Culinary Communion: Who We Are

	Gabriel: Cook with love. Eat with passion.
—Andrew Dornenburg, author of Culinary Artistry

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	Who We Are Culinary Communion is a small business dreamed up in April, 2001, by owners Gabriel Claycamp, our Head Chef and the principal teacher of our classes, and Heidi Kenyon, Director of Marketing. We believe that this kind of education and community-building is something people need, and we've put our lives into creating Culinary Communion for that reason. It's important to us to teach classes in a homey kitchen. We invite students into our lives as well as into our home in an effort to build a strong and rich community celebrating food, wine, and the way it fosters that feeling of "intimate sharing in the kitchen"... a culinary communion. Our son Rhone in the picture at right, playing with pots and pans like his papa! The CC Team Head Chef-Instructor and Co-Owner Gabriel Claycamp Gabriel is an eclectic mix: a precise culinarian who is not afraid to admit that he likes "regular" food. He will happily eat either seared foie gras or a corndog. In fact, he just created his first Foie Gras Corndog, and it was awesome! Gabriel considers his greatest strength as a chef to be versatility of design, either in dish composition or menu creation. His ability to teach stems from his solid confidence and knowledge of the fundamentals of food and wine. Whether describing in detail the chemical reaction between molecules in a beurre blanc sauce or the inexplicable poetry of taste, Gabriel easily communicates not only his meaning but also his convictions and his faith in the magic of food. Chef Gabriel is a strong believer in the power food has over people, to bring us together and give extra lift and life to the gathering of friends. Culinary Communion is the culmination of that belief. Gabriel and Heidi (see below), a husband-and-wife team, started Culinary Communion together in 2001. Culinary & Enological Background: Chef Gabriel graduated in the top of his class at the Culinary Institute of America at Hyde Park, New York, in 1999. He has worked as Sous Chef at fine restaurants on both coasts, including The Tasting Room in Manhattan, Crater Lake Lodge in Oregon, and Anthony's HomePort in Washington; he also owned his own catering company. Gabriel has been a culinary instructor since 2001, teaching primarily for Culinary Communion but also for one semester at Edmonds Community College (in 2003) and as a guest chef at other institutions. Gabriel was asked to be the Guest Chef for a private dinner for Anthony Bourdain in 2006 which was part of the Pacific Northwest episode of Bourdain's Travel Channel television show, "No Reservations." On the wine front, Gabriel has worked as a manager at Best Cellars wine retail stores in Manhattan and Seattle. He has been a wine instructor since 2002, and received his certification as a sommelier by the Court of Master Sommeliers in August, 2006. Senior Chef-Instructor Katie Coleman Chef Katie Coleman is also a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, and also of The College of Charleston. She has joined Culinary Communion in the summer of 2005 after a rigorous search for a new chef-instructor. Katie's solid knowledge of culinary techniques, her creativity, and her strong ability to communicate and share her passion for cooking with others are the strengths upon which she joined our team. When Katie attended the CIA, she went there knowing that her passion was not for the restaurant line, but for the real people who are cooking every day. Meeting and helping home cooks was always her dream; she is helping to connect the ends of our runaway food system by bringing a chef's knowledge and level of skill to creative dining at home and to bring local farms and organics to the forefront of peoples minds. In short, Katie's beliefs and goals are a perfect match for Culinary Communion's mission. Marketing Director and Co-Owner Heidi Kenyon With Culinary Communion's expansion in the fall of 2007, Heidi is finally taking a step back from the day to day running of the business, leaving that in the capable hands of our Office Manager, Justin Gaumond, and will be focusing full-time on marketing and public relations. She maintains the CC web site, designs marketing materials, writes press releases, and organizes marketing events. She also coordinate all of our culinary travel. Heidi has a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Idaho and worked for some time in the academic book publishing industry, also doing desktop publishing and some design work. Later Heidi moved into a marketing and administrative role with several Seattle engineering and architecture firms. Woven throughout these "desk jobs" is plenty of food and restaurant experience. Heidi has waited tables at a variety of establishments, from Eric's What-a-Burger in a small Moscow, Idaho, mall to Anthony's HomePort in Olympia, where she and Gabriel met. More importantly, she has been a passionate cook since childhood and was the only freshman to bring loaf pans with her to the dorm. When Heidi and Gabriel created Culinary Communion, they used Heidi's abilities and interests as a home cook as a model for what our students might be like. Heidi and Gabriel have three children, Noelani, age 8; Rhone, age 2 (pictured with Heidi); and Jezebel, born in September 2007. Together their family is the heart of Culinary Communion. Director of Operations & Wine Instructor Justin Gaumond Justin Gaumond is a jack-of-all-trades who got started as a young buck in the restaurant industry back in a small town in Southern California. His first job was as a dishwasher for a local jazz café, where he became the youngest manager in the company’s history. At the young age of 18 he knew he had a knack for training, efficiency, and organizational management. Justin has vast food and beverage experience including training in independent coffee shops, event planning for the world of advertising, catering management, and both boutique and large-format restaurant supervision and training development. He has studied both at UC Irvine and at University of Washington. In 2005 Justin received his Level One Sommelier Certification through the Court of Master Sommeliers. Justin has been a leading force in developing restaurant wine programs throughout the city and has been an integral part of etiquette, organizational, and efficiency training for many front-of-house teams. His training method is a personalized West Coast style of serving that is accurate, guest-first, and unobtrusive. In additional to building training portfolios, he has tailored operational manuals for many restaurants in Seattle. Justin is currently studying for further certifications from the Court of Master Sommeliers. His resume includes I. Cugini in Santa Monica, California; Deutsch LA in Los Angeles; Blowfish Asian Cafe (now Dragonfish Asian Cafe) in downtown Seattle; Seattle Tennis Club in Madison Park; 10 Mercer in Queen Anne; and the Mackay Restaurant Group. In addition to serving as the wizard behind the curtain in streamlining and managing our office operations, Justin also provides instruction in some of our more unique classes in wine. Justin joined Culinary Communion in September of 2007.