Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/188061
THE REAL SPIRIT OF MEXICO Chef Kristyne Starling can spot a successful cooking school student when she sees "a positive attitude, a lack of ego and a willingness to learn." Enter the New School of Cooking. After acquiring it in January 2012, Becker quickly transformed the school into what it is today. Small and intimate, less expensive and set in a beautifully inspiring space in L.A.'s food-centric Culver City neighborhood, this model is precisely the answer to the complaints of his previous graduates. "We require our students to demonstrate skill and they must have that passion that you can just feel. We only have the best of the culinary educators out there—what we teach them is comprehensive and contemporary." Instructor Chef Kristyne Starling explains why she loves teaching at the New School of Cooking: "The small, intimate classes really allow us to change the program on a dime according to what our students need and what's available, be that ingredients, field trip opportunities or guest chefs. Plus, [Becker] really empowers his instructors and students." Starling, an admirable chef in her own right, agrees with those complaints about the bigger, impersonal cooking schools, but sees one more problem. "So many schools are just turning out cooks who can make recipes, but I want to teach these chefs to think for themselves and be able to put together flavors. I love teaching people to think." So, after all these years, is the kitchen still the party that Becker saw as a kid? "Absolutely. I'm still having a great time every day." FO L LOW U S T W I T T E R : @ZI G N U M USA october 2013 / the tasting panel / 63 TP1013_034-65.indd 63 9/23/13 10:35 PM