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Our instructors
Our seasoned instructors and chefs have been chosen to be a part of PCC Cooks because of their culinary expertise and sincere enthusiasm and talent for teaching. Along with great cooking ideas, our instructors will share helpful nutrition advice and give you beyond-the-basics ways to incorporate your classroom experiences into your everyday cooking.
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 many years of refining her cooking techniques in the United ...
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Paola Albanesi
Paola Albanesi grew up in Milan in a family devoted to making good food; her parents owned a gelato store for 20 years. She spent most of her life in the kitchen cooking with mama and nonna first, ...
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Birgitte Antonsen
Birgitte Antonsen, NTP, cultivated her love of great food and food preparation as a youngster in her native Denmark. She is a graduate of the Natural Gourmet Institute in New York and is a certified ...
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Michelle Babb, M.S., R.D.
Michelle Babb, M.S., R.D., is an adjunct professor at Bastyr University and has her own nutrition practices in West Seattle and Wallingford. She specializes in therapeutic, family-focused nutrition ...
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Dylan Beal
Dylan Beal literally grew up in the wine business and speaks the language of wine in all its dialects as fluently as he speaks French. An aficionado of the Old world, with a vast knowledge of the ...
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Karista Bennett
Passionate about great food, nutrition and the magical dining experience, Karista has worked as a personal chef and culinary instructor for 12 years. She loves to take fresh, local ingredients and ...
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Travis Bettinson
Travis Bettinson has worked on a family farm in New Hampshire and restaurants in Newport, R.I., and Boston. Last summer, he cycled across the country with a program called Bike & Build. If ...
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Erica Boberg
Erica Boberg’s love of wine and beer goes hand in hand with her love of food, cooking and anything local. Wherever she travels you will find her seeking out the local brews, walking the rows of ...
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Jason Brzozowy
Jason Brzozwy's interest in food began at a young age from watching Jacques Pepin, Julia Child, and "Great Chefs, Great Cities" on PBS. Originally from Milwaukee, he attended the University ...
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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 ...
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Erin Coopey
Erin Coopey is a chef, writer and food photographer. Her passion has always been food. By age 4, she was already playing hostess when visitors popped by – much to her mother’s dismay. She’s molded ...
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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, ...
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Catherine Donaldson
Catherine Donaldson in an Australian who immigrated to the United States in 1981. She hails from a line of good home cooks and small business caterers, and honed her baking and pastry skills ...
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Rachel Duboff
Rachel Duboff is the owner of Thyme to Nourish, a personal chef and food education service focused on whole foods and healthy eating. Trained at the culinary arts program at the Seattle Art Institute,...
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Seppo Farrey
Seppo Farrey is a culinary instructor, personal chef and author with more than 30 years' experience in the culinary fileld, and a background in exercise physiology and nutrition science. His first ...
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Ariel Fishman-Larsh
Ariel Fishman-Larsh has worked in the service industry for ten years, doing everything from baking to serving. After working for several years as a cook, she attended the California Culinary Academy ...
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Denise Fong
Denise Fong has been a cooking enthusiast for many years, and her road to a healthier lifestyle is something she enthusiastically shares with others. She is from a large family, and learned early on ...
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Jackie Freeman
Jackie Freeman has been cooking professionally in restaurants, catering companies and private kitchens for more than 12 years. During the last several, she has transitioned from the kitchen to the ...
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Darin Gagner
Darin Gagner grew up in Eastern Washington on a small organic farm that his father tended. He has worked in restaurants for 12 years, including many notable Seattle establishments such as Carmelita ...
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Maria Galvao
Maria Galvao is a native Portuguese who grew up in West Africa, and is a parent passionate about cooking and baking. She believes that these activities enhance creativity and promote sharing in ...
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Devra Gartenstein
Devra Gartenstein is the owner of The Patty Pan Grill, Seattle’s oldest farmers market concession. She is also the author of two cookbooks, “The Accidental Vegan” and “Local Bounty: Seasonal Vegan ...
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Sureyya Gokeri
Sureyya Gokeri is from Turkey close to the Syrian border on the coast, where Turkish food is a blend of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern styles. She loves the richness and uniqueness of her culture ...
