Joanne Weir

Joanne Weir

Joanne Weir is many things...a world traveler...a James Beard Award-winning cookbook author...a cooking teacher...a chef and television personality. In the second season of her new 26-part public television series, "Joanne Weir's Cooking Class", Joanne's love of teaching cooking takes center stage. Her home kitchen is once again the classroom for each show as she works side-by-side with a real-world student for a hands-on cooking lesson. The student and viewer learn how to prepare a wide variety of Weir's latest wine country-inspired recipes, using the freshest and most seasonal ingredients available.

Awarded the very first IACP Julia Child Cooking Teacher Award of Excellent in 1999, Joanne shares a lifetime of experience that flavors everything she touches. Her first book, From Tapas to Meze(Crown, 1994,) was selected by Julia Child as one of her 12 personal favorites out of 1000 cookbooks published that year. From there she went on to publish a library of delights including a series of books for Williams Sonoma in 1997 called Seasonal Celebrations,You Say Tomato (Broadway Books 1998) and Weir Cooking, Recipes from the Wine Country (Time Life, 1999.) Her talents were finally brought to life in the PBS series "Weir Cooking in the Wine Country", shot on location in the Napa Valley.

The companion book, Weir's Cooking in the Wine Country (Simon & Schuster, 2001) went on to garner a James Beard Award nomination and an IACP Cookbook Award nomination. Joanne's adopted hometown, San Francisco, is the culinary setting for "Weir Cooking in the City", her 26-part PBS series and companion book (Simon & Schuster, 2004) for which she received a James Beard Award for Best Cookbook, General Category in 2005. A completely revised version of From Tapas to Meze (Ten Speed Press, 2004) was re-released with spectacular food photographs and won the 2004 Gourmand World Cookbook Award for Best Mediterranean Cookbook. Joanne's latest cookbook, "Wine Country Cooking" (Ten Speed Press, 2008) is the companion book to the upcoming season of "Joanne Weir's Cooking Class", which began airing on public television in early 2009. She has recently completed work on an exciting new all-in-one reference guide, "TEQUILA: A Guide to Types, Flights, Cocktails and Bites" (Ten Speed Press, Spring 2009).

Joanne's passion for home cooking was stoked by a legacy of life in the kitchen. Joanne's great-grandmother operated a restaurant in Boston at the turn of the century called Pilgrim's Pantry. That enthusiasm for food was passed down to her mother, a professional chef and caterer, who worked for years with the legendary author, Charlotte Turgeon. Joanne continues that same tradition, though it wasn't until after getting a degree in Art Education from the University of Massachusetts and teaching Fine Arts in Boston that she found her way back to the table.

Joanne spent five years cooking with Alice Waters at Chez Panisse in Berkeley, California and studied with Madeleine Kamman in New England and France and was awarded a Master Chef Diploma. Her ultimate calling has been in her teaching, which has taken her throughout the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, France, Italy, Thailand, South America and England. She spends six months of the year touring the globe sharing her extensive background with regard to food theory and technique, in particular Mediterranean cuisine and the regional foods of the U.S. All these elements come alive in her thoughtful classes as well as her delightful words and television series.

For more information about Joanne's TV shows, cookbooks, culinary tours, cooking classes and more please visit: www.joanneweir.com