The Blue Ribbon Cooking and Culinary Center, based in Seattle, Washington's Eastlake neighborhood, offers cooking classes, team-building workshops, worldwide culinary tours and summer camp programs. Blue Ribbon also caters weddings at its 5200 square-foot Lake Union facility. The school's website hosts an online store where shoppers can buy select cooking gear, personalized apparel and prepared products like jams and barbecue rubs.
History
Virginia and Mike Duppenthaler founded the Blue Ribbon Cooking School in 1995, after Virginia launched her first cooking school in Vancouver, Canada. Virginia Duppenthaler studied cookery at Cordon Bleu in Paris, as well as Vienna's Gastronomic Institute and the University of Science and Technology in Ames, Iowa. Co-owner Mike Duppenthaler, a knife-skills and grilling expert, worked as a businessman before joining the school's teaching staff in 1998. Their daughter, Vanessa Johns-Webster, joined the management team to head their catering and kids programs after having been a private chef and culinary consultant.
Classes
Cooking classes operate on a rotating schedule and provide hands-on participation, a sit-down meal and hard copies of the recipes covered in class. Classes are nonrefundable, but you can reschedule without fee if you give more than 7 days' notice. Classes transferred within 7 days will provide a 50-percent credit toward a future class. Topics offered on a rotating basis include Monday Night Dinner Parties, Seasonal Selections, Singles Classes, Culinary Destinations and Essential Techniques.
Instructors
A team of instructors who specialize in regional styles and techniques assist co-owners Virginia and Mike Duppenthaler. Their teaching roster includes chefs proficient in Italian, Thai, Pan-Mediterranean, French and California cooking styles, as well as instructors who focus on pastry and chocolate arts. Among them, the Blue Ribbon Cooking School instructors have earned and received a number of accolades, including the International Association of Culinary Professionals' Certified Culinary Professional accreditation and several regional kudos.
Press
The school has been covered in local and regional media outlets including Sunset magazine, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, the North Seattle Journal, Sound Business Journal and Seattle Weekly. Articles have focused on topics including kids in the kitchen, party-style cooking classes and singles classes.
Contact Information
Reserve classes at the Blue Ribbon Cooking School by phoning Blue Ribbon's main number, (206) 328-2442, or email info@blueribboncooking.com. The main street address is 2501 Fairview Avenue East, Seattle, Washington 98102.
Trivia
Virginia Duppenthaler's grandfather invented the corn dog in their small-town Georgia home.
Tags: Blue Ribbon, Blue Ribbon Cooking, Ribbon Cooking, Ribbon Cooking School, Cooking School, Mike Duppenthaler