Re-introducing CookWithJames
And my first substack
I grew up on a 50 acre horse farm near the Salinas Valley. My great grandfather emigrated from Yugoslavia into the Central Valley and started an apple farm. His grandfather later moved to the very fertile Salinas Valley and started one of the first produce companies. It was called Sun Harvest. My mother raised us mostly on local fruits and vegetables though there was still the occasional cooking “out of a can” given the generation. Canned beets! The one thing we always had was a bowl of fresh fruit, cut up and put into a bowl for us before we went to bed.
I earned a masters in Spanish literature and linguistics through Middlebury College and lived in Spain for two years. I later entered into the technology business and worked at various advertising agencies in San Francisco over a 12 year period. Along the way I started cooking as "therapy" for his corporate day job. CookWithJames was created 15 years ago as an underground supper club. I would prepare multiple course regional Italian and Spanish dinners in my home for guests and friends. I briefly staged at Quince restaurant after they opened in 2004, and also lived and cooked in both Italy and Spain. After leaving my day job in advertising in 2009 I launched CookWithJames as a full-time business, offering private sit-down dinners as well as cooking class parties for all occasions. To learn more visit CookWithJames.com.
I also had the privilege and pleasure of serving as the official food columnist for the Nob Hill Gazette (NobHillGazette.com) from 2011 - 2018, covering the Bay Area and beyond.
While I continue to run CookWithJames as a mostly full-time business I find myself spending more time in Spain. I also feel compelled to once again begin writing about my experiences and this platform will mark my launch. I hope you will read my posts, particularly if you have a love for Spain. I am excited to share some interesting stories about my adventures here and the people and characters that I come across.
Saludos!
James