Penny Behnes
Penny grew up on the East coast of England in a family of restauranteurs and wine sommeliers. Her life took a major turn when she moved to New York City. She received one-on-one culinary training by a leading Executive Chef, and received instruction in vegetarian, macrobiotic, Chinese, French and Indian cuisine. She is currently a personal chef, is working on her first cookbook, and caters for small functions.

John Bostick
John has been teaching in the Chicago and Cincinnati areas for over 20 years. He has traveled extensively in Europe researching foods and has lived in France and Greece. Outside of his love for food, John has been in the high tech industry for 27 years. He is currently involved with two local well-known firms, LUCRUM, a business & IT consulting service company, and dbaDIRECT, the global industry leader in database management.

Jaime Carmody
Jaime is an alumna of the Scottsdale Culinary Institute and the former Executive Chef of the Hilton Garden Inn, Carlsbad Beach, CA. She is a member of the American Personal & Private Chef Assn. and the American Culinary Federation. Currently Jaime owns and operates her own personal chef service, Out of Thyme, Ltd., focusing on in-home meal preparation, providing wholesome, nutritious food to busy people.

David Cook
Daveed’s draws national attention to the Cincinnati dining scene and particularly to Mt. Adams. Chef and owner, David Cook, began his restaurant career at fifteen at the historic 20-Mile House Restaurant in Loveland. After studying at Cincinnati State Technical College, he was Roundsman at Newport Beach and then the Executive Sous Chef at the Maisonette under Chef de Cavel. He and his wife, Liz, opened Daveed's in 1999. His innovative approach to tailoring food and wine reflects his unique culinary background. Changing his menu daily, he has delighted discriminating palates throughout the Cincinnati area. It is a great pleasure to welcome Dave back to our cooking school!

Lisa Cooper Holmes
Lisa, proprietor of Haute Chocolate in Cincinnati, Ohio has been creating, innovating and spinning delectable, edible and Award winning Lisa's Brownies, and original, "freestyle," chocolate confectionary items in her Boutique kitchens since 1979. Passionate and knowledgeable about the nuances of what she deems to be a very special staple in everyone's diet, Lisa loves to teach and share her experience and expertise in the realm of chocolate. When she isn't teaching she is busy purveying Haute’s repertoire of fine chocolate confections at her Boutique in Cincinnati, and her Boutique in "Chocolate Space".

Paul Dagenbach
Paul graduated from the Greater Cincinnati Culinary Arts Academy. He was a chef at the Palace in Cincinnati, Sturkey's Restaurant and Encore Bistro & Bar Restaurant. Paul's fine cuisine can be sampled at DeSha’s which is part of the Tavern Restaurant Group. He is best known for his innovative cuisine.

Susan Diehl
Born in Cincinnati, Susan spent a few years and many summers in England. While abroad she attended a private school and majored in culinary skills, receiving her training from chefs from the Cordon Bleu in Paris. Susan opened ‘Epicuriosity,’ Cincinnati's first gourmet carry-out and catering business in 1985. She was the executive chef for Bebe's Kitchen, a gourmet carry-out and catering and has taught cooking classes around town since 2005. Susan is a sous chef at the Cooking School at Jungle Jim's.

Rita Heikenfeld
Rita is a certified herbalist and a featured national speaker. She's a member of the IACP, a certified Professional Level II Instructor, an award winning syndicated food columnist in the Community Press Newspapers, and author of several cookbooks. Rita is host of her cable TV show, "Love starts in the Kitchen" and cooks live on local television. The founding editor of her website "Abouteating.com" and her blog "Cooking with Rita" on Cincinnati.com, Rita also has an international weekly cooking segment on Sacred Heart Radio, and is resident herbalist for Granny’s Garden School, Natorp's Garden stores and Fox 19's Morning Extra show.

Janet Hontanosas
A native of Connecticut, Janet has called Cincinnati home since 1979. She began her culinary journey as a study at the Creative Kitchen in the downtown Lazarus store. Janet was invited to join the staff at Jungle Jim's Cooking School when it was created in 1995. She has gained valuable culinary experience working with numerous guest chefs and cookbook authors. Janet strives to make cooking fun and enjoyable for her students.

Ellen Mueller
Ellen loves to cook and entertain family and friends. Since Ellen is Greek, food is the cornerstone of many family functions and traditions. She has been a sous chef at Jungle's Jims for six years and teaches Mediterranean classes. Her love of cooking continues to be inspired by the many chefs she assists at the school.

Richard Prince
Richard has been the head cake decorator at the BonBonerie for 15 years. A pastry chef with over 25 years of experience, he studied at Ecole Le Notre in France. His work experience includes the Everglades Club in Palm Beach and the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island. He is a Certified Decorator as recognized by the Retail Bakers Association and has medaled in National R&B competitions.

Laura Rinsky
Laura, although born in Cincinnati, has taken her passion for cooking around the globe. Combining her culinary talents and love of travel she has engineered her career to include cooking classes from many parts of the world. After volunteering for many years at the Cooking School at Jungle Jim's she extended her passion into teaching others. Family and friends know that dining at Laura's for special occasions is always a great treat. Laura is owner of Wayfarer Travel in Madeira, Cincinnati’s oldest independent agency

David Schmerr
Dave started making wine when he was a teenager and that started a lifetime of being in the wine business. Dave worked at Shillito's La Gourmandise Department at 7th and Race in downtown Cincinnati for 3 years until he began working in the wholesale business with the 7th largest wholesaler in the United States, Allied Wine and Spirits. After a 9 year stint as a wine buyer/manager he came to Jungle Jim's in 1987 as their wine buyer/director and has been here ever since. Dave does all of the wine tastings at Jungle’s and travels extensively throughout the wine world.

Carol Tabone
Carol earned her Grand Diplôme from La Varenne in Paris, France. She attended courses at the Cordon Bleu School in London and has training in Mexican as well as Chinese cuisine. She was formerly the Director of The Creative Kitchen at Lazarus, and The Cooking School at Jungle Jim's. Carol is a member of the International Association of Cooking Professionals and has been certified by the I.A.C.P. as a Professional Level II Instructor. Carol holds a Master's Degree in Education.

Calvin Tam
Born in China, Calvin moved to Cincinnati during his teen years. During high school he learned to make sushi and now has nine years of experience. Calvin likes to experiment using different ingredients in sushi. Calvin recently opened Sushi Monk, a restaurant specializing in sushi and Japanese cuisine, which also offers custom catering and specialized sushi instruction. www.sushimonk.com

David Warda
David is an artist, cook, educator and writer. His cookbooks include Assyrian Cookery: Exotic Foods that Outlasted a Civilization, and Recipe Bible: Crowd Pleasing Comfort Foods for all Occasions. His food blog, ‘Foods from the Journey’ is located at www.davidwarda.com. David currently lives in Flint, Michigan working on another cookbook and teaching cooking classes to teenage urban farmers.