|
 Bibby Gignilliat
Founder & Executive Chef
Bibby Gignilliat, a corporate convert, transformed a career in marketing at Williams-Sonoma, Inc. into an enormously satisfying career in professional cooking. She launched her formal training at Tante Marie's Cooking School in San Francisco. Bibby has taught cooking classes at HomeChef® and at Tante Marie's and currently teaches at Sur La Table, Ramekins and Draeger’s cooking schools. Bibby's experience in the professional kitchen includes hands-on training at Insalata's and Kokkari. She was the sous-chef to Joanne Weir for a national promotional tour sponsored by Calphalon cookware. Bibby was a production assistant and food stylist for “Jacques Pepin Celebrates,” with Jacques Pepin, the national PBS series “Weir Cooking in the Wine Country,” featuring Joanne Weir and "Bay Cafe" with Chef Joey Altman. She has appeared on the Today Show, the Food Network, CNBC, in The New York Times, Daily Candy, Better Homes and Gardens, Cooking Light, Bon Appetit, Gourmet, and Business 2.0 Magazines. In 1999, Bibby founded Gourmet Gatherings®, which later became Parties That Cook. Parties That Cook stages deliciously fun hands-on cooking class parties and corporate team-building events. Bibby recently authored Sumptuous Small Plates: 30 Recipes for Deliciously Fun Entertaining and was named 2008 Small Business Owner of the Year by San Francisco's Small Business Network (SBN). |
|
|
 Tanya Rogow
Chef de Cuisine
Tanya Rogow graduated at the top of her class from the California Culinary Academy and went on to an internship at the Food Network in New York City. There she worked with celebrity chefs like Emeril Lagasse and Wolfgang Puck. Tanya returned to San Francisco and found a home with Postrio Restaurant for three years before meeting Bibby Gignilliat. For the past six years she has been the Chef de Cuisine at Parties That Cook and shares her love for California cuisine as she teaches.
|
|
 Michelene MoayediDirector of Finance
After eight years in high-tech sales and marketing, Michelene pursued her passion for food, entertaining and travel, and uses her skills at Parties That Cook as Director of Finance. Michelene received formal training in French cuisine at Tante Marie's Cooking School in San Francisco and continued her studies with an externship at Le Petit Robert on Russian Hill. There she launched monthly Regional French cooking classes in the restaurant kitchen. She has also assisted San Francisco Chronicle Food staff writers for the Chronicle Cooking School Series and has taught cooking classes at Purcell Murray. She appeared on Evening Magazine along with her cooking partner Heidi Bottom, a Parties That Cook Chicago-based chef. |
|
 Crissy Gershey
Director of Operations
Growing up in New York City, in a family of foodies and “seasoned” home cooks, Crissy developed a passion for great food and diverse flavors early on. After graduating from Brown University with a degree in Biology, she decided to move her experiments out of the lab and into the kitchen. Crissy graduated with honors from the California Culinary Academy and instantly felt at home in the Bay Area food scene. She spent 3 years honing her skills and fine-tuning her palette as a Sous Chef at Hawthorne Lane in San Francisco. She then moved on to manage the four kitchens and menu development for Oakville Grocery as Culinary Director. Crissy is enjoying stepping out of the kitchen and into the fire with Bibby as Director of Operations for Parties That Cook! |
|
 Calley Prezzano
Lead Chef
Calley completed the Cordon Bleu program at the California Culinary Academy with honors while cooking as the acting sous chef at Tablespoon Restaurant on Russian Hill. In addition to her volunteer duties as a breakfast cook at Raphael House, a shelter for homeless families, she plans menus for families, children and singles in San Francisco and Los Angeles. Calley currently works the grill and rotisserie at Bradley Ogden's One Market Restaurant in San Francisco. She enjoys Parties that Cook for the camaraderie it creates and giving guests a sense of confidence and growing knowledge in the kitchen. |
|
 Mat Schuster
Lead Chef
Mat Schuster is a Bay Area chef, cooking teacher and nutrition educator. While finishing his undergraduate degree at Emory University, Mat traveled abroad to Italy where he cultivated his love for cooking. Upon returning to the United States, he joined up at the California Culinary Academy’s College of Food in San Diego and most recently Bauman College in Berkeley where he attained his Nutrition Educator status. Mat has been a class manager and cooking class instructor for Draeger’s Culinary School and Whole Foods Market. Currently, Mat is the Chef and Manager for Court Café at the San Francisco Bay Club. He also continues to teach cooking classes for Parties that Cook, Whole Foods Market, Sur la Table, Ramekins and others. |
|
 Heidi Bottom
Lead Chef - Chicago
Heidi is passionate about good food and loves how it brings people together. After studying culinary arts in Provence and Tuscany, she was formally trained at Tante Marie’s Cooking School in San Francisco. Heidi began her culinary career at Parties that Cook in 2002. She mastered the fast paced restaurant world at Insalata’s in Marin, has provided food styling for award-winning Chefs Mario Batali, Donna Hay and Bill Granger and assisted the San Francisco Chronicle Cooking Series. Heidi teaches at Williams-Sonoma, Cooking Fools, Ridge Vineyards and Le Cornue product education classes. While love brought her to Chicago, where she now lives and works, Heidi continues to share her knowledge and passion with Parties That Cook clients. |
