COOKS' ALLIANCE
The Slow Food Cooks’ Alliance is a network uniting cooks across the country to support local producers, influence policy and awaken eaters to the rich food cultures and biodiversity of our planet.
Cooks’ Alliance members continually strive to implement the values of Slow Food in their restaurant or establishment by procuring and highlighting Ark of Taste ingredients on menus, cooking for chapter events and focusing on the ethical and environmentally friendly practices in their restaurants.
We learn from and support each other in transforming and leveraging their kitchens and menus to change the food system for the better. The Cooks’ Alliance engages diners, producers, and restaurateurs in the Slow Food USA network.
Join the Cooks' Alliance.
Make the commitment to cook good, clean and fair food in your kitchen. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis and reviewed seasonally.
Connect
To give cooks an opportunity to learn from each other and support each other to change their workplace and food system for the better.
Support
To strengthen direct relationships between producers and cooks, with the result of collaboration, friendship, and solidarity.
Network
To develop the Slow Food network by bringing diners, producers, and restaurateurs into the network.
Engage
To support Slow Food events and campaigns locally, regionally, nationally, and globally.
If you have questions, comments or ideas about the Slow Food USA Cooks’ Alliance, please contact us!
The Slow Food USA Cooks' Alliance
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The Slow Food USA Cooks' Alliance LEADERSHIP Committee
The Cooks’ Alliance Leadership Committee is a group of chefs, cooks, restaurateurs, mixologists, and small business owners focused on building up and engaging the Slow Food Cooks’ Alliance in the USA.
Fernando Divina is managing partner of divinAmerica, llc whose mission is to cultivate the foodway and lifeway of the Americas. Divina is an award-winning author, restaurateur, grocer, chef and consultant. He founded and conceptualized several acclaimed restaurants and hospitality businesses based on local procurement and the tenets of biodiversity and fairness.
Divina co-authored the internationally celebrated cookbook, Foods of the Americas: Native Recipes and Traditions (Ten Speed Pr., 2004), produced in association with the Smithsonian Institution, which received the James Beard Foundation Award for Excellence. Divina was nominated for the 2000 Slow Food Award for his work to advance and include the indigenous foods and cuisines of the Americas. Divina practices his craft, forages for food and plants his seed among the alluvial soils and forests of the Cascadia Region.
Phil Jones is a seasoned chef and activist. He is known and well-respected across the country, and through Slow Food has been making connections with chefs in Africa and throughout the African diaspora. Phil is committed to the transformation of community through food — mentoring young black men in the food world; working with local growers creating phenomenal dishes with what they have grown (and growing himself); curating events in the ‘hood that rival any high-end downtown restaurant; partnering with some of everybody to do food rescue and distribution; always sharing rarely lifted history of a food item or dish, especially if it has African or roots throughout the diaspora; and speaking truth to power with regard to racism, classism, and justice. He recently launched Farmacy Food to bring attention to the healing power of food to address so many of the health issues facing our community-particularly black communities. He does all of this to uplift community, and give attention to the important work happening in community — never for personal accolades or gain. Photo by Cybelle Codish.
Kären Jurgensen is the lead Chef Instructor and founder of sustainability curriculum at Seattle Culinary Academy, where she received the “Lifetime Learner Award” in 2018. Kären has been a member of Slow Food since 1997, sits on the board of The Good Meat Project, is the Global Initiatives chair for Les Dames de Escoffier, and a member of numerous professional organizations.
Kären was the founding president of the Seattle chapter of Chefs Collaborative, and honored with their National Sustainer Award in 2012. Alice Water’s Edible Schoolyard Project named her an “edible education hero” in October 2012.
Summers find Kären at Quillisascut Cheese Company’s Farm School teaching farm to table immersion courses and philosophy to professional chefs, culinary students and agricultural professionals. She is the co-author of Rethinking the Kitchen: the sustainable kitchen handbook and Chefs on the Farm cookbook.
Chef Jay Lippin’s background includes tenures as Executive Chef at The Odeon and Café Luxembourg in New York City, Executive Chef at Crabtree’s Kittle House Restaurant in Chappaqua, NY, and most recently as Executive Chef at Baron’s Cove in Sag Harbor, NY. He was also a winner of the TV show “Chopped” and WFAN’s “Tailgating Essentials & Barbecue Contest.” Jay is a member of the Slow Food East End board of directors and a tireless advocate for local food and producers. As East End Food Institute’s Chef in Residence, Jay is certified as a Food Manager and has completed Better Process Control School coursework for production of shelf stable goods. Photo from East End Food Institute.
