Staff
Chris Becker
is the owner of the New School of Cooking. A native of Philadelphia, Chris grew up in a family of restaurateurs who operated family dinning establishments and dinners around the city. He worked in his family’s businesses growing up and ultimately decided on cooking as an occupation. Arriving in California in 1977 Chris worked in San Francisco neighborhood restaurants until he was recruited to work at Campton Place Hotel then on to the Westin Bonaventure as the Chef de Cuisine. He created Christopher’s in Pasadena in 1985 and was the Executive Chef of Ocean Avenue Seafood in 1987. In 1988 Chris obtained a teaching credential and began working with secondary and postsecondary students in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, at the Atlantic Vocational Center and was the Director of Culinary Apprenticeship for the American Culinary Federation. In 1993 Chris and his wife founded the California School of Culinary Arts in South Pasadena, California. Chris went on to create the Kitchen Academy and built campuses in several locations as well as developing and working with culinary schools in San Francisco, Las Vegas, Orlando, Austin, Chicago and New York. Remaining active in the school field in health education since 2008 Becker has returned to work with the New School of Cooking. He holds a Bachelors of Science in Business Administration, a Masters Degree in Science in Leadership and a Honorary Diploma from Le Cordon Bleu in Paris.
Carol Cotner Thompson
is the Director of Culinary Education at the New School of Cooking and has over 33 years professional cooking experience and over 24 years experience in culinary education. A graduate of both the professional cooking and pastry programs at the California Culinary Academy in 1985, Thompson has since taken on a wide array of professional endeavors which include extensive restaurant consulting and cooking experience, television and print food styling and on-camera chef work, recipe and curriculum development and stints as a personal chef. Chef Cotner Thompson developed the curriculum for the full time program.
May Parich
graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in 1998. She has worked as a private chef, pastry chef, food writer and food buyer. Prior to joining the New School of Cooking Parich was the director of the cooking program at HomeChef Kitchen Store in Pasadena and Newport Beach. Parich is also experienced in specialty food production and sales. She has taught cooking for ten years and teaches our professional program as well as many recreational classes.
Laura Weinman
graduated from the California Culinary Academy in 1986. Weinman developed and taught the two-year professional cooking program at UCLA Extension and has six years of teaching experience. She has extensive restaurant experience and worked for seven years as a corporate chef and private chef for celebrity clients. She has also cooked with local catering firms and has catered privately for the last six years. Weinman has twenty four years of pastry, cooking, nutritional and specialty foods experience.
Jamie Cantor
After graduating from Emory University with a Bachelor of Arts degree, Jamie Cantor received an Associates Degree and a Certificate in Baking and Pastry Arts from The Culinary Institute of America. She then began work at The French Laundry restaurant as Chef de Partie alongside James Beard Award recipient chef Thomas Keller.
Jessica Hilton
Following a successful finance career in New York, Jess moved west to pursue her dreams. Shortly after arriving in LA, she enrolled in the professional program at The New School of Cooking, which she successfully completed in 2003. Since then she has worked as a personal chef for a number of high-profile celebrities, in addition to catering and teaching cooking classes at NSOC and Marymount. Jess holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Drew University as well as multiple certifications in integrative nutrition education and consultancy.