ABOUT LAURA

Laura Stec is a whole foods chef, teacher, environmental leader and author with over 24 years of experience in the food industry. Laura Stec - Innovative Cuisine is her personal chef and education business. Single Guy and the Personal Chef is her chef service marketed exclusively to the single male. Laura trained at the Culinary Institute of America, the School of Natural Cookery, and the Vega Macrobiotic Center. She has worked for many restaurants and schools including Draeger's Culinary Center, the Flea St. Café and the Left Bank; all in Menlo Park, CA. Contemporary-nutritional, high-vibe organic, California cuisine, is Laura's specialty.

Laura is a Culinary Health Instructor at the Santa Clara and Redwood City Kaiser Permanente Medical Centers for Healthworks (corporate wellness), their weight loss and Lifestyle programs, as well as the former chef for Kaiser's organic farmer's market. From 2000 to 2003 she was Chef Instructor for LifeLong Inc., a multidisciplinary weight-loss program at Stanford Medical Center in Palo Alto and O'Connor Hospital in San Jose. Laura teaches around the San Francisco Bay Area at Whole Foods Market, Bloomingdales, Elephant Pharmacy, Seton Medical Center and Ladera Oaks Fitness Club, and enjoys teaching "cooking class parties" in clients' homes. She lectures on a variety of topics including: The Global Warming Diet, Quick Cooking for Optimal Health and Flavor, Higher Flavor / Lower Fat, Macrobiotics for Healthy Living and Spice it Up! Cooking with Medicinal Herbs and Spices, to groups like the California Farmers' Market Association, American Holistic Nurses Association, Sun Microsystems, the Palo Alto Unified School District and IBM.

Laura caters for private clients, businesses and many nonprofits and is often asked to present on the connection between food and environment during dinner. Past clients include: Google, Silicon Graphics, the American Medical Women's Association, Crate and Barrel, The Couples Institute, Woodside School (with Ronnie Lott), the Biomimicry Workshop, Informix Software, Harvard University, the Sierra Club, and Ralph Nader.

Specializing in the art of the "Decadent Dinner," Laura designs theme parties and private events with originality and flare. Past themes include Edible Art and Appetizers, The Sing and Cook Italian Party, Wok on the Wild Side and the BAAchanalian Banquet (no forks allowed). The San Jose Metro describes her as "one of the most inventive gourmet artists around."

Promoting food as a powerful effect on personal and planetary health, Laura founded one of the first food and environment education programs in the U.S. in 1989; EcoEaters, of Arcata, CA. She also helped found and taught for The Peaceable Plate Schools Lunch Program and is a former instructor for Chef's Collaborative Adopt-A-School campaign. In 1994 she became a staff member of Bay Area Action / Acterra; a Palo Alto, CA-based environmental organization. While there, she founded EEAT (the Environmental Eating Action Team). Laura still works for Acterra, serving many roles in her 10 year history including Co-Director and Membership Director. She has seamlessly combined her work in the food and environmental sectors, continuing to visit classrooms and corporations, inspiring eaters of all ages how to have a positive effect on the environment through food choices.