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 ...
[learn more about Iole Aguero]
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, ...
[learn more about Paola Albanesi]
Birgitte Antonsen
Birgitte Antonsen, N.T.P., is a graduate of the Natural Gourmet Institute for Health and Culinary Arts in New York City and holds a certification as a nutritional therapist in Washington state. ...
[learn more about Birgitte Antonsen]
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 ...
[learn more about Michelle Babb, M.S., R.D.]
Uma Bangalore
When Uma moved to the United States 22 years ago from Bangalore, India, she knew little about cooking, but her palate was exposed to a wide range of Indian dishes that her family made at home. Here ...
[learn more about Uma Bangalore]
Reginald Beck
Reginald Beck, known as “The Fearless Baker,” is a third generation baker and a former bakery owner with a primary passion for traditional artisan bread baking. He has used this experience over the ...
[learn more about Reginald Beck]
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 ...
[learn more about Karista Bennett]
Victoria Castillo
Victoria Castillo’s love for all things culinary led to graduating from the California Culinary Academy, cooking in Tuscany, baking for Macrina Bakery, creating two food blogs, and becoming a ...
[learn more about Victoria Castillo]
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]
Denise Cooley
Denise Cooley is a self-taught home cook – technical recruiter by trade, gluten-free baking business owner by passion. She grew up as a “foodie,” with good quality food being a centerpiece in her ...
[learn more about Denise Cooley]
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]
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,...
[learn more about Rachel Duboff]
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 ...
[learn more about Seppo Farrey]
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 ...
[learn more about Denise Fong]
Ashlyn Forshner
Ashlyn Forshner has a varied background in the culinary industry from teaching to food styling, event planning to food-related photography, and ultimately settling into the restaurant scene. ...
[learn more about Ashlyn Forshner]
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 ...
[learn more about Jackie Freeman]
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 ...
[learn more about Maria Galvao]
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 ...
[learn more about Devra Gartenstein]
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 ...
[learn more about Sureyya Gokeri]
Ronit Gourarie
Ronit Gourarie has been making bread her whole life and has been teaching breadmaking at PCC since 2002. she holds a master’s degree in nutrition from Bastyr University. She has a passion for food ...
[learn more about Ronit Gourarie]
Alicia Guy
Alicia Guy enjoys welcoming children into the kitchen and encouraging a love for all things culinary at an early age. With two young children, she is always practicing inviting and fun ways to ...
[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’ interest in food began at an early age with creativity and imagination as the driving forces for her to seek out new and different ways to cook. After receiving her A.S. degree in ...
[learn more about Maria Hines]
Brendan Johnson
Brendan Johnson graduated with a history degree from the University of Oregon in 1988, then spent a year in France working in the vineyards of the Cognac region. After several years of teaching high ...
[learn more about Brendan Johnson]
Julie Johnson
Julie Johnson’s passion for travel, wine and beautiful food began as an exchange student at the University of Savoie, France. After a career as a university study abroad coordinator, Julie moved to ...
[learn more about Julie Johnson]
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 ...
[learn more about Ami Karnosh]
Trina Kaufman
Trina Kaufman is a certified nutritionist and graduate of Bastyr University, where she earned a master's degree in nutrition and health psychology. She is fascinated by the many intersections of her ...
[learn more about Trina Kaufman]
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 ...
[learn more about Dawnula Koukol]
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 ...
[learn more about Karen Lamphere]
Olaiya Land
Olaiya Land's love of food grew out of the many years she spent studying, cooking and eating in Paris and Brussels. She is the chef and owner of Olaiya Land Catering, which emphasizes fresh, seasonal,...
[learn more about Olaiya Land]
Lisa Nakamura
Lisa Nakamura is the owner and chef at the acclaimed Allium of Orcas Island, where she puts her unique stamp on Northwest cuisine. After world travel and culinary school, her training continued in ...
[learn more about Lisa Nakamura]
Katherine Oldfield N.D.
Katherine Oldfield, N.D., has been practicing naturopathic medicine for nine years and has owned West Seattle Natural Medicine since 2002. She is an avid cook and gardener, and is passionate about ...
[learn more about Katherine Oldfield N.D.]
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 ...
[learn more about Yary Oslund]
Annie Otto
Annie Otto’s love for cooking began with a plastic stove and an Easy-Bake oven, but she did eventually end up in a real kitchen. She was introduced to Korean food in middle school at the homes of ...
[learn more about Annie Otto]
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 ...
[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]
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 “...
[learn more about Laurie Pfalzer]
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 clinical practice and through ...
[learn more about Tiffany Pollard]
Robin Poppsinger
Robin Poppsinger has spent a lot of her life in the kitchen. She learned all about gluten-free cooking when her husband and sister became gluten-intolerant, and is now writing a gluten-free cookbook ...
[learn more about Robin Poppsinger]
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 ...
[learn more about Nick Rose]
Omid Roustaei
Omid Roustaei, M.A., is a psychotherapist and a culinary instructor. He holds a master’s degree from Bastyr University and is a faculty member at the School of Natural Cookery in Boulder, Colo. In ...
[learn more about Omid Roustaei]
Siona Sammartino
Siona Sammartino was trained in nutrition and culinary arts at Bastyr University. She is the whole foods chef and nutrition educator of Passionate Nutrition and has the food and nutrition blog Thyme ...
[learn more about Siona Sammartino]
Pam Samper
Pam Samper 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, ...
[learn more about Pam Samper]
Barbara Schwartz
Barbara Schwartz has been baking pies for St. Clouds restaurant in Madrona since 2007. She is the owner of Pies by Barbara, featuring the hands-on pie-making class, Easy as Pie. She practiced ...
[learn more about Barbara Schwartz]
Becky Selengut
Becky Selengut is a graduate of William Smith College and the Seattle Culinary Academy, where she was awarded the Outstanding Culinarian of the Year. She has had stints at La Medusa and La Spiga ...
[learn more about Becky Selengut]
Lesa Sullivan
Since graduating from the Seattle Central Culinary Arts Program in 1998, chef Lesa has cooked, taught and written about the foods and flavors of the Pacific Northwest with a native's passion. She ...
[learn more about Lesa Sullivan]
Leika Suzumura
Leika Suzumura, R.D., has been cooking and studying nutrition since the tender age of 13. These early experiences were impressionable and led her to pursue a career in nutrition. She received her ...
[learn more about Leika Suzumura]
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 ...
[learn more about Lynne Vea]
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 ...
[learn more about Archana Verma]