Our seasoned instructors and chefs are chosen to be part of our program because of their culinary expertise, sincere enthusiasm and talent for teaching. Along with great cooking ideas, our instructors share helpful nutrition advice and give you beyond-the-basic ways to incorporate your classroom experiences into your everyday cooking.
We’re always accepting applications for cooking instructors excited to share their skills and experience.
To apply, submit your resume and class proposal(s) to classes@pccmarkets.com. All applicants must develop a specific class and submit a Class Proposal Form.
More questions? Contact us.
Michelle is a registered dietitian and graduate of Bastyr University. She has her own nutrition practice in West Seattle and is the author of several cookbooks, including "Mastering Mindful Eating" released in winter of 2020. She specializes in anti-inflammatory eating, digestive wellness and sustainable weight management through mindful eating. Michelle helps people change their relationships with food and reclaim the joy of eating. She shares her food philosophy and insights on eatplaybe.com.
Michelle's upcoming classesShawna is a former cook and baker, turned homeschool mom. After graduating culinary school, Shawna worked in several of Seattle's most acclaimed restaurants where she honed her culinary skills and developed a passion for Northern Italian cuisine, Middle Eastern cuisine, baking and pastry. These days, Shawna utilizes those professional skills in her home kitchen where she makes everything from butter to fermented foods, to multi-layer cakes and elaborate dinners. In the classroom Shawna looks forward to sharing her experience and knowledge to inspire the next generation of young chefs and bakers!
Shawna's upcoming classesTiffany is a farmer with over a decade of experience managing organic farming operations in Washington, Colorado and southern California. After years of growing food, hosting farm-to-table dinners and working with chefs, Tiffany earned a culinary certificate from the Culinary School of the Rockies. A farmer and a chef, Tiffany is also an avid mushroom forager, and she cans, ferments and preserves the harvest as much as possible in the summer and fall, putting up over 100 jars of jams, pickles, and tomatoes each season. Tiffany is most excited to bring plants to the plate and people closer to how healthy food is prepared and grown.
Tiffany's upcoming classesLisa has loved the kitchen for as long as she can remember. While she has experience teaching school subjects to elementary students, as well as cooking and baking professionally, Lisa finds real delight helping people of all ages connect to food, empowering them to transform great ingredients into deliciousness for the whole family. When she’s not teaching, Lisa is busy bringing sourdough bread and other pastries, all made from locally-grown, locally-milled flours, to area Farmer’s Markets. Lisa is a member of the Bread Bakers Guild of America.
Lisa's upcoming classesChrista Demment González has taught and cooked in different roles around California, Maine, South Carolina and the Caribbean. With a Master’s degree in Nutrition from Bastyr San Diego and over 15 years of experience cooking in unique and challenging environments, she finds new ways to translate nutrition science into simple, mouth-watering recipes. She shares her nutrition knowledge through culinary medicine courses for healthcare professionals. Her enthusiasm encourages warm kitchen conversation and empowers participants to build their culinary confidence and recipe toolkit while exploring flavors and foods from around the world.
Christa's upcoming classesRachel 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 Art Institute of Seattle, Rachel spent her early years with a mom who loved to experiment with food. She also immersed herself in Southeast Asian and Indian cuisines while living in Malaysia. Today, Rachel focuses on providing good food to good people and can be found at Thyme2nourish.com.
Rachel's upcoming classesDarin Gagner began his culinary adventure more than two decades ago as a way to get out of a small town in Eastern Washington and into the city. Seeking out as many experiences as possible and moving from coast to coast, he worked at lobster shacks, pizza joints, fine dining restaurants, and landmark hotels. Not a born teacher or cook, he
was lucky enough to work with outstanding chefs that helped him become both.
Darin is a full-time chef and owner of Valley Sharp Knife Sharpening. He lives in Cle Elum with his wife and sons. When he is not in the kitchen or his shop (which is rare) he’s in the woods or by a lake enjoying fresh air and craft beer.
Zola Gregory is a local food writer, recipe developer and former pastry chef. She writes a bi-weekly recipe column for the online magazine, TASTE, and her work has also appeared in Food52 and Bon Appetit. Zola’s classes are centered around supporting the home cook and emphasize getting comfortable in the kitchen through technique, a little bit of food science, and, most importantly, a sense of humor.
