ABOUT HUGH

Chef, Teacher, Cookbook Author

Awarded 'Cooking School Teacher of the Year' by the International Association of Culinary Professionals, 2010

Hugh Carpenter is one of the most popular and entertaining cooking teachers in America. In 42 years of teaching, more than 100,000 students have attended his classes at cooking schools across North America.

Hugh Carpenter's passion for Chinese cuisine was sparked during his college years, studying Chinese history and language at Dartmouth College, and then at the University of Michigan for graduate work.

Hugh returned to his hometown of Santa Barbara, California, and began honing his culinary craft. The resulting flavors of Hugh's Chinese cuisine were so sought after in Santa Barbara, that Hugh was soon asked to teach classes in his techniques. Thus, Hugh's teaching career was born!

Hugh's relentless practice and experimentation with the ingredients and methods of Chinese culinary traditions were inspired during his frequent dining trips to China during the early 1980's. Hugh moved his base of operations to Los Angeles in the mid-1980's. There he was asked to design the menu for a new, more casual style of Chinese restaurant, to be named "Chin Chin", on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood.

With the success of the Chin Chin concept, Hugh was asked to be executive chef for a new restaurant concept to be called "Chopstix" on Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. 1988 was a banner year for Hugh. The first Chopstix restaurant opened in February 1988, and Hugh's first cookbook "Pacific Flavors" (which was photographed by his wife Teri Sandison) was released by Stewart, Tabori and Chang to great acclaim in April. Also, in 1988, Hugh and Teri made the decision to follow their intuition about food trends, and eventually move to Napa Valley, by buying a piece of property in Oakville.

Winds of change were in the air, and Hugh and Teri relocated to Napa Valley in 1990. There Hugh was asked by many of his students to open a cooking school in Napa. Jack and Dolores Cakebread stepped up and offered their winery to be the central location for one week cooking programs, focused on Hugh's innovative cuisine, paired with Napa Valley wines. This was a dynamic relationship which lasted for Hugh's entire career: 28 years of Camp Napa Culinary!

During the intervening years, Hugh continued to travel and teach across North America, even earning the International Association of Cooking Professionals award for best cooking teacher in 2010.

Hugh is the author of 16 cookbooks (photographed by his wife, Teri Sandison). Pacific Flavors received the International Association of Cooking Professionals "Best Asian Cookbook" award in 1988. Chopstix was nominated "Most Beautiful Cookbook" of 1990. Fusion Food Cookbook (1994) was nominated for a James Beard award.

Hugh and Teri live in Napa Valley.