BONNIE STERN

When Bonnie Stern started her cooking school in 1973 she wanted people to have more fun in the kitchen, eat more healthfully and nourish their families and friends with delicious food. That goal has never changed. Bonnie is still sharing her love of cooking in everything she does.

Bonnie founded The Bonnie Stern School of Cooking and Cookware Shop in Toronto in 1973. She teaches special event classes and privately organized group classes as well as classes open to the public. She also hosts an informative website featuring recipes, food news, a web store (www.bonniestern.com) and sends out a monthly e-newsletter. One of her latest projects is hosting a book club where novelists are invited to speak about their books and guests are served dinner roughly based on the novel. Bonnie has a degree in English and the book clubs bring together her two passions food and literature.

The Bonnie Stern School of Cooking has earned its owner an international reputation that reflects both Bonnie Stern's culinary excellence and her widespread experience studying with food specialists from around the world. The school has hosted such world-class chefs as John Ash, Rick Bayless, Michael Bonacini, Biba Caggiano, Jim Dodge, Rob Feenie, Marcella Hazan, Madhur Jaffrey, Susur Lee, Nick Maglieri, Mark McEwan, Alice Medrich, Meena Pathak, Jacques Pepin and Nina Simonds, Hidekazu Tojo, Vikram Vij.

Bonnie develops recipes for major food companies, conducts product knowledge sessions for cookware manufacturers and holds private chef training update sessions for resort owners. At her school she leads team-building classes for major corporations and conducts HeartSmart cooking classes for health professionals. Her client list includes Bayer, Campbell's, Deloitte, Eli Lilly, Financial Planners Standards Council, IBM, Ikea, Mastermind, Microsoft, MintoUrban Communities, Nabisco, Shaw Industries and Torquest.

Bonnie is the author of twelve cookbooks, all of which have been national bestsellers. Her latest book is “HeartSmart” written in conjunction with the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada. "Bonnie Stern's Essentials of Home Cooking" published by Random House won the coveted International Association of Culinary Professional’s award in 2004. She writes a weekly column for the Saturday National Post and contributes to Outlook magazine and Canadian Gardening. In addition, her articles have appeared in Canadian Living, Eating Well, Elm Street, Homemaker's and The Chicago Sun Times. You can regularly hear Bonnie’s food conversations with historian Elizabeth Driver on CBC Radio’s “Sounds Like Canada” with Shelagh Rogers.

Bonnie has hosted two national television shows "Bonnie Stern Cooks" and "Bonnie Stern Entertains". She has appeared regularly on many television and radio shows including CTV's "Canada AM", HGTV's Canadian House and Home, CBC’s The National, ETalk Daily with the Canadian Idols and CBC radio's "Morningside". Her recipes and entertaining tips appear on Sony Classical's A La Carte Dinner Music CD's. Bonnie has taught classes at the International Wine and Food Expo in Stowe, Vermont, at the Canadian Mountain Holidays' exclusive Valmount Lodge, British Columbia and at the James Beard House in New York City. She has led culinary adventure tours to New York, California, Italy and Israel.

Bonnie is a graduate of University of Toronto and George Brown College. She has studied cooking in France, Italy, Taiwan, Thailand, Japan, India and the United States. Through her work for various charitable organizations Bonnie has been able to channel her professional interest in food into activities that benefit the community. Her CKFM Cookbook (Cooking with Bonnie Stern) raised money for the Hospital for Sick Children and her three HeartSmart cookbooks raised money for The Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada. She helped bring Share Our Strength's "Taste of the Nation" hunger relief fundraising event to Toronto and has supported the work of Second Harvest, Toronto's food recovery program, for fifteen years. She sits on the University of Toronto Alumni Association Board and is involved with many university projects. She also supports Kolel (Toronto’s Adult Jewish Learning Centre) and The Jewish National Fund’s Tu Bi’Shevat programs.

Bonnie is a member of several culinary organizations including the International Association of Cooking Professionals, the James Beard Foundation and Cuisine Canada. Bonnie has received awards from the Toronto Culinary Guild, the Ontario Hostelry Institute, the University of Toronto, The International Association of Culinary Professionals, The Cambridge Food and Wine Society and Cuisine Canada.

“I have always thought that Bonnie Stern ran one of the best cooking schools anywhere. I taught there for many years and always admired her ever-present professionalism and grace. I've eaten great food there, too - not long ago she served me the best pizza I've ever had in my life” (Caramelized Onion and Gorgonzola Pizza, page 4, Bonnie Stern's Essentials of Home Cooking,) Jacques Pépin