Matt O'Neill | Jan Bulla-Baker

Jack Baker | Liz Bailey | Philippe Bironneau | Eduardo Brondízio

David Davenport | David Fletcher | David Gower | Monique Jamet Hooker

Francie Hurst | Santosh Jain | Scott Marsh | Mary Jo McClintic

Christie McCloud | Alfredo Minetti | Yuko Okumura | Heather O'Sullivan

Nejla Routsong | Aggie Sarkissian | Elisabeth Simeri | David and Kristen Tallent

Matt received his chef training in Dublin, Ireland. He served as a head chef instructor for the Culinary Arts Academy of Cincinnati in conjunction with the Culinary Institute of America. Matt earned numerous awards throughout his career, including medals for culinary competitions and the John H. Sector award for his contribution to education. A member of the American Culinary Federation and the American Hotel Association, as well as a member of the Indiana Writer's Center, Matt is the author of a successful cookbook, The Seasons at Walden Inn. He served as Innkeeper and chef at Walden Inn from its inception in 1986 until recently. Matt continues his culinary pursuits with the Runcible Spoon, co-ownership of the R Street Bistro in Bedford, and co-ownership of The Bloomington Cooking School.

Jan, co-owner of The Bloomington Cooking School, credits her mother's fine taste in food and her father's insistence on eating for her interest in cooking. From Robinson, Illinois, the home of Heath candy bars, she started candy making as a youth. She had her own Chocolate Factory in Bloomington for three years, where she created over 30 flavors of truffles. Her truffles have been consumed at the Indianapolis Symphony for over 15 years. Jan's encounters with cookbooks led to self-taught adventures in cooking. Her travels to Italy broadened her interests in slow food and fine wine. Trained as an English teacher, she looks forward to classes where the tests are edible.

Jack, Jan's husband, is a professional Mechanical Engineer working at IU's Chemistry department, has been collecting wine for twenty years. He brings his knowledge and love of wine to the classroom, yet encourages each of his students to develop his own nose and palate. Jack's trips to California and Europe always include sampling wines from the great grape regions.

Liz, a food and travel writer, brings her love of healthy cooking and beautiful presentation to our many special dinners and catering events. She continues to work on her book, The Organized Chef.

Born and raised on the west coast of France, Philippe started cooking professionally while in school to keep busy. While living in Germany he was introduced to bread and pastry making by artisan bakers. When he moved to the United States over 20 years ago, Philippe landed in Santa Fe, New Mexico where he discovered authentic American cuisine and immediately fell in love with it. He moved to the wine countries of Oregon 10 years later where he decided to learn the styles of his colleagues, American chefs. He attended the Western Culinary Institute (A Cordon Bleu School) before moving to the Midwest. Prior moving to Bloomington, Philippe lived in Chicago where he was a consulting chef. Philippe recently joined the team at the new Hilton Garden Inn.

Dr. Eduardo Brondízio is a native of Brazil who spent much of his life around rural areas of the country and in the kitchen. He is an Associate Professor of Anthropolgy and Chair of the Anthropology Department at Indiana University. His research interest includes ethnobotany, agriculture and land use of Amazonian farmers with particular attention to native Caboclos and recent colonists, and issues of cultural identity and rural development in Brazil and Latin America. His research includes analyzing the commodity chain of Amazonian food items, from the local producer to national and international markets to consumers around the world. Cooking is a passion he enjoys daily, a way of thinking and understanding the world, and a family heritage to nurture and pass on. You can have a close look at his ethnographic research on Amazonian Caboclos by visiting the exhibit "Forest Farmers of the Amazon Estuary" at the Mathers Museum of World Cultures, at Indiana University. The exhibit is co-curated with his wife, anthropologist Andrea D. Siqueira. It is based on an extensive collection of local artifacts and material culture, and detail photographic documentation of daily life, the economy, the environment, and the ethnobotany of the region.

David Davenport, Nick's new chef, is classically trained, with a PHD in anthropology. His interest lies in classical baking with new twists and great flavors.

David is a practicing physician and group exercise leader. His love of baking, pastries, and dessert lead him to attend culinary school in New York before going on to open BLU Culinary Arts, LLC - a dessert catering, wedding and specialty cake company in Bloomington. David believes that with enough interest anyone can learn the skills that help us to experiment in the kitchen.

David's passion and enthusiasm for Italy and Italian cuisine led him to a five-year trip to the Italian peninsula where he cooked all over, from vegan tai chi schools to high-speed trains. David's knowledge of food and travel led him to create his own international food and wine touring company. Proficient in Roman and Florentine cuisines and trained by several famous chefs, as well as professionally trained at the New England Culinary Institute, he has worked as a personal chef, head chef for a fraternity, and is now house director for Zeta Beta Tau-Beta Gamma.

Best described as a culinary pioneer, Monique is a chef, teacher and author with a lifelong enthusiasm for food and travel. Trained in Europe, she moved to New York where she worked alongside and made lasting friendships with Jacques Pepin, among others. Moving to Chicago, she operated a cooking school, catering company and restaurant, and wrote an award-winning book, Cooking with the Season, A Year in my Kitchen, with Tracie Richardson. She currently lives in DeSoto, Wisconsin. She travels extensively, teaching and lecturing throughout the United States.

