Cooks Kitchen: About

About Cooks Kitchen

Cooks Kitchen was founded by John Koch in 1989 in Atlanta, GA. The popular restaurant was open for 5 years serving international vegetarian cuisine. During that time he developed and marketed a line of sauces and dressing to local supermarkets, farmers markets, restaurants and natural food stores.

In 1997, John moved to Ashland, Oregon and reestablished the Cooks Kitchen brand. The focus shifted slightly to encompass food service consulting, cooking instructions and catering. The portable demonstration kitchen was built in the beginning of 2001 and has traveled to Seattle, Las Vegas, Dallas and New York City as well as many venues in the Southern Oregon area.

John has been cooking professionally since 1972. He graduated from the Culinary Institute of America and has cooked in New York City and Atlanta, where he opened his own restaurant. He was the manager for an upscale gourmet food store and a chef for the largest caterer in the Southeast. John spent two years traveling around the country catering for the motion picture industry. He designed and managed the food service department for a large co-op in Atlanta. He did the same for four years in Ashland, Oregon. The next year was spent consulting for natural food stores and restaurants throughout CA, OR, and WA. The following year he opened a very popular restaurant in Ashland. After sellilng his interest in that restaurant, John devoted his full time attention to making Cooks Kitchen grow and prosper.

John has been teaching cooking since 1980. He has appeared on TBS and CNN. He continues to offer private and group classes and also is an instructor at the Community Oven Cooking School in Ashland.

Mission Statement

We are dedicated to providing superior quality organic and natural food services to individuals, groups, and businesses.

We are steadfastly opposed to food irradiation, biotechnology as it relates to food, and to genetically modified foods.

We support organic agriculture, and organic processing and production practices.

We encourage the adoption of a diet less dependent on animal products by everyone. We will strive, whenever possible, to support local, smaller, independent businesses.

We value honesty, quality, and integrity above all else.

Customer service is of the utmost importance, and we will endeavor to provide the very best at all times.

We strive to support all employees by providing them with an equitable wage and treating them with respect at all times.

"At the oil mill of the Ecanin farm you can eat Aioli all morning." --The History of Food