September News from Culinaria Cooking School: Welcome!

Culinaria Classes for Fall 2010

We are looking forward to opening the doors of Culinaria Cooking School in October.

Our goal is to show you how to incorporate seasonal ingredients and proper techniques into your cooking. Our chefs rigorously adhere to a traditional approach to food preparation, while embracing new and exciting ideas about food and wine. Most importantly, we know that cooking well is fun. And in today's economic climate, it's a whole lot cheaper to prepare a gourmet meal at home than to go out to a restaurant.

Below you'll find a list of our Fall classes.

Cooking 101: Back to Basics, Basic Stocks, Pasta Workshop

Soups, Stocks, and Sauces: Hearty Soups and Salads, Quick Pan Sauces, Soups of the Fall, Italian Sauces, Winter Soups).

Baking and Pastry: Cupcake Cafe, Bread Making, Biscotti, The Art of the Tart, Secrets from Italian Bakers, Pastry Dough, Quick Breads, Holiday Gifts.

Basic and Advanced Knife Skills

Wine Class with John Peters: Introduction to Wine, Merlot, Wines of South Africa, Styles of Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Wines of California, Back to Basics with White Wines of the World, Wines of the Loire Valley, Napa Valley vs. Sonoma Valley, Pairing Wine with Food 101, Wines of France, Wines of Australia, Blind Tasting Red Wines, Wines of Burgundy, and more.

Wine Dinners: Roasted Dinner, Fall Wine Dinner, Christmas Dinner, Seasonal and Holiday Cooking, Christmas Party Appetizers.

Regional, Ethnic Cuisine: Friday Night Food, Wine and Fun, The Perfect Steak, Chilies, Breakfast Is The Best Meal of the Day, Southern Sunday Dinner, Stuffed Pasta Class, Desert Crepes, True Italian Pizza, Spice Rubs & BBQ Sauces, Savory Crepes, Cooking with Winter Fruit.

American: California Cuisine, New Orleans

International: Flavors of Tuscany, Flavors of Thailand, A Simple French Dinner, Tapas, Regional Italian Series, Flavors of Florence, Flavors of Sicily, Mexican Dinner, Chinese Cooking at Home.

Child and Parent Classes: Family Dinner, Finger Foods, Gingerbread House.

Teen Cuisine: Cookies and Quick Breads, Chinese Food.

Summer Camp: Our half-day camp for kids and teens goes beyond typical summer camp fare. Campers explore international and American cuisines in programs that also teach them essential cooking skills.

Couples Cooking: Wine and Appetizers, Bistro Night, French Night, Mexican Night.

Specialty Classes: Ladies Lunch Bunch.

Series Classes: Dinner Party, Entertaining with Style, Weekend Entertaining, Home for the Holidays.

Healthful Fine Dining: Sunday Brunch, Easy Elegant Dinner, the Diabetic on the Go, and more.

Private Events: Try a group cooking class for your next corporate or private event. We also will host birthday parties and bridal showers.

We hope that several of these classes will tickle your taste buds. To sign up for a class, register today at www.culinariacookingschool.com.

Meet Our Team

Chef Stephen Sands is the co-founder and CEO of Culinaria Cooking School. A nuclear engineer who for decades worked for Westinghouse, Exxon, and the NRC, his dream was to open a cooking school. He began his culinary career in 1989 as the lead assistant for Francois Dionot, the director and founder of L'Academie de Cuisine in Bethesda, MD. There, he developed curricula and original recipes for classes he eventually taught. In 2004, with his business partner Pete Snaith, Stephen formed Capital Food Partners, LLC. He left L'Academie de Cuisine as a chef/instructor in the spring of 2009.

Chef Pete Snaith is the co-founder and executive VP at Culinaria Cooking School. An engineer by training, Pete began his cooking career in 1999 when he started taking classes and eventually worked as an assistant for three years at L'Academie de Cuisine in Bethesda, MD. In 2007, he trained at the Culinary Institute of Florence, Italy where he learned from some of Europe's top chefs. He taught at the Institute, The Culinary School of the Philippines, Sur la Table in Arlington, and La Cuisine in Alexandria. Pete is also the author of "The Street Chef," a cookbook that has sold around the world and will be available for sale at Culinaria Cooking School.

Chef Robyn Alexander is Culinaria's director of programs for youth and families.
A lifelong food enthusiast, Robyn began her career as a human resource management consultant. Once she started her family, she found herself wanting to create elaborate meals, and cooking became a serious pursuit. In 2000, she enrolled in L'Academie de Cuisine's part-time professional program, then started her own business as a private chef. In 2001, Robyn merged her teaching abilities and love of cooking and became an instructor at L'Academie de Cuisine. At Culinaria, she uses her quick wit and refined palate to broaden children's ideas about food.

Chef Brian Batsel graduated with honors from L'Academie de Cuisine in 1991 and went on to work with renowned southwestern chef Mark Miller and Michelin Chef Gerard Panguad. He has also worked at the Ritz-Carlton and Red Sage in Washington, DC. Brian then opened his own fine dining restaurant in Amelia Island, Florida. He recently moved back to DC to teach at Culinaria Cooking School.

Chef Bonita Woods spent much of her childhood working and playing on a farm where she developed a passion for cooking with only the freshest ingredients. She went on to get degrees in the sciences, culinary arts and nutrition, and for the last 20 years has combined her skills and passion for freshness at some of the top restaurants in New York and Washington, DC. Knowing that healthy eating is the key to good health, she founded Diet by Design, a culinary education and consulting business that specializes in preparing delicious, nutritious fine cuisine. She also spearheads a national program to battle childhood obesity, and works as the food service director for Sidwell Friends School.

Wine Director John Peters has worked in the wine business for nearly three decades. He is regularly invited to speak about wine at the National Press Club, the Decanter Club, The Greenbriar, The Homestead, and the French and Australian embassies. With his father and brother, John founded Wide World of Wines in 1982, and ran the retail business through 1989, where he hand-selected wines from vineyards from all over the world. After the sale of the company, John went to work for Continental Liquors until 1994. From 1997 to 2003, John was the Mid-Atlantic marketing manager for De Loach Vineyards. He brings a wealth of knowledge and a passion for the marriage of food and wine to Culinaria Cooking School.

Office Manager Stefanie Sacripante brings years of banquet and hotel management experience to Culinaria, including a stint at New York's legendary Le Cirque. A student of James Peterson, a James Beard Award-winning author, she holds a Career Cooking Diploma from the Institute for Culinary Education (formerly Peter Kump's New York Cooking School.) Stefanie is an avid home cook who is knowledgeable about world cuisines and has a collection of more than 200 cookbooks. She also worked at one of New York's top post-production film studios, and at National Geographic in its television post-production department.