Zola's upcoming classesJane Hall is passionate about the home economy of cooking and baking, sustainable practices in the kitchen, health, wellness and delicious things for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. She began working in the food industry at age 13 in a bakery and never looked back. After many years in bakeries and cafes, both front and back of house, she worked as a chef for a small software company. Having successfully raised her child on kale and goat cheese she is full of the desire to help others be creative in the kitchen while being mindful of the budget. In addition to teaching, Jane spends part of her time working at FareStart.
Jane's upcoming classesJorden is a French-trained chef, passionate about bringing people together around really good food. Inspired by his family’s Creole roots, his great-grandma’s legacy as a restaurant owner, and the life experiences he’s gained from traveling, Chef Jorden specializes in making fine dining approachable and accessible. His methodology in the kitchen centers on the freshness of his ingredients, relying on his ability to bring out the bold flavors of seasonal produce, herbs and meats and high quality kitchen staples. Chef Jorden started his career cooking in various top restaurants throughout Seattle, and is now bringing his unique culinary voice to even more people through his catering company.
Jorden's upcoming classesMichelle is a culinary enthusiast proudly rooted in her hometown of Seattle. Inspired by the vibrant community and diverse ingredients of the city, Michelle embarked on a culinary journey that began in restaurants and evolved into freelance recipe development and culinary production. She collaborates with restaurants and companies, weaving cohesive and vibrant menus, as well as crafting engaging food content for social media. Most recently, Michelle has been creating instructional recipe videos online. She is now thrilled to share her expertise and passion in-person.
In her leisure time, Michelle channels her culinary creativity into crafting canned goods, making chocolates, catering small events and hosting her friends for dinner. Join Michelle in her classes where she turns everyday ingredients into delightful, memorable meals.
Brittany-born Emma is proud of her Celtic heritage. She learned to make crêpes from her mother, who learned from hers, probably before learning to read. Half of the restaurants in Brittany are crêperies, and Emma is passionate about sharing the authenticity of Breton culture and its cuisine with others. When not cooking, Emma runs a nonprofit, TINFA.org, dedicated to empowering teachers in underserved areas of the world.
Emma's upcoming classesJoanna Lepore Dwyer is a chocolate maker, pastry chef, and artist. She is passionate about creating culinary experiences to encourage connections between individuals and where their food comes from! She holds a certificate in sensory science from The Institute of Food Technologists, a BFA in Sculpture, and 20+ years’ experience in fine pastry, chocolate making, and culinary training in NYC and Seattle including a 10-year stint at Theo Chocolate as head of Product Development.
When she is not helping national chocolate brands develop new products and training QC teams in sensory science, she works with a colleague under the moniker A Matter of Taste to incorporate culinary experiences into Corporate and Non-Profit professional development agendas.
Heather Newton started out as a dishwasher at Canlis, working her way up to the pastry team. Since then, she graduated from the Specialty Breads and Desserts program, and has baked her way around Seattle. Now she enjoys sharing what she learned along the way with students of all ages.
Heather's upcoming classesPastry chef Nico Caballero has cooked and baked his way through 5 states and 4 countries, include staging at a bakery in France. He graduated with a BA in Music Composition from Lewis and Clark College in Portland, and while he still loves to make music, food is a deep passion for him. He believes a large part of cooking is sharing the cultural experience of food with those around you, and making it an interactive experience is the best way to learn and have fun!
Nico Caballero's upcoming classesVindi received her certificate III from the William Angliss Institute of Melbourne. Since then, she has worked as a baker and pastry chef in several bakeries both in Melbourne and Seattle. Vindi believes learning never stops and that everyone has room to grow. This is why she likes to share her knowledge and skills with others. Also, food always tastes better when shared! Vindi is also active online, sharing her bakes on her blog, providing detailed instructions to help others achieve tasty results. Learn more about Vindi on Instagram at @vindiskitchen.
Vindi's upcoming classesBrandon Rouge is a local Seattle-born chef who is passionate about cooking healthy and delicious plant-based foods. Having struggled with his own personal health issues and dietary restrictions over the past two decades, Chef Rouge seeks to help people heal themselves while enjoying good food. He specializes in making allergen-friendly plant based versions of traditional comfort foods using whole food ingredients. In addition to cooking, Rouge is an avid Qi Gong Enthusiast, Meditation Practitioner, and Puppy Whisperer.
