dish cooking studio

Pam Pridham

After 5 years as the school director, Pam has taken over the reins or should we say ‘apron strings ’as owner of dish cooking studio/dish Kitchen. Having grown up in New York and worked in the financial services industry there, Pam made her way through all of the great restaurants and food emporiums NYC has to offer. An avid traveler augmented with a 2 year stint living in Hong Kong was fundamental to shaping Pam’s passion for world cuisines. “There is nothing better than exploring a country through the local markets and then bringing these treasures back to share with family and friends”. Global travel coupled with the love of entertaining inspired Pam to become a self taught home chef. Pam is hands-on when it comes to menu design and searching for the perfect products to stock the dish shelves. “Food is a focal point in all of our lives and we, at dish, want to share that with you... from the dish Kitchen to yours”.

Kristin Donovan, Executive Chef

Kristin Donovan has returned home to Dish Cooking Studio to reprise her role as Executive Chef. Kristin's humble culinary debut in Ontario's northern backwoods as a tree-planting cook led her to the Stratford Chefs School and on to cook at some of Toronto's most famed restaurants including Avalon, AGORA at the AGO and Jamie Kennedy Wine Bar. Born with a need to feed, Kristin loves spreading the joy good food brings. Kristin's philosophy to life in the kitchen is simple: life is too short to eat bad food. Buy the best at its best, bring it home and make it even better! Kristin's classes reflect her technical background, extensive teaching experience along with her passion for great food and wine.

Charmaine Baan

dish resident chef Charmaine Baan, began her amorous relationship with food at a tender age, learning to cook at her Mother's side with ingredients fresh from the family farm. After graduating from Stratford Chef's School, she gained notoriety working at iconic Toronto restaurants like Susur and Splendido. A passion for touring markets around the world has heavily influenced her "garden-to-table" cooking philosophy. Drawing on both Classical French techniques and real-world memories of her travels through Europe and Asia, Charmaine creates dishes that will both motivate and enchant. "Like great food, knowledge is something to be shared, and we should never stop learning."

	Michelle Massey
	Michelle has been food obsessed for as long as she can remember. She has been in the industry forever in various capacities from managing a specialty food shop to working as the pastry chef at some of Toronto’s top restaurants. Michelle has been enthusiastically bringing her wide range of experience to Dish for the past 5 years.

Angie MacRae

Angie MacRae is a Chef and co-host of the tv series “This Food That Wine” which airs on Food Network Canada and in 30 other countries around the world. Angie is a graduate of Stratford Chefs School, although her “food education” stretches far outside of the classroom. When she’s not co-hosting, Angie shares her knowledge with other passionate foodies by teaching, consulting, writing, catering and working at various interactive kitchen spaces with her friend and co-host Stacey Metulynsky. Angie is now also featured on MSN.ca offering tips and tricks in the kitchen, and, she has co-authored an exciting new cookbook and wine pairing guide also entitled “This Food That Wine” which was released in stores in 2007.

Lisa Paul

There's only one thing Lisa loves as much as cooking and eating, and that’s teaching others how to prepare food they'll enjoy. After graduating from the Stratford Chefs School, Lisa slaved over a range of hot stoves, from Domus Cafe in Ottawa to Lemon Meringue in Toronto, before landing at Dish in 2004. Also studying journalism at the time, she veered into food writing on the side, doing restaurant reviews for NOW magazine and penning gastro-features for a variety of publications. Her approach to cuisine incorporates the "field-to-fork" ethic, and is inspired by the wonderful, worldly meals she shared with gracious hosts during her travels.