According to Francie, her profession is nursing, but baking is her passion. Self-schooled by the world's great baking masters Julia Childs, Flo Braker, Rose Levy Beranbaum, and Nick Malgieri, Francie started when she was very young, always trying new recipes in her mother's kitchen. She considers herself a "Southern cook" as she uses the skills she learned in the Southern tradition. Previously co-owner of Just Dessert Me, and truly famous for her desserts, Francie is the RN manager at the Cook Family Health Center.

Santosh, originally from India, has lived in Bloomington for 31 years. She's been teaching vegetarian Indian cooking since 1978. Her particular interest is adapting Indian cooking to ingredients and techniques unique to the West. She has recently published her cookbook, Vegetarian Nirvana: A Passage to North Indian Cuisine.

Scott is the former owner of the Red Chair Bakery. Like many of our chefs, Scott's interest in cooking comes from his childhood in the kitchen. Scott stays busy with his job as a circulating surgical nurse, and as a husband and father.

Mary Jo, has a B.S. in Food and Nutrition from Purdue University and has worked for the past 16 years in Outpatient Nutrition Therapy with a special emphasis on cholesterol, weight and diabetes management. She is currently providing outpatient counseling services, Diabetes Medical Nutrition group therapy, and grocery store tours to clients in Bloomington and the surrounding areas.

Christie is the Kitchen Manager at Bloomingfoods and has a passion for tofu and tempeh dishes. She is excited to share her knowledge of these soy protein products.

Alfredo Minetti is a native of Uruguay who grew up in Brazil. A musician and archaeologist, he has a master degree in anthropology and is a Ph.D. candidate in cultural anthropology. A grandson of Italian immigrants, Alfredo spent most of his life in the kitchen and developed a passion for cooking, especially Brazilian food. As an anthropologist, he is interested in the role of food and eating in the creation of cultural identity, or in what can be inferred through certain foods and eating behaviors that speak of class and gender divisions in specific cultures. Some cultures draw extensively in a couple of realms using these as metaphors to speak of most of their socio-political reality. In the case of Brazil, food is one of these realms. Brazil can indeed be approached and understood through food and eating.

A native of Tokyo, Japan, Yuko attended a regional culinary school and graduated with a specialty in Macrobiotic cooking and philosophy. After her marriage to Zen Buddhist scholar and priest, Shohaku Okumura, she became the resident chef, or Tenzo, at Zenjo-ji temple in Ujitawara, Japan. After moving to Minneapolis in 1993, Yuko furthered her career through catering, teaching classes and by working in the deli of the local co-op. In the summer of 2003, she moved with her family to Bloomington to establish a permanent home for the San Zen Community.

Heather is an artisan bread maker, creating her magic at the Scholar's Inn Bakehouse.

Nejla Routsong is a Turkish-American from Pleasant Lake, Indiana, who has since lived in Istanbul, Brussels, Portsmouth (UK) and Fresno. She has enjoyed the delightful cuisines of more than 17 foreign countries, and specializes in Mediterranean flavors. Nejla has a Bachelor's from DePauw University, where she worked with Chef Matt O'Neill at the Walden Inn.   She also has a Master's in International Relations.  She is the owner/operator of a tour business, Happy Karma Tours . Happy Karma Tours provides guided overseas adventures that are environmentally sustainable, socially just and affordable. When not leading adventures, Nejla teaches university classes in Political Science, Philosophy, Business and English.   She also teaches classes on world travel and intercultural communication for a variety of non-academic institutions, including the Monroe County Public Library and the City of Bloomington Parks and Recreation. Nejla frequently assists Chef O'Neill in his cooking classes, and periodically teaches "Adventures in Turkish Cooking", "Tour Turkey with Your Tastebuds", and "Mediterranean Brunches."

Aggie grew up working in her Armenian family's grocery store. It was at a very early age that she learned to cook from her parents and grandparents. Over the past 30 years, her love of food and entertaining has grown. Friends continued to encourage Aggie to share her expertise, and now she's the proud co-owner of a catering company called, Word of Mouth.

Elisabeth Simeri brings her artist's eye to the food she creates while utilizing the classical skills she honed in culinary school at the Colorado Institute of Art. An Indiana native, Elisabeth graduated from DePauw University and spent the past twelve years in Colorado. Most recently, she taught Ceramics and Photography at Steamboat Springs High School and operated her personal chef service, The Creative Table.

Locally grown David and Kristen met while working in a Bloomington restaurant 6 years ago and have hardly left the kitchen since. In 2000, they both went to New York to study at the Culinary Institute of America. During their studies and following, they both worked in the finest restaurants in New York and Atlanta. While attending C.I.A., David became acquainted with the Slow Food Movement and found inspiration in its principle of using local, seasonal and organic ingredients. Embracing these ideals, David decided to move back to Bloomington and, with the help of local farmers, started a restaurant with unique Indiana cuisine. Shortly after marrying, David and Kristen began renovating the property on West Kirkwood and opened Restaurant Tallent on November 7th, 2003.