School of Culinary Arts: From the Heart of New Orleans
Seven modules. Technique, flavor, soul, and a path to your own catering or restaurant. Cook with love. Build a business.
Born from a kitchen in New Orleans in 2003 and shaped by every dish that ever made someone close their eyes at the table. This program teaches the technique, the flavor, the heart, and the business of cooking. You will leave knowing how to season, how to roux, how to gumbo, how to scale a menu, how to cost a dish, and how to turn that gift in your hands into a paycheck.
I started my cooking journey in 2003, in my hometown of New Orleans. This journey did not begin on a whim. It began as a dream.
My passion for cooking came from watching my mother and my sister bring so many wonderful dishes to life. The smell of the kitchen. The taste of what came out of it. The time spent together at the table. All of it left me feeling that I, too, could do this. And I did.
At first I did not think I could. I was also a travel advisor, and the days were already full. But I kept coming back to the same truth: if God gave me the vision, He would line up the provision to see it through. And the rest is history.
I specialize in Creole, Cajun, and many other cuisines, and my love for this craft is priceless. That is why I built this school: to share every technique, every shortcut, and every reason I love it with the next person who has the gift in her hands and the doubt in her head.
Bring your hunger. Bring your heart. We will do the rest together.
01The Heart of the Kitchen: Cooking with Love3 lessons
Before technique, before recipes, the most important ingredient: intention. Why people taste the love in your food, and how to keep it there.
- Why People Taste the Love
- Setting Up Your Mind Before Your Mise
- The First Rule: Taste Constantly
02Foundations: Knife, Heat, and Setup3 lessons
Knife skills, kitchen safety, equipment that earns its place, and the four basic heat applications every dish lives or dies by.
- Knife Skills That Save You Hours
- Equipment That Earns Its Place
- The Four Heat Applications
03Flavor Building: Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat3 lessons
The four elements behind every great dish, the five mother sauces, and how to season in layers so the food sings.
- Salt: Fat, Acid, Heat, the Four Elements
- Seasoning in Layers
- The Five Mother Sauces
04New Orleans Soul: Creole and Cajun Masterclass3 lessons
The Holy Trinity. The roux. Gumbo. Jambalaya. Etouffee. Red beans. The cuisine that raised the instructor.
- The Holy Trinity and the Cajun Roux
- Building a Real Gumbo
- Jambalaya: Etouffee, and Red Beans
05Beyond Creole: Soul, Italian, Mexican, Asian3 lessons
Expand your range. Southern soul food classics, simple Italian, weeknight Mexican, foundational Asian flavors.
- Soul Food and Southern Classics
- Italian and Mexican Pantry Cooking
- Asian Foundations: Stocks, Sauces, Stir Fry
06The Business of Cooking: Pricing, Sourcing, Menus3 lessons
Cottage food laws, food cost math, menu design, sourcing, and turning a gift into a real income.
- Cottage Food and Legal Basics
- Food Cost: The Math That Decides Whether You Profit
- Menu Design and Sourcing
07Scale It: Catering, Pop-ups, and the Restaurant Path3 lessons
How to grow from one client to a catering business, to a pop-up, to a brick-and-mortar restaurant. With cross-over to the Entrepreneurship School.
- Catering: The Smartest First Business
- Pop-ups: Food Trucks, and Ghost Kitchens
- The Restaurant: Open Eyes, Open Notebook