005. In a recent article by the food critic of the New York Times, her restaurant, Tilth, was selected as one ...
[learn more about Maria Hines]

Jenny Hurst
Jenny Hurst trained as a personal chef at The School of Natural Cookery in Boulder, Colo.  Her passions include exploring new places, being outdoors and sampling fun foods along the way. One of her ...
[learn more about Jenny Hurst]

Ami Karnosh, M.S.
Ami Karnosh, M.S., is a certified nutritionist with a private practice in Seattle. She loves cooking and encouraging people to take control of their own health though good food. Ami lives in Kenmore, ...
[learn more about Ami Karnosh]

Trina Kaufman
Trina Kaufman is a graduate student in nutrition and psychology at Bastyr University. Her passions include art, yoga, guitar, travel, playing in the woods, and cooking with fresh foods that nourish ...
[learn more about Trina Kaufman]

Kanako Koizumi
Kanako Koizumi is from Akita in northern Japan. She started cooking when she was in the third grade to help her working mother. She is a caterer and personal chef who has a passion for food and loves ...
[learn more about Kanako Koizumi]

Cynthia Lair
Cynthia Lair has been coordinating and teaching the cooking program at Bastyr University since 1994. She also teaches for the new University of Washington School of Nursing CAM certificate program. ...
[learn more about Cynthia Lair]

Karen Lamphere, M.S., C.N.
Karen Lamphere, M.S., C.N., holds a master’s degree in nutrition from Bastyr University and is passionate about whole, natural foods. Karen believes that good nutrition is the foundation for optimal ...
[learn more about Karen Lamphere]

Fernanda Larson
Fernanda Larson is a holistic nutrition counselor and natural foods chef. Born and raised in Brazil to an Italian family of bakers, winemakers and restaurateurs, culinary experimentation is ingrained ...
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Julianne Stutzman Mai
Julianne Stutzman Mai has been a health-promoting, whole foods enthusiast for many years and has a wide range of knowledge and experience as a registered nurse as well as a massage therapist. She ...
[learn more about Julianne Stutzman Mai]

Hai En Mai
Hai En Mai has been practicing and teaching the macrobiotic diet and Chinese nutritional therapies for healing and prevention for many years. He studied macrobiotics at the Kushi Institute and has ...
[learn more about Hai En Mai]

Katherine Oldfield, N.D.
Katherine Oldfield, N.D., has been practicing naturopathic medicine for six years. She is an avid cook and gardener, and is passionate about teaching her patients about nutrition by sharing delicious ...
[learn more about Katherine Oldfield]

Lisa Palmatier
Lisa Palmatier has been teaching for 15 years, and is constantly surprised by the imagination of children and their eagerness to learn new things. Cooking whole foods and living a healthy lifestyle ...
[learn more about Lisa Palmatier]

Robert Petersen
Robert Petersen grew up surrounded by vineyards in California’s Livermore Valley and later worked at a winery in Sonoma County back when top Napa Cabernet was $7.99. He has worked for PCC since 1980 ...
[learn more about Robert Petersen]

Walter Pisano
Walter Pisano is a longtime fixture on the Northwest restaurant scene, most notably at Tulio Ristorante, where he is executive chef. Through traditional apprenticeships, he trained in classical ...
[learn more about Walter Pisano]

Tiffany Pollard
Tiffany Pollard is a Bastyr University graduate and a Chinese medicine practitioner. She has studied the energetic and healing properties of foods for years. In her practice, she encourages her ...
[learn more about Tiffany Pollard]

Jayesh Rao
Jayesh Rao was born in Nairobi, Kenya, and grew up in an Indian household. This unusual background was the basis of his culinary training and allowed him to become adventurous with all forms of ...
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Omid Roustaei, M.A.
Omid Roustaei, M.A., is a psychotherapist, culinary instructor and yoga teacher. He holds a master’s degree from Bastyr University and is a faculty member at the School of Natural Cookery in Boulder, ...
[learn more about Omid Roustaei]

Scott Samuel
Scott Samuel, formerly sous chef at the acclaimed Herbfarm restaurant, is the chef instructor for fine dining at the Seattle Culinary Academy, and has his own company, Simply Brilliant, for private ...
[learn more about Scott Samuel]

Becky Selengut
Becky Selengut is a graduate of the Seattle Culinary Academy, and started her career cooking at PCC. She has taught cooking and worked on PBS cooking shows, at the Herbfarm restaurant, La Spiga, and ...
[learn more about Becky Selengut]

Lynne Vea
Lynne Vea is a graduate of the Executive Chef Program at Le Cordon Bleu, Paris. She has been in the restaurant and catering industry for more than 20 years and has worked as an executive chef for ...
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Roxanne Vierra
Roxanne Vierra has traveled through 19 countries, enjoying their varied cuisines and bringing back many exciting food ideas. She loves sharing the gift of food through thoughtful choices, healthy ...
[learn more about Roxanne Vierra]

Christine Weiss
Christine Weiss is a Seattle-area culinary instructor who holds a master’s degree in nutrition from Bastyr University. When not cycling around Puget Sound or pouring wine for tourists in Woodinville, ...
[learn more about Christine Weiss]