Janeen Sarlin, author of eight cookbooks and columnist for The Southampton (NY) Press, was born and raised on a dairy farm in southern Minnesota. From early childhood, Janeen has eaten lean “organic” meats and healthy grains with seasonal vegetables and fruits grown and harvested from the land.
As an author, Ms. Sarlin has appeared on radio and television programs, local and national, including the “Today” show. She also produced her own show “The Seasonal Chef” on public radio at LIU, Southampton, NY.
In 1975 Ms. Sarlin founded Cooking With Class, Inc. a cooking school for students of all ages, backgrounds, and expertise. Her successful corporate team building classes were unique. Currently Janeen offers personalized Private Cooking Classes guiding the student (novice cooks/private chefs/cooks/mother’s helpers/household staff/etc.) throughout the entire process from market to table. She has traveled the US and in France teaching classes. She has trained with world-famous cooks and continues to study with master chefs because she believes that professional cooks never stop learning. Janeen honed her coaching and communication skills at the Therapeutic Coaching Program which is taught at the Meta Institute in Minneapolis and is a 13-month, 400-hour program in which participants learn a variety of skills, techniques, and disciplines that can be applied in cooking classes, demos, behind stoves and microphones as well as in front of cameras and audiences.
Ms. Sarlin, along with her service staff has catered numerous sit-down and buffet dinner parties, cocktail parties, weekend family reunions, and wedding receptions for her private clients. Cooking With Class, Inc. has been a corporate luncheon and special function caterer with the emphasis on fine cuisine. Client list includes Kimball Office Group; Hughes, Hubbard & Reed; Cumberland Associates; J.A.G. Communications; Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton; Patterson, Belknap, Webb & Tyler; Debevoise & Plimpton; Ketchum Communications; and Steelcase Corporation.
For thirty years Janeen served as the private chef for Marvin Shanken in the executive dining room at M. Shanken Communications, Inc., publishers of Cigar Aficionado, Wine Spectator, Whisky Advocate, and Market Watch. In that capacity she devised daily luncheons based on sodium-free, sugar-free, and fat-free healthy menus and wine pairing.
On board the WILDFLOWER – a 72-foot sailing vessel – Janeen was the chef for the chartered guests in the Grenadine Islands. She was responsible for provisions and execution of all the meals for the eight-day charter, cooking healthy menus. Recently she revised provision lists, up dated menus and recipes, taught white glove service to stewardesses and cooking classes to cooks on a 120-ft motor yacht – for 8 to 12 people on board the vessel cruising to various islands in the Bahamas and along the Eastern coast line from Florida to Maine.
Janeen was the nutritional consultant developing healthy recipes for their newsletter at the Center for Health and Healing, Franciscan Skemp, Mayo Health Systems in Onalaska, Wisconsin.
Among Ms. Sarlin’s professional affiliations are the Les Dames d’Escoffier (NY and LDEI), the association of Woman Chefs and Restaurateurs, the New York Woman’s Culinary Alliance, and the International Association of Culinary Professionals, and the James Beard Foundation.
Even after forty-four years of starting Cooking With Class, Janeen still has the same philosophy towards food. She looks for impeccable, seasonal ingredients to create meals that delight the senses and nourish the body as well as the soul. Janeen learned to cook on a dairy farm in Minnesota where she was raised. Her knowledge of what’s abundant in American agriculture, as well as her exposure to what’s best in European and more exotic cuisines is evident in her menu planning and professionalism.
Background
OWNER AND PRESIDENT OF COOKING WITH CLASS, INC.: Established in 1975. A catering company and cooking school for corporate and private clients on Wednesday or by appointment.
NUTRITIONAL CONSULTANT: to The Center for Health and Healing, Franciscan Skemp, Mayo Health System, Onalaska, Wisconsin – 2006 to present.
PRIVATE EXECUTIVE DINING ROOM CHEF: M. Shanken Communications, Inc. – 1988 to present. (Food Arts, Wine Spectator, and Cigar Aficionado.) Exclusive healthy cooking.
SYNDICATED FOOD COLUMNIST: Weekly column, “The Seasonal Chef” Southampton Press and The Chronicle News.
TELEVISION PERSONALITY & SPOKESPERSON: Tours (1980’s) for Duncan Hines and Ragu; Peking Duck spokesperson/media 2000; Media Book Tours 1990, 1996, 2000-2001: appearances on The Today Show & Lifetime Television Network, Local Television and Radio stations in New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Minneapolis, Cleveland, Columbus, Atlanta, Dallas, and Baltimore.
CORPORATE LUNCHEON AND SPECIAL FUNCTION CATERER: Kimball Office Group; Hughes, Hubbard & Reed; Cumberland Associates; J.A.G. Communications, Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton; Patterson, Belknap, Webb & Tyler; Debevoise & Plimpton, Ketchum Communications, Steelcase Corporation. Specializing in team building classes either for lunch or dinner designed for individual client.
LECTURER & TRAVEL TEACHER: Rancho La Puerta, Tecate, Mexico; Les Gourmettes Cooking School, Phoenix, AZ; LaCombe, Perigord, France; Pachamama’s Restaurant, Lawrence, KS; University of California, Santa Cruz, CA, Mon Cheri, Sunnyvale, CA; Peter Kumps Cooking School, NY; New York University, New York, NY; Minneapolis Woman’s Club, Mpls, MN; Byerly’s, MN; Kitchen Shoppe, PA; Kitchen Affairs, IN; University of Iowa, Liz Clarks, IA. Specializing in seasonal healthy menus.
FOOD SERVICE EXECUTIVE: Professional member, International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP), American Institute of Wine and Food (AIWF), The James Beard Foundation, Les Dames d’Escoffier (board member), New York Woman’s Culinary Alliance (NYWCA), and (W.C.R.) Association of Women Chefs and Restaurateurs, Honored Member-Strathmore’s Who’s Who –Edition 2002-3 and The National Register of Who’s Who in Business.
AUTHOR OF EIGHT COOKBOOKS: Princess Tea; Parties and Treats for Little Girls, Chronicle, 2009; Fifty Ways To Feed Your Lover, William Morrow, 2000; Brunch Entertaining, Williams Sonoma 1999; Everyday Roasting, Williams Sonoma 1998; The New Meat Lover’s Cookbook, Macmillan 1996; Orion Little Cookbooks – Roasts, Orion Publishing Group, UK 1996; Food From An American Farm, Simon & Schuster 1991; and Lunches To Go, Barrons1984.
EDUCATION: U of MN. BS; Studied with Pepin, Child, Clancey, Franey, Bugialli, Greene, Schulz, Verge, Kasper, Lee, Chu, Szurdak, Schmidt, Andoh, Kennedy, Nish, Palmer, Bayless, Pyle, Fearing, Graves.