Brandon's upcoming classesChef Kat got her start in her parents' Mediterranean restaurant while in high school. Kat then attended California Culinary Academy in San Francisco, followed by a 3-month internship in Dublin, Ireland. From there her 20+ year career spans fine dining, large scale catering events, and being a private chef. When the youngest of her children developed serious food allergies her culinary focus shifted and she’s now a master at adapting recipes to exclude common allergens. When she's not cooking, you can find her in her garden, baking or at a local yoga class.
Katherine's upcoming classesChaahat is a trained chef from the food capital of India-Delhi. She ran a successful Curry business supplying sauces and curries to restaurants and warehouses in Canada for 14 years. I make msg, gluten and nut free curries that freeze well. After moving to Seattle in 2020 she started a private chef business providing India meals catering to people with special requirements like keto, dairy free, vegan, and cultural and religious restricted Indian cuisine like Jain and Saatvik.
She specializes in North Indian food but loves experimenting with different regional and cross culture cuisines. Chaahat is passionate about India's diverse food culture. She loves educating food lovers that Indian cuisine is more than butter chicken—it's healthy, simple, and authentic.
Elaine was born and raised in Hong Kong, and grew up with authentic Chinese and pan-Asian food. She has lived in Canada and the US for 30 years and traveled to 50 countries. Elaine left the corporate world after 20 years to focus on her passion for home-style cooking. She is the founder of Dash of Soy, a local Seattle culinary school that focuses on sharing the love for simple, delicious and healthy home cooking inspired by her family and all her travels.
Juanita offers a distinctive perspective as a non-alcoholic beverage expert and educator, blending over two decades of customer service expertise with a background in education and workforce development. Juanita has spent most of her life in the service industry in some capacity, including 12 years at a prominent Seattle wine bar where she gained deep insights into flavor nuances through wine and food education.
As the founder of The NA Sommelier, Juanita combines her passion for beverages with her versatile skill set. Through informative resources, pop-up nonalcoholic bars, mocktail classes and hospitality consulting services, she aims to share knowledge and cultivate a deeper appreciation for non-alcoholic drinks. Juanita creates immersive learning environments that empower individuals to explore and experiment with flavors and helps students build easy and versatile toolkits they can use to build their own unique mocktails at home.
Chef Carol received a BS at the University of Illinois in Hotel Restaurant Management, an Associates in Culinary Arts at the Culinary Institute of America-NY, and a Masters in Hospitality and Tourism Management at Roosevelt University.
After working for various restaurant groups in Chicago, she went on to teach Culinary Arts at the Illinois Institute of Art - Chicago for 12 years as an Associate Professor. Carol and her partner moved to Seattle in 2016 to run a program teaching engineers to cook for a tech company.
Carol enjoys the outdoors and when the weather permits, you'll find her on the hiking trails and camping whenever possible. She is always thinking about what her next meal is and loves to cook for family and friends.
Eleni was born and raised in Ethiopia. After moving to the United states in 2001, she worked in accounting for a few years. After her first son was born Eleni found herself at home with a lot of time to recreate the kind of dishes she enjoyed growing up in Ethiopia. This time cooking inspired her to begin sharing those dishes with others, and she established her Ethiopian food business, Eleni’s Kitchen. Eleni’s kitchen has been catering traditional Ethiopian food in Portland, OR for the last eight years. Eleni also teaches Ethiopian cooking classes at Portland Community College.
Eleni's upcoming classesAfter cooking in Michelin Star restaurants and high volume catering events, I made a "temporary" switch to teaching cooking classes. However, the satisfaction and unique experience I received from teaching convinced me that this was my new culinary path. I am a graduate of the Le Cordon Bleu, where I mainly focused on French and Western technique, but I have deep roots in Middle-Eastern cuisine and an enthusiastic, developed passion for Japanese cuisine. In my travels I seek out to learn something new, and for me, the more specific and obscure, the better. My interests and abilities continue to range out further, as long as I can do it, I will teach it.
Hend's upcoming classes