Professional Development: Recipes for Success – How to Start Your Career in Recipe Development & Testing
$15 per person
Instructor
Pursuing a career in food means constantly learning in order to build, grow, and evolve. Our Professional Development Series is designed to educate everyone from new entrants to seasoned industry professionals about the many aspects of being a professional in the culinary world. Led by experts in their field, these panels and interactive discussions will leave you with a fresh perspective, as well as many tips and tricks to use as a guide as you propel your own career forward.
About This Class
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Justine Kelly – Executive Chef Sun Basket
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Mandy Morris – June Oven
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Ali Bouzari – Pilot R&D
Details
- Wine included
- Ages 18+
FAQ
The average duration of our cooking classes is 4 hours, and they are broken down into three segments: Introductory lecture or demo, hands-on cooking, and eating.
The class will begin with a short discussion or demo from your instructor. After, you can expect to work either on a team or individually to prepare the class menu. As a group, your class will prepare the selected menu in its entirety. In most classes, not every student will make every dish.
Learning happens throughout the class, and your instructor will often call out key techniques as they happen in each recipe.
Most classes conclude by sitting down as a group to eat what you’ve prepared, followed by a discussion of each recipe. You will leave with a copy of the recipe packet and a working knowledge of every dish that was made so you can recreate them at home.
Doors open 15 minutes before the class start time.
You do not need to bring anything with you to class, unless otherwise noted in the class description. The kitchens at SFCS are fully equipped and aprons, recipes, equipment, food and wine are all provided for you.
In most classes, you will be sitting down to eat a complete meal that you have prepared along with your classmates. Since this typically occurs towards the end of the class period, an appetizer or small plate is usually prepared early on in class. However, you’re welcome to additionally have a snack before you arrive or bring one with you.
Please note, for our Baking & Pastry classes, a light meal will be provided for you.
We suggest wearing casual clothing you can easily move around in, and highly recommend wearing comfortable closed-toe shoes. Long hair should be pulled back.
Cancellation Policy
Justine Kelly
Chef Justine Kelly cooks real, wholesome and truly inspired food. It’s the kind of food she learned from her pops during weeknight family dinners and what she cooks for her daughter after school. It’s the kind that comes from her experiences honed over two decades in professional kitchens with the best Bay Area chefs blazing the path in the local food movement. And now, as the executive chef of Sun Basket, she’s bringing it all together by crafting deceptively simple and delicious recipes in our test kitchen and sourcing the best ingredients for each week’s meal baskets.
Best known for her longstanding role as the corporate chef de cuisine at San Francisco’s iconic Slanted Door restaurant, Chef Justine’s accolades include stints at renowned local institutions Greens Restaurant and The Flying Saucer, mentions in Gourmet Magazine and appearances on Iron Chef and the Williams-Sonoma Tasting Table Sous Chef Series.
Throughout her many roles, Chef Justine has become a devotee of delicious, wholesome cooking by using only the best organic and locally-sourced produce, seafoods and meats that she heightens with unique ingredients and spices from around the world. That’s because no matter where she has been or what she has cooked, she has focused her attention on building relationships with local farmers throughout the region who stay true to sustainable farming practices.
Mandy Morris
After a decade long career in IT, Mandy decided to finally pursue her passion for food by attending San Francisco Cooking School. Since graduating, she’s held a variety of positions in the food industry: garde manger in a Michelin-starred kitchen, pastry cook at a Top Chef winner’s patisserie, an assistant food stylist, and a freelance recipe tester and developer. She’s now the Culinary Content Manager at June Life, a tech start-up that makes a smart oven. There she leads recipe development and culinary content creation.
Ali Bouzari
Ali is the Chief Science Officer and a Co-Founder of Pilot R&D. As a culinary scientist, he has the ability to translate complex scientific concepts and esoteric culinary ideas into language that is approachable and accessible. Ideation is an integral part of every Pilot endeavor, and Ali leverages his background in scientific research and development to help the Pilot team devise creative and concrete solutions to culinary obstacles. The Pilot team regularly calls upon Ali’s expertise in ingredient functionality to develop techniques that enhance and streamline production processes without compromising flavor.
Ali began cooking in restaurant kitchens while studying biochemistry as an undergraduate. In 2011, he started teaching at the Culinary Institute of America while pursuing his Ph.D. in Food Biochemistry from the University of California, Davis. For his dissertation, Ali stayed true to his roots as a cook and collaborated with the Three Michelin Star French Laundry to study a uniquely culinary topic: cooking vegetables sous vide. This interaction jumpstarted his career as a consultant to the culinary industry, allowing him to work closely with some of the most innovative restaurants in the country, including working as the Culinary Scientist for the Thomas Keller Restaurant Group, a position created to utilize Ali’s unique skill set. Ali recently channeled his expertise in applying the universal principles of culinary science to all corners of the food industry in his first book, Ingredient: Unveiling the Essential Elements of Food, published by Ecco in 2016.
Ali has been honored on both Zagat’s and Forbes’ 30 Under 30 lists.