Wine

Item Description

Private Baking Workshop for Six people, with Award-Winning Baker, Craig Ponsford

Love to bake, but don’t feel proficient enough to do it often?  Do your cakes and breads just seem, well, boring?  Here is your chance to have a hands-on learning experience with the founder and owner of the famed Artisan Bakers…from whom most of us purchase our breads because our own creations just won’t do!

From the time that he was a young man growing up in the East Bay, Craig Ponsford loved being in the kitchen. Working in all facets of the culinary industry, he paid his way through the California Culinary Academy, where he was awarded the Walker Award for Culinary Excellence. He continued to learn, and after working for several years at Grace Baking, he decided to open his own bakery …and Artisan Bakers** was born.

Join Craig with five of your friends for a hands-on day of baking bliss…be it pizza, breads, sweet or savory, Craig will take you through baking essentials, and show you professional tips and tricks…tailoring the experience to your interests and levels of experience.  As an added bonus, what better place to have your lesson than in the professional kitchens of Chateau Montelena? 

 **Several years after opening Artisan, Craig stunned the baking world by winning the World Cup of Baking for his bread at the 1996 Coupe du Monde in Paris. He competed against bakers from around the world and this was the first time that the French had not won this award. He returned several years later as the coach of the American Baking Team, named the best team in that competition. He has acted as a judge in the subsequent competitions. 

 In addition to baking, Craig loves to teach and share his knowledge, and his current passion – a focus on the nutritional value of the food he prepares, and minimizing his impact on global resources through the use of locally-produced, seasonal ingredients. He has taught at the CIA, both here and in Hyde Park, NY, the California Culinary Academy and the Portland Institute. He recently stepped down as the President of the Bread Bakers Guild of America after 10 years and opened a small bakery in San Rafael, Ponsford’s Place. There he intends to have a small retail outlet, a lab to help him in his worldwide consulting business and, starting Spring 2011, conduct baking classes. 

Item Special Note

To be scheduled on a mutually agreeable date for all parties.