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Anne Haerle
Anne Haerle is a wellness chef and healthy eating coach. She started her health coaching business, Your Inspired Chef, to help busy professionals and endurance athletes get healthy and stay healthy. ...
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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 ...
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Stephen Johnson
Stephen Johnson came into the wine industry via the world of espresso, two passions that go hand in hand. He got his wine training one bottle at a time, with the help of some very knowledgeable ...
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Ami Karnosh
Ami Karnosh, M.S., is a certified nutritionist, author of the children's book, Let's Eat: A Book About Food, and co-founder of the Yummy Mummy Baking Company. Ami loves cooking and encouraging people ...
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Dawnula Koukol
Dawnula Koukol realized her connection and passion for food at a very early age, while growing up on a ranch in rural Montana. She enjoyed working with her mother in the garden as well as baking ...
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Karen Lamphere
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 ...
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Sally Lee
Sally Lee spent many hours with her grandmother helping her make authentic Korean dishes and sauces. She was at her side, from crushing soybeans for making soy sauce to preparing cabbage to for the ...
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Candyce Mason
Candyce Mason, M.S., is a mid-life career changer with a passion for people, food and community. She earned a Master’s degree in Nutrition at Bastyr University, and her philosophy is “Real food first,...
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Hannah Morgan
Hannah Morgan earned her cooking stripes preparing meals for the most demanding critics: her two young children. She loves exposing kids to new flavors and helping them learn to prepare food for ...
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Marcia Newlands
Marcia Newlands owned and operated the Savory Gourmet, a successful Seattle catering company, for five years before heading to Morocco to serve in the Peace Corps for two years. She has worked in ...
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Leif Olson
The roots of Leif Olson's affinity for great food started in rural Kitsap County where his family raised and grew lots of the food they prepared and ate. From chickens, ducks and livestock to acres ...
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Yary Oslund
Yary Oslund is a Cuban national who came to the United States in 2003. She acquired her love and respect for food from her mother, who has been a chef for 40 years. Trained at Le Cordon Bleu College ...
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Lisa Palmatier
Lisa Palmatier has been teaching for more than 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 ...
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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 ...
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Laurie Pfalzer
Laurie Pfalzer encourages lively discussions with students about baking and pastry technique, seasonal produce and specialty products, and is passionate about teaching not only the “how,” but the “...
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Kate Pierce
Kate Pierce is a transplant from California wine country, and studied winemaking at the Northwest Wine Academy at South Seattle Community College. She spent some time assisting winemakers in ...
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Cristina Rebellon
Cristina Rebellon grew up as the youngest of five children in a northern suburb of Chicago. At thirteen, she recognized that the traditional Hispanic foods that her family enjoyed could be made ...
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Shari Roberts
Shari Roberts loves to please friends and family through her favorite pastime of baking. As a chemist, she feels the magic of chemistry coming alive each time she produces a delicious loaf, cookie or ...
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Nick Rose
Nick Rose, M.S., leads weekly Walk, Talk and Taste classes, where he reveals the seasonal, sustainable and delicious food choices found at PCC. Before coming to PCC, Nick taught nutrition courses at ...
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Pam Sawyer
Pam Sawyer grew up in upstate New York and, as an early gardener, has always been excited by what’s in season. She had the opportunity to live in Miami, enjoying tropical cooking, then in Madrid, ...
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Barbara Schwartz
Barbara is an award-winning pie maker and she makes pies for the Madrona restaurant, St. Clouds. She has been sharing her secrets to making the most delectable pie crust around at PCC Cooks&...
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Becky Selengut
Becky Selengut is a graduate of the Seattle Culinary Academy, where she was awarded the Outstanding Culinarian of the Year. She has had stints at La Medusa and La Spiga restaurants, and spent ...
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Kim Trimmer
Kim Trimmer began her cooking career at age of four with her Easy Bake oven and then became a “real” cook through the Reddy Kilowatt baking school at age seven. As an elementary school counselor, ...
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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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Archana Verma
Archana Verma is from a university town 300 miles from Delhi, India. She grew up in a home with health-conscious parents and a rich heritage of Punjabi North Indian cuisine; healthy eating and an ...
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Marilyn Walls
Marilyn Walls, M.S., is a graduate of Bastyr University, where she subsequently taught for three years. She has been a long-time staffer at PCC, where she has created healthy recipes and shared her ...
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