|
 John SilvaLead Chef
John has always loved how good food brings people together. He found himself working around kitchens since he was very young. Watching his grandparents grow fresh ingredients in their garden and create delicious meals inspired John's desire to be a chef. Upon receiving his college degree, John moved back to the Bay Area and has been working as the market chef with the farmers’ market association. He recently became sous chef at Florio Restarant in Pacific Heights. He spends his time outside of Parties that Cook, teaching healthy and seasonal cooking classes. |
|
 Amy Klein
Lead Chef
Amy grew up surrounded by a family who loves to eat, and they instilled the importance of sharing a meal. She started cooking for her family when she was 12. In 2004 she enrolled in the professional program at Tante Marie's Cooking School and joined Parties That Cook. Amy is the Executive Chef at Revolution Foods, a food company transforming school food service by providing healthy food and nutrition education. She has worked on the line at Insalata’s restaurant and has taught cooking classes for Sur La Table and Kitchen on Fire in Berkeley. Amy assists Chef Giuliani Bugialli Italian cooking workshops. She runs her own catering company, and knows that her passion and enthusiasm for good food is contagious. |
|
 Erin Gepner
Lead Chef
After eating cherry tomatoes straight off the bush in the middle of a hot Los Angeles summer, Erin decided to pursue cooking. Erin attended the California Culinary Academy in Baking and Pastry to learn how to bake breads, make wedding cakes, and eat lots of cookies. After graduation, she worked at One Market Restaurant in the pastry department. She is currently a personal chef for several families in Berkeley, and is involved with catering throughout the Bay Area. She loves contributing to Parties that Cook because of the interaction with wonderful people and the excitement that surrounds the kitchen. |
|
 Jill Klein
Lead Chef
Born to entertain, Jill is from a restaurant family in the Midwest. After graduating from the California Culinary Academy in 1991, she traveled extensively throughout Southeast Asia and South America passionately cooking and eating. Jill has worked in several restaurants in San Francisco, notably Lulu and Alain Rondelle. In 2005, Jill began teaching at Parties That Cook. |
|
 Mick Dimas
Lead Chef
A former Wall Street trader, Mick decided to follow his passion and pursue a culinary career. Mick graduated from Tante Marie's Cooking School and has an affinity for Italian cooking. He worked in the kitchen of San Francisco's Incanto restaurant. He also has traveled to Italy to cook and research the cuisine. He is also the owner of AddThyme.com, a personal chef and catering company. He along with his wife Barbara, also develop custom culinary tours of Italy. |
|
 Carolyn Peters
Lead Chef
At home in the kitchen since she was a little girl, Carolyn brings joy and ease to cooking. Her playful nature combined with professionalism allows for a relaxed and open learning environment. In 2004, Carolyn started teaching with Parties That Cook, bringing with her a varied culinary background from the last six years in the Bay Area. Her culinary experience includes catering, restaurant cooking at Roxanne's, private chefing, and cooking for groups such as Maui Surfer Girls. Carolyn’s cooking style leans toward seasonal Mediterranean/Californian cuisine and she enjoys passing on all her cooking tricks. |
|
 Linda Esposito
Lead Chef
An avid cook, Linda calls herself a global cuisine ambassador. As a child, she helped her grandmother blend and roast curry powder in the family spice trade and watched her Straits-Nyonya great grandmother cook one of the earliest fusion cuisines. She gained her culinary education through eating around the world – from Sichuan to Singapore and Sorrento – and reverse engineering every meal! A Harvard MBA, Linda is also a technology marketing professional which afforded Linda to travel the world and indulge in her food fascination on an expense account while taking cooking classes and learning about food, wine and gastronomy during her free time. Since 2004, Linda has been teaching Pacific Rim cuisine at Whole Foods Market Salud Cooking School. |
|
 Brandy FernowLead Chef - Chicago
Brandy is a personal chef, caterer and culinary instructor serving the Chicago metropolitan area. After working for years in business consulting, her love of cooking inspired her to train at one of the top culinary schools in the Midwest, Kendall College. Brandy specializes in special event catering, in-home custom meal preparation, and private group cooking lessons for her clients. She has been a sous chef for the WGN morning news food segments and assisted authored chefs in food shows and demonstrations. As a lead chef for Parties That Cook, Brandy enjoys sharing cooking knowledge to empower guests to have fun and achieve confidence in the kitchen. |
|
 Jed Larkin
Lead Chef
Jed Larkin’s culinary repertoire includes East Bay favorites such as Cesar Restaurant, one of San Francisco Chronicle’s “best 100 restaurants of the Bay Area” since its opening, and specialty food stores such as Ashbury Market. Jed has worked with some of the top catering companies in the Bay Area including McCall’s, Milk & Honey, Taste and Paula LeDuc. Passionate about European cuisine and California Fusion cooking, Jed’s true love is for Italian fare. When not at Parties That Cook, you can find Jed sipping on fine Italian vino, or whipping up fresh pasta for friends and family.
|
|
|
Jeremy Cohen
Lead Chef
Forgoing traditional culinary routes, or perhaps embracing the old world style of learning the trade through staging, Jeremy began his culinary career working for free. Trained as a philosopher, with a degree from UCSC, Jeremy loves the balancing effect that cooking gives to his otherwise questionable existence. From his indentured beginning at The Pearl Alley Bistro and Soif wine bar, Jeremy quickly rose to the Executive Chef position at Red Restaurant where he honed his style and craft, and along with critical acclaim, his passion for cooking grew. Always on the move, Jeremy's culinary aspirations and heart eventually led him to San Francisco where he has spent the better part of the past 4 years cooking at places like Jardinere, Delfina, and the Blue Plate, and Parties that Cook.
|
|
 Sarah Roseme
Lead Chef
A culinary vacation in Italy was what pushed Sarah to finally take the plunge and pursue a career in the culinary field. A former retail buyer for Gap Inc., she left the corporate world to attend Tante Marie’s Cooking School in San Francisco. Since graduation Sarah has been working as a food stylist assistant, as well as working with Parties That Cook.
|
|
 Rosie Balcunas
Client Services and Event Manager
Rosie grew up surrounded by home grown food and fresh cooked meals. As a result she loves entertaining and celebrating good food with family and friends. She received her degree in Economics and immediately joined the nonprofit world where she planned fundraising events. After moving to San Francisco, Rosie decided to follow her passion for cooking and entertaining. She most recently worked as an Event Planner for Small Potatoes Catering & Events in San Francisco. Rosie is excited to be part of the Parties That Cook team to share the joy of cooking with others. |
|
 Christina Nunez
Client Services and Event Manager
Originally from Washington, D.C., Christina fell in love with the culinary bounty of San Francisco after moving here in 2006. For several years, she was an editor and producer for Web sites including NPR.org, where she wrote about food and music. Christina regularly volunteers as a kitchen assistant during Saturday cooking demonstrations at the Ferry Building Farmer's Market, and now supplements her habit of obsessively poring over cookbooks with actual cooking. She has found participating in Parties That Cook events to be inspiring, instructive and energizing, not to mention tasty -- and she looks forward to helping create that experience for you.
|
|
|
 Lauren Hahn
Marketing and Event Planning Manager
Lauren was born and raised across the Pacific Ocean on the island of Oahu. Growing up in a family of cooks and fishermen, one of the first things Lauren learned how to do was catch an octopus, gut it, and make it into a delicious tako poke. Lauren's adventurous spirit eventually led her to the Windy City where she majored in Journalism at Northwestern University and minored in buffalo wing eating. Missing the sight of the Pacific Ocean, Lauren moved to San Francisco, where she began honing her marketing skills at advertising agency, Goodby, Silverstein & Partners. Lauren is thrilled to bring her expertise and a passion for all things food to the Parties That Cook team. |
|
|
 Liz Chan
Operations and Event Planning Assistant
In 2004, Liz, a SoCal native, moved to San Francisco to pursue her passion for food. She was first introduced to the world of organic food and event planning while attending UC Santa Cruz. This led her to follow her dreams of studying culinary arts at the City College of San Francisco. She later embarked on several fun restaurant adventures, including Boulettes Larder and Parcel 104. Liz is excited to finally combine her love for cooking and event planning. As the newest member of the Parties That Cook team, Liz looks forward to creating an unforgettable cooking experience for guests. |
|
 Erin Rasmussen
Logistics Manager
This is Erin's debut on the professional food scene although she's been baking since the tender age of five. She was raised in the suburbs of Chicago on made-from-scratch health-conscious home cooking and absolutely loves the health and food lifestyle of the Bay Area. Erin is no stranger to logistics planning, something she had to master when she started her professional dance career while still a full-time scholarship student at University of Chicago. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a BA in history of science and then last year, left a successful career as a professional dancer with Hubbard Street Dance Chicago to start new adventures in San Francisco with her husband. Currently she free-lances, teaches dance, choreographs and has begun accounting classes at UC-Berkeley extension.
|
| |
|
|
