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About South Bay School of Cooking

  South Bay School of Cooking
  Awarded Small Business of the Year 2006
  from the Manhattan Beach Chamber of Commerce
 

Hands-on ingredients

Take a professional chef who cooked around the greater Los Angeles area for a dozen years. Mix it with a dash of dancing with verbs as a former restaurant reviewer. Then just for the heck of it, add a splash of merry steel drum music making. There you have it -- Annette Gallardo’s approach has been to capture all the senses for an exemplary hands-on experience.

She just doesn’t sit by the sidelines and delegate; her cooking style and infectious energy are hands-on. And so it makes absolute sense that the South Bay School of Cooking would take a personalized hands-on approach.
 

  “Chef Annette was informative and had great style.”
                                           --Asha Goldweber

Unlike other cooking classes where students just sit around and passively observe, Annette requires that you roll up your sleeves and feel the dough between your fingers or get busy slicing and dicing.
 

Annette Gallardo
South Bay School of Cooking

Her cooking class style differs from the usual demonstration classes because everyone here has a chance to participate and feel a sense of delicious accomplishment.

While some people enjoy cooking and see it as a creative outlet, others see it as a chore to get out of the way. Annette believes in making your cooking experience fun, easy, and efficient as possible. Through professional experience, her techniques and tips make prepping effortless; cooking and entertaining becomes recreational and less of a chore. Her style is a colorful approach to cooking and having fun at the same time.
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Sign up to receive occasional e-blasts for classes, recipes, and cooking tips. Co-marketing Sponsors and affiliations include Whole Foods, Le Creuset, Mauviel Cookware, Saveur magazine, and Kitchen Aid   Starting 2008, the Beach Cities Health District will be teaming up with South Bay School of Cooking to teach a series of healthy cooking classes.    Gilberto Cetina of Chichen Itza has taken the traditional tamale to new heights and audiences. Does Chef Annette Ever Sleep? If you think that just the South Bay School of Cooking keeps Annette busy – think again.  In 2007, Annette started writing a column for the Easy Reader. Readers can pick up the paper weekly to learn about seasonal produce, healthy eating tips for kids, and holiday fare along with foolproof recipes. In 2006 the South Bay School of Cooking received the Small Business of the Year Award from the Manhattan Beach Chamber of Commerce. She also was invited to teach at the University de Oriente in Valladolid, Yucatan, Mexico for the first class of the new gastronomy program. A good percentage of the 60 students were indigenous Maya whose first language was Mayan followed by Spanish. Many of the students also spoke English. From her years in the restaurant industry, Annette was hired as a restaurant consultant by the renowned Yucatan restaurant, Chichen Itza. When they opened a second location, she imparted experienced words of wisdom by decoding recipes for the cooks and streamlining the recipes on paper. She also chose the china, sourced it, and designed plate presentation. In 2006, there were many requests for corporate team building cooking classes. Since then Time-Warner, Northrup Grumman, Merck Pharmaceuticals, Toyota, and ESPN have all cooked in the spotless retro kitchen.   “The team truly enjoyed the cooking experience.  The food was DELICIOUS!”                                                                    --   Bonnie/Merck During 2005 Annette taught an honorarium class at the Art Institute of California’s culinary program in Los Angeles. The class taught students how to start your own food-related business including signing a lease, purchasing equipment, and shopping for products. Annette has also been a guest chef on the “Let’s All Cook” Torrance cable network. She’s a member in good standing of Women Chefs & Restaurateurs. As busy as she is, she takes time to mentor her assistants and support staff. And near the end of 2005, she volunteered to teach a Moroccan cooking and culinary history class to the Redondo Beach Girl Scout troop preparing them for the annual cooking bee. Annette is a past board member of the Manhattan Beach Chamber of Commerce. She became known far and wide for orchestrating several memorable Manhattan Beach Chamber installation dinners and Women in Business teas. In 2001, Women in Business gave her the coveted “Woman of the Year” award. Through the Leadership Manhattan Beach program, Annette spearheaded the Flavors of Manhattan Beach Cookbook raising vital funds for the Wellness Community by bringing together residents, businesses, politicians, and students to profit the non-profit organization. She’s also been known to sing “God Bless America” to thundering applause! Articles * Inspirational Person of the Month (October 2006) South Bay Woman * Savory Trails (June/July 2006) AARP Segunda Juventad (see CrossTown Adventures) * Daily Breeze - Cooking with Class (Jan. 30, 2006)

Culinary Resume

Chef Annette Gallardo became acquainted with great food at a young age. As a child, she was inspired by her father who was born in a central California winery. He worked in the hotel and restaurant industry as a waiter, maitre d’ and sommelier while her mother instilled a love of delicate pastries and artisan breads. They routinely ate frog legs, escargot, and sabayon. Nearly born with wine coursing through her veins, memories of those culinary delights perpetuated a tremendous impact on her future.

Annette’s culinary training came from a traditional apprenticeship along with classes at Los Angeles Trade Technical College. Her holistic curiosity led to certificate in Chinese herbs. She cut her teeth, so to speak, as a pastry chef at the Los Angeles Music Center Pavilion Restaurant and went on to hone her craft working with renowned chefs from Tulipe, 72 Market Street, and Le Bel Age Hotel.

Bubbling with culinary knowledge, she’s earned her reputation in the kitchens of Los Angeles as well as from rave reviews on the pages of the Los Angeles Times, Daily Breeze, Beverly Hills magazine, Valley News, Key magazine, and the Beach Reporter. Her “who’s who?” of customers includes Margo Hemmingway, Larry Hagman, Lionel Ritchie, the Prince of Iran, and even the Queen of England.

You don’t have to be royalty or a celebrity to enjoy the hands-on South Bay School of Cooking experience, but you will most likely feel like one.

                             “Fun, enjoyable, interactive, and yummy!” 
                                                               - -Vanessa Sulam

Jennifer Bevilacqua teaches nutritionally-hip SBSOC classes for a variety of health concerns plaguing mothers and mothers-to-be, families, diabetics, and anyone who wants to make healthy lifestyle changes in their lives.

Jennifer Story received top honors upon completion from the Southern California School of Culinary Arts Le Cordon Bleu Program in Pasadena. She also worked at Chez Melange cooking for special events and works as personal chef when not teaching SBSOC classes.

Will you have fries with that? 
Copywriter and marketing maven, Karyn Zoldan of www.BridgeMarketing.com , blends her love of fantastic food and enduring friendships with her role of virtual marketing consultant for SBSOC. As a former South Bay resident, Karyn misses the marine layer but can spin her search engine optimized web content and compelling ad copy from anywhere. She also writes a biting column for the Tucson Weekly called “Noshing Around”, articles for Tucson newspapers and magazines, and www.circleoffood.com/blog .

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