John Ash

In addition to being a renowned chef, author, and food and wine educator, many refer to Chef John Ash as the “Father of Wine Country Cuisine”. In 1980 he opened his namesake restaurant, John Ash & Company, in Santa Rosa, CA. It was the first restaurant in Northern California wine country to focus on local, seasonal ingredients used to create dishes that complemented the wines being made in the region. It continues to be critically acclaimed today.

Currently John travels the world teaching cooking classes to both home cooks and professionals. His passion for teaching has been rewarded most recently in May of 2014, when Cooking for Solutions, a sustainable seafood event held annually at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, honored John as “Seafood Educator of the Year”. In 2008 he was voted “Cooking School Teacher of the Year” by the International Association of Culinary Professionals.

He still holds true to his philosophy of cooking with ingredients that are ethically grown, created locally and in season. And for John, wine is always considered an essential part of the flavors of a meal.

John’s fourth cookbook, Culinary Birds: The Ultimate Poultry Cookbook, was published in October of 2013, and won a James Beard award in 2014. John Ash Cooking One-on-One: Private Lessons in Simple Contemporary Food from a Master Teacher was published spring 2004. It also won a 2005 James Beard award. He has authored two other books: From the Earth to the Table: John Ash’s Wine Country Cuisine and American Game Cooking. The former was awarded the IACP awards for Best American Cookbook and the Julia Child Cookbook of the Year. Chronicle Books released a completely revised and updated version of From the Earth to the Table in 2007. He is an occasional contributor to culinary magazines such as Fine Cooking and Eating Well.

John has co-hosted a radio show for more than 27 years on KSRO (1350 AM) in Northern California. He was also host of two TV shows on the Food Network. He is an adjunct instructor at The Culinary Institute of America at Greystone in the Napa Valley.

John’s passion for teaching is matched only by his passionate voice on sustainable food issues. He served for many years on the Board of the Chef’s Collaborative, a national organization of chef’s committed to sustainable and ethical food issues. He has also served on the Board of Advisors of Seafood Watch, an educational initiative for sustainable seafood by the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

John also consults for a number of clients. Among those are Del Monte Foods, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Brown Forman Corporation, Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute, Viking River Cruises and more.