Nitockrees Tadros Carpita, CCP

"Nito" Carpita is the Director and principal instructor of the cooking school. A Certified Culinary Professional (CCP) under the auspices of the International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP), she is French trained and continually updates her education with courses at Lenôre and Alain Ducasse professional schools. She has also participated in culinary workshops and study tours in Australia, Canada, Italy, Holland, Japan, Mexico, Switzerland, and several regions of the United States.

Cooking classes at Seasons of Provence are held in kitchens designed with serious learning in mind. There are 10 work stations, each with its own fully-stocked equipment drawer fitted under large granite work surfaces. To ensure students work in a comfortable environment there are rubber mats underfoot and the electrical appliance cords hang from the ceiling, eliminating clutter. There is even air conditioning when needed.

Generous granite work surfaces are also an important feature of the outdoor teaching kitchen where you will find a wood-burning oven for baking bread and an old fashioned "chateau style" fireplace with a mechanical pulley driven rotisserie alongside a modern Viking professional gas grill complete with smoker and infrared cooking. In these wonderful facilities Nito teaches the classic dishes of this region including gigot d?agneau, daube, papeton d?aubergines and tapenade3?. Recipes are used as a starting point, but everyone learns something new, no matter their skill level. Nito makes sure to include tips on kitchen hygiene, food safety and will work with you to improve your knife and other technical skills that might need improvement.

Besides teaching at the cooking school, Nito cooks almost every day for guests staying at the Mas de Cornud Private Country Inn on the same property. From NitoÕs own garden come figs, cherries, tomatoes, artichokes, herbs and lavender. Other ingredients for the school and for the inn guests come mostly from local sources and change with the seasons. In addition, she has developed a network of artisan suppliers from olive oil to goat cheese. And local small towns have wonderful farmerÕs markets. Seasons of Provence Cooking School is the perfect environment to come and learn cooking in Provence, with Nito or one of the guest chefs including Jacques Pe«pin and Jean-Claude Szurdak ( USA), Gabriel Gate« (Australia), Francesco Ricchi, Etrusco Trattoria (Washington,DC), Roberto Donna, Galilieo (Washington DC), Francis Reynard, Daniel (New York City), Alessandro Stratta, Alex at Wynn (Las Vegas), Greg Higgins, Higgins Restaurant & Bar (Portland, OR), Brad Steelman, The Brooklyn Cafe«, (Brooklyn NY), James Boyce, Studio at the Montage Resort & Spa (Laguna Beach, CA), John Toulze, the girl & the fig (Sonoma, CA) Philippe The«me and Jean-Pierre Novi, La Riboto de Taven (Les Baux), Jean-Andre« Charial, l'Oustau de Baumaniere (Les Baux), Jean-Pierre Michel, La Regalido (Fontvieille), Wout Bru-Jacques of Le Bistrot d'Eygalie`res, Reine Sammut of La Fenie`re (Loumarin), Robert Brunel, Brunel (Avignon), Francois Perrot, La Maison Jaune (St. Re«my), Alain Assaud, Le Marceau (St.Re«my) and 3?Serge Ghoukassian, Chez Serge (Carpentras). Occasionally, Seasons of Provence is fortunate to welcome a specialist in another cuisine such as Hiroko SugiyamaA guest chef herself, she has taught at the Viking Culinary Centers (Atlanta, Memphis, Nashville), Draegers (Menlo Park), True Cuisine (Chicago), La Cuisine Francaise (Amsterdam), Hiroko Sugiyama Culinary Atelier (Seattle) and trained the chef and kitchen staff at the Radio City New York Bar in Sofia, Bulgaria. Her recipes appear in Sarah Leah Chase's Pedaling Through Provence, The Backroads Cookbook, Fromages Fermiers by Georges Foveau, Les Meilleures Recettes des Maisons d'Ho^tes de Charme en France and Fresh Herb Cooking by Linda Dannenberg. Her own cookbook is in the works.

Pamela Johns

Pamela Sheldon Johns is a cookbook author with a diverse culinary background. A former cooking school director, she now travels and lectures to groups such as the International Association of Culinary Professionals, the American Institute of Wine & Food, the Southern California Culinary Guild, Women for WineSense, and the Smithsonian Institute. Her first book, The Healthy Gourmet Cookbook, was a James Beard Cookbook Award nominee. Parmigiano! received a foreign journalism award from Maria Luigia in Parma. Italian Food Artisans was recognized in the top three Italian cookbooks in 1999 by the World Cookbook Revue.

Pamela's cookbooks celebrate the joy of cooking with exceptional ingredients. She emphasizes using seasonal fruits and vegetables that are full of flavor and cooking techniques that enhance that quality. In her Italian-themed books, she details the history and process of making traditional foods and includes the recipes which best highlight those products. These concepts are also included in her weeklong culinary workshops in Italy.

Greg Johnson

Chef Greg Johnson began his cooking career in 1989 doing apprentice work for various restaurants in Los Angeles, California. Soon after he attended and graduated from the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco, California and worked in some of the areas top restaurants including The Hotel Donatello, Restaurant Teatro, Zuni Cafe and Umberto's. With a penchant for traveling he landed a Sous Chef position at a top restaurant in Maui, Hawaii and ran the pastry department at a well known restaurant in Monterrey, Mexico. His passion for food has led him all over the world including France, Spain, Italy, England, and Costa Rica. In 1995 he landed in Seattle, Washington where he now calls home.

After a few years working in area restaurants, Grand Central Bakery, El Greco, The Brooklyn, and Kaspar's he found his true calling working as a Private Chef. Greg spent six years cooking in the homes of two of the areas most high profile families on Mercer Island and in The Highlands as well as individual events at other homes in the Seattle area before striking out on his own in 2005. Having his own Private Chef business allows Greg to be active in his community donating his culinary talents for auction items to such organizations as Children's Hospital and The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center as well as working with local Farmer's Markets.

Jerry Traunfeld

As executive chef of The Herbfarm since 1990, Jerry Traunfeld combines his passion for cooking with a love of gardening and garners national attention for his innovative multi-course menus. An expert in the subject of culinary herbs, he has been featured in The New York Times Magazine, Food and Wine, Bon Appetit, Gourmet, Fortune, and many other publications. He has appeared on Martha Stewart Living, Better Homes and Gardens Television, and The Food Network and is a regular guest on Public Radio's The Splendid Table.

Nancy Leson of The Seattle Times, named Jerry "an incomparable chef/genius" in a 4 star review, and in Bon Appetit's Decade of Dining issue, Jerry was named one of the "chefs who made a difference". The Herbfarm Restaurant was ranked number 15 of the 50 best restaurants in the United States by Gourmet. USA Today's Jerry Shriver named his dinner at The Herbfarm as his top meal of 2002 and it is the only restaurant in the Northwest to be awarded 5 diamonds by AAA.

Jerry is the recipient of the 2000 James Beard award for Best Chef; Northwest / Hawaii. He is the author of The Herbfarm Cookbook; 200 Herb-Inspired Recipes Plus a Complete Guide to Growing, Handling, and Cooking with Fresh Herbs, which won The International Association of Cooking Professionals award. His second book, The Herbal Kitchen; Cooking with Fragrance and Flavor, will be out in Novamember of 2005.