Excitement, Knowledge and Satisfaction
of Cooking for Everyone!
7924 S. Broadway, Suite 300, Tyler, Texas 75703
(Between "Buffalo Wild Wings" and "The Diner" on South Broadway)
(903) 581-2665
Let's Cook! Guest Chefs
Al Ippolito
If you were to start a conversation with Al Ippolito about traditional Italian cuisine, he would tell you about countless wonderful hours in a cellar kitchen with his mother who taught him culinary secrets passed from generation to generation.
Al’s parents came from the Italian coastal towns Chieti and Alberobella, Italy, where they were raised on the fruits of the land as well as those from the sea. Learning how to cook when very young helped him from the time he was a teenager, when he worked in kitchens in health care facilities and restaurants, and as a husband and father who cooked for his family, to catering home specialty parties in the DFW area and in Tyler. Al, a professor of communication, loves to teach interactively while preparing traditional Italian dishes. Teaching cooking is Al’s “Amore Mio” (my love). Let’s Cook! discovered Al preparing specialty dishes for an art exhibition. The wonderful food and innovative methods of preparation triggered discussions with Al to prepare similar dishes for our Date Night.
Steve Dumas
Steve has been involved in the food industry for the last 27 years in many different roles. He has cooked and bartended in many different types of restaurants while he was attending college. After college he got involved in food sales and later got into food manufacturing. He has used his love of cooking to help develop new menu items for local and national restaurant chains. He views cooking as fun and relaxing and thinks it should never be looked at as a chore. Keep it simple, healthy (most of the time) and enjoyable and you can't go wrong is his philosophy.
Christian Chavanne
Chef Christian Chavanne is a native of the French Riviera. He began his training at the tender age of 14 and spent 9 years including an apprenticeship that spanned several countries before establishing himself on the US West Coast.
While living in Southern California, Christian became interested in the exciting culinary experiments taking place in Northern California's wine country, so he moved to the Napa Valley to work for the famed Auberge du Soleil Restaurant.
Christian is a culinary consultant, instructor and a television host. Christian has a passion and appreciation for foods of all cultures with a special emphasis on the cuisines of his native Provence and the Mediterranean.
You can learn more about Christian Chavanne at www.cookingwithchristian.com.
Kathleen Stanfill
Kathleen is a Marketing Consultant, Social Media Manager, and Advertising Specialist. You may recognize her as a chef and past owner of Larissa House in Jacksonville. If you don't know herm then you are going to meet "one dynamic lady" when you come to Let's Cook! To learn how to cook "small" portions in a "big" way.
Midge Jackson
From an early age, Midge Jackson was at home in the family kitchen. She fondly recalls hger grandmother cooking delicious, traditional Sunday dinner each week for at least 30 of her children and grandchildren. By the age of 11, Midge assumed the cooking responsibilities for her family, including buying the groceries, planning menus, and executing them. She was allowed free rein to experiment and explore new and unusual ingredients and technniques, creating delicious and nutritious meals, finished with fine desserts. At the age of 21, she moved to the orient, where she was introduced to Chinese food. Her special interests include foreign foods of all kinds, bread baking and creating elegant and delicious desserts. Since moving to East Texas, she has explored and enjoyed traditional foods such as pecan pie, sweet potato pie and tea cakes "like Granny used to make."