JOANNE WEIR

Author/TV Show Host

Joanne Weir is many things, a world traveler, a James Beard Award-winning cookbook author, a cooking teacher, a chef and television personality. In her brand new 26-part public television series, “Joanne Weir’s Cooking Class”, Joanne’s love of teaching cooking takes center stage. Her home kitchen becomes the classroom for each show as she works side-by-side with a real-world student for a hands-on cooking lesson. The student and viewer learn how to prepare a wide variety of Weir's latest Mediterranean-inspired recipes, using the freshest and most seasonal ingredients available.

Awarded the very first IACP Julia Child Cooking Teacher Award of Excellence in 1997, Joanne shares a lifetime of experience that flavors everything she touches. Her first book, From Tapas to Meze (Crown, 1994,) was selected by Julia Child as one of her 12 personal favorites out of 1000 cookbooks published that year.  From there she went on to publish a library of delights including a series of books for Williams Sonoma in 1997 called Seasonal Celebrations, You Say Tomato (Broadway Books 1998) and Weir Cooking, Recipes from the Wine Country (Time Life, 1999.)  Her talents were finally brought to life in the PBS series “Weir Cooking in the Wine Country”, shot on location in the Napa Valley. The companion book, Weir’s More Cooking in the Wine Country (Simon & Schuster, 2001) went on to garner a James Beard Award nomination as well as an IACP Cookbook Award