Amy Rebhan
Amy is gifted with a great talent of creating delicious and trendy food as well as entertaining people. She has been teaching at the Savory Spoon for 10 years and has a strong following. Amy has a grand library of cookbooks and prides herself in being up to date on all the latest culinary trends. She received her Bachelor’s of Science in Hotel/Restaurant Management from State University of New York at Plattsburgh.
Her passion for fabulous food reaches every student in every class. We call her the culinary Queen Bee. She has had her local catering business feast for 10 years and has volumes of satisfied customers. We are happy to have her on our in house teaching team!
Ana Garcia
Preston Gaspar
I started in restaurants at the age of 13 years old and worked my way up to sous chef at 19, then head chef at 20. I was managing back of house operations, designing seasonal menus, features, and banquet menus until moving up to Culinary Director Of Operations and was awarded the opportunity to manage multiple restaurant concepts including the startup of a ghost kitchen. I have worked for various restaurant chains such as Biaggi’s, Tap House Grills, Granite City, and various privately owned concepts. I have attended Tony Gemignani’s Pizza College in San Francisco and Keste Pizza College in New York City. I have certificates in traditional Neopolitan pizzas, and American pan pizzas. I have been featured in Naperville Magazine, Entrepreneur Magazine, WGN’s Chicago’s Best Restaurant, PODS National newsletter, and Fox32 News. I have been with Nueske’s for 15 months as an area sales manager representing IL, MN, MS, IO, NE, SD, and WI and have recently taken on a second role designing recipes and culinary content for social media and marketing purposes.
Rian Hill
Rian is a hospitality professional with deep ties to the Midwest’s food and beverage scene. Originally hailing from Door County, his restaurant career led him to New York, where he worked alongside renowned chef Peter Hoffman at Savoy, a pioneering SoHo mainstay. After relocating to Chicago, Rian served as general manager at two Michelin-starred restaurants — North Pond, in Lincoln Park, and Blackbird, in the West Loop. Now, having returned to Door County with his wife, Priscilla, and their two young children, Rian works for Left Bank Wine + Spirits, a boutique, family-owned distributor, where he shares his love of wine with like-minded local restaurants and fine-wine merchants.
Rachel Hass Lohman
Rachel is a cookie, croissant and dessert master, and the owner of Analog Coffee in Sister Bay. Her Aunt Ruthie’s house has a special place in Rachel’s heart. It always smelled of the most delicious homemade cookies. Ruthie began to teach Rachel all the secrets of cookie making when she was just a wee sprite. Now, with years of practice, Rachel creates delicious cookies and pastries for all to enjoy! Also, she is our Grand Dam of baking and fills classes for buttery croissants and baking basics, too.
Olivia Lowry
I started at Sweetie Pies even before it opened way back in 1995. My mom, Susan, was the original owner and I worked with her for the first 5 years. My titles included everything from “clerk” to “cleaning crew” to “head of wholesale” to “production manager”. That last one is why I’m teaching a pie making class. For a couple years I was in charge of every pie that got made at Sweetie Pies.
My partner Chris and I bought Sweetie Pies in April of 2017 from some great friends who owned it in between my mom and I. Chris is now the production manager among a great many other things and I usually cover the office type stuff. I love to get in the kitchen and help with pie making as often as I can. It makes my heart sing!
My teenage daughter and a couple of her friends help out at Sweetie Pies and Chris and I are looking forward to the day that our twin boys will be able to wield rolling pins too.
Olivia has a great personality and the pie knowledge to make each student smile and go home confident with a delicious pie to share and enjoy!
Mike Mead
Mike Mead is the Chef and owner of the Shoreline Restaurant in Gills Rock, Door Counties most northern restaurant. Mike and his wife Mary have owned the restaurant for 18 years and he is the primary Chef. Mikes passion for salmon and whitefish dishes have visitors coming from all over the country to their restaurant in Gills Rock. Their slogan is “Eat The Whitefish” The dining room has a most spectacular view and makes one think they could actually see a salmon jump in the picturesque bay.
Mike is a great teacher and with his contagious smile, students flock to his informative and entertaining classes.
Gail Rueckl
Chef Gail Rueckl, from childhood on had a passion for food. She has over 40 years experience working in the Food Industry, helping shape the chef she is today. Using the knowledge she gained from her work experiences, Gail decided to turn her passion into a career.
She earned an Associates Degree in Culinary Arts through Nicolet College in Rhinelander, WI in 2011.
Gail’s experiences started at 16 years old working at an historic diner in Green Bay, WI called Sneezers, where retired Packers coach Vince Lombardi would frequently have lunch. She spent years working for General Mills as a Grocery Store Merchandiser, and eventually took a job with Kraft Foods as a Sales Representative. After, earning her culinary degree, Gail was hired as a head baker, for a private girls camp in Minocqua, WI, serving divine desserts to over 400 girls. In addition to a baker, Gail has worked as a private chef offering in home culinary experiences, in addition to a recipe tester for Leite’s Culinaria and America’s Test Kitchen. Wanting to share her passion and knowledge, Gail started working as an assistant and teacher at the Savory Spoon Cooking School.
Chef Gail has a strong passion for all kinds of food, but loves to focus on beautiful, healthy, and tasteful ingredients. She enjoys international cooking styles and uses travel to help with continuing education and broaden her knowledge of the various styles of cooking.
Emily Schield
Emily Schield grew up working in the restaurant industry, her first job being a dishwasher and busser at the local café. During her teenage years, she started experiencing health issues rooted in the food she was eating. After realizing the importance of eating real, wholesome, gut-healing foods, Emily developed a passion for nutrition and creating meals with integrity, bright color, flavor and balance. She moved out west and received her Bachelor’s Degree in Nutrition and Culinary Arts from Bastyr University. Emily also became a certified Health Coach through the Institute for Integrative Nutrition to further her knowledge in holistic health.
She works online as a Health & Nutrition Coach, Holistic Chef and creative freelance writer and food photographer through her business, beets and pretty eats, LLC. Emily gained valuable experience through many restaurant jobs which allowed her to develop a love for the seasonality of food, sourdough bread and fermented foods, local greens and garden vegetables and fresh herbs – primarily rosemary, mint, basil and thyme. She is a hunter, farmer and fisherman’s daughter and loves incorporating venison, local poultry and freshly caught fish into meals for a balance of high-quality protein. Emily loves indulging in the sweeter things in life – primarily homemade berry ice-cream and chocolate desserts. She believes food is meant to be thoroughly enjoyed with the people you love and that the cooking experience should be fun, aesthetically pleasing to the eye, exciting and well worth the effort!
Heidi Stodola
Are you interested in tablescapes that include beautiful floral arrangements? Intrigued by a centerpiece you saw at your local florist? Or, simply needing technique skills to arrange flowers you purchased locally at the market? We’ll provide all the materials & prep *(similar to our cooking classes), so you can arrive ready to have fun and create something beautiful. Class size is kept to a minimum; the goal is for you to leave smiling, having created your own floral story. Flowers are my passion, from gardening to fresh arrangements. I bring along floral design experience I gained on the East Coast. I take pleasure in being surrounded by beauty and look forward to sharing my talents & creating something pretty during our floral workshops together at The Savory Spoon. Simonie Woerfel
After selling wine to top restaurants in Chicago for over a decade, Simonie and her family, decided to shift gears and head north to make Door County their full-time home. During her 15 year wine career in sales, she was able to deepen her knowledge of wine by traveling to dozens of wine regions around the world. Simonie is thrilled to be sharing her passion for wine and travel with the guests of the Savory Spoon Cooking School.
