Join Julia Cushing, author of "Julia's Colorful Day", Licensed Clinical Social Worker, and AtoZ Culinary Educator in an engaging talk about kids and their emotions. We discuss the role of play in children's lives, the concept of adultism, and advice on regulation of emotions.

In Eps. 35 of AtoZ Cooking School's podcast What Are You Hungry For? Executive Director, Nancy Martz, chats with Veronica Gallardo. Veronica is one of our rockstar board members. With a strong background in education, Veronica explains how the lessons and activities we teach our students have impacts far beyond the kitchen. 

In Ep. 34 of AtoZ Cooking School's podcast What Are You Hungry For? Executive Director, Nancy Martz, chats with Sonam Samat. Sonam recently left her job at Google, and is heading back to India with her family, where she plans to open a cooking school! We talk about schools in India v. schools in the US,  naan v. roti, and our favorite recipes.

Join us for a conversation with Matt Kettmann -- senior editor for the Santa Barbara Independent and a contributing editor for Wine Enthusiast. He is the author of Vines & Vision: The Winemakers of Santa Barbara County. 

Join us and learn how a quirk in his Isla Vista lease is the reason he lives in Santa Barbara and not the Bay Area. We also discusss synthetic corks and answer the age-old question, "should you pump the air out of your wine?" Bonus -- we discuss the practice of making beans and offer a step-by-step recipe.

Finally, learn why "turkey's gonna get your farther in life."

If you love good food, good wine and good vibes, you need to know Emma West! Emma is the owner/operator of Satellite Restaurant and Natural Wine Shop in downtown Santa Barbara. She is obsessed with hospitality, the SB Farmers Market, and eating. Did we mention that Satellite is vegetarian? You just can't go wrong.

If you want to discover the food book (it's not a cookbook) that we gushed over, check out The Vegetarian Flavor Bible.

Anna-Katharina Preidl (AK to her friends) is working to decipher the nanosphere world and predict how things will behave in our world.  She is studying Materials Science and Engineering at a school in the Bay Area (that's code for Stanford.) She loves to bake and cook and eat good food.  AK and Nancy met when AK was in high school and volunteered in the classes that Nancy was teaching at her children's school in a little village in Austria. Nancy and AK lose themselves in a discussion about "mehlspeise" -- sweet dishes that most people would consider dessert, but Austrians will eat for a meal. She also talks about "raman spectroscopy", which has nothing to do with the current ramen craze.  And despite what she says in the podcast, her favorite -- essential -- gadget is her kitchen scale.

Dr. Jennifer Watson has a PhD in Hospitality from MSU Denver. She and Nancy met when they were slicing onions at the Culinary Institute of America during the Healthy Kitchens Healthy Lives conference and an instant kinship was forged! Dr. Jennifer spent a week in Santa Barbara, helping out with summer camp and sharing ideas about how to engage more people in cooking, eating and sharing time together. Her ideas about hospitality are simple -- we welcome people. But we need to be intentional about. Welcoming and hospitality don't just happen on their own. Enjoy this conversation and bring more hospitality to your days!

Meet Donna Yen,  Executive Director of The Santa Barbara Culinary Experience, in partnership with The Julia Child Foundation for Gastronomy and the Culinary Arts. Its mission is to shine a light on Santa Barbara’s local culinary, hospitality, tourism, artisan and small business communities.

Donna and Nancy talk about some of their favorite things:  The Cultured Abalone, Biddy Sticks,  the Cherry Bombe Cookbook, and donabe pots.

Stay tuned for the next Taste of Santa Barbara -- May 13-19, 2024

Meet Ben Caputo, one of our summer teen staff members. Ben is one of those young men who says, "What can I do next?" or "Would you like me to wash the dishes, mop the floor and take out the trash?" Yes, please! He's also a fan favorite of the campers because he knows how to bring the fun. We are lucky to have him on our team.

Meet Luc Powers, one of our teen summer staff superstars! Luc is a counselor and brings mad skills to AtoZ. From chalk drawing to yoga, lawn games to art projects, Luc's leadership and creativity have brought our summer camp to the next level!