Wednesday, February 7, 2007

Food Wishes Cooking Classes – 2 Great Ways to Learn to Cook!

In-Home Cooking Classes and Culinary Guidance with Chef John (In the Flesh)

While I’m still trying to launch a video-based, online cooking academy (see details below), I am also starting to offer in-home, personalized culinary instruction for those of you that live in the San Francisco Bay Area. If you are interested in having me come to your home to teach you to cook personally, just click on this link, send me an email with what you want to learn and I will contact you to set up a class. By the way, if you are not from the Bay Area, but are filthy rich, and can fly me to your location, I am also available.

If you think the recipe clips I post are fun, and enjoy my style of cooking and sense of humor, then I think you will have a great time cooking side-by-side with me. If you haven’t already, check out my personal bio; while teaching at the California Culinary Academy, I enjoyed a reputation as one of the most popular instructors there, and have always considered myself a very effective teacher, no matter what your skill level. You will also get to see how closely I resemble the photo of George Clooney I use for my online persona.

One last note regarding the one-on-one cooking classes; if you are trying to lose weight and get in better shape the most important thing you can do for yourself is learn how to cook fresh, healthy food at home. If you are in one of those programs where they deliver that over-priced, pre-packaged food then we should talk. You can easily make all those same dishes for a fraction of the cost, and the taste and quality will be far superior.



The Other Way: Our Online, Video-based, Culinary Academy


Here is some basic information regarding our online culinary course:



  • We do not have a cost yet, but to give you a frame of reference, it will cost significantly less than a traditional culinary school, which can cost up as much as $50,000 per year! My hope is to keep it under $500 for the entire course.

  • You will learn the exact same competencies taught at these traditional academies. There are basically a few dozen KEY skills, recipes, and techniques to master. Really, that’s all! Most of the time spent in a traditional culinary school is NOT spent on learning these KEY skills.

  • The complete course should take 2 months for you to master. But, all students will have as much time as they need since everyone learns at a different speed.

  • You will learn by following my lessons and lectures online, and then will have “home work” to perfect these skills. Did you know that in the larger culinary schools students actually watch the Chef’s demos on a TV screen since they can’t sit close enough to watch what’s being demonstrated!

  • You will have the option of just learning the skills, or actually submitting your final competencies via video clips for us to evaluate. We will also have written tests for you to take to test you on the same basic information that a traditional culinary school student is expected to know when they graduate. These tests and home work are optional, but would be required to receive a certificate of culinary competency.

  • All students completing this course successfully will receive a certificate of culinary competency.

  • In addition, all students will get free resume and career assistance if they plan on using these newly acquired skills to enter the culinary industry as a cook or chef. Before I taught at the culinary academy, I ran a resume service for food industry workers, and I’m an expert in that field. If you want an entry-level job in food, this course will make that happen.

  • That’s all the basic info we have for now. We are taking our time to ensure a top quality product and have several Chefs, that currently teach at major traditional culinary schools, helping us put this program together.


    If you are interested in being contacted when the course is ready,
    please contact me. If you've already contacted me, it's not necessary to contact me again.