With an ever-changing roster of classes, you are sure to find something that suits your taste. Take a look at our upcoming events to find something that whets your appetite.
Featured Chef: Eric Gower
Eric Gower of San Anselmo is "The Breakaway Cook," a promoter of exotic ingredients from Asian, Indian and Latin markets that can provide "global flavor blasts" to create unique dishes from the local bounty of fresh products.
Gower will bring the philosophy showcased in his cooking and his regular columns for the San Francisco Chronicle to Fresh Starts Cooking School on Thursday, Oct. 7, in an interactive demonstration class from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Raised in a Pennsylvania family fond of meat and potatoes, Gower came to California to study modern Japanese literature at the University of California in Berkeley. After graduation, he moved to Japan for some post-college exploration and stayed 15 years, starting a culinary career in the process.
In addition to The Breakaway Cook, Gower has authored The Breakaway Japanese Kitchen and Eric's Kitchen (Kadokawa Shoten, in Japanese) as well as begun work on a vegetarian cookbook.
For updates on the new cookbook and more details, please visit "The Breakaway Cook" website. Tickets for his Oct. 7 class are available online or by calling 415-382-3363 x243.
Introducing Rachelle Boucher...
In 2000, while working as private chef to filmmaker George Lucas and his family, Chef Rachelle Boucher made a fateful call. After watching a television interview with a homeless youth who later graduated from Harvard, she called Homeward Bound of Marin to offer her help.
" My adventure as a chef to the stars / chef to the less fortunate began. I have had the amazing blessing to work, often in the same day, at a family homeless shelter and then cook for (rock band) Metallica in their studio that night! Food connects us all," Rachelle says.
Her adventure has led her to work with students at our Fresh Starts Culinary Academy, teams from Fresh Starts Catering and now to a position as coordinator for the groundbreaking Fresh Starts Cooking School based at the Next Key Center. Bringing together local and celebrity chefs, farmers, and artisan producers with people in the community, the school provides education and job opportunities for Homeward Bound residents." Homeward Bound has always had incredible vision and innovative ways to help end homelessness. Our new center is the most exciting social venture I have ever heard of. Come do something great for yourself while giving back to your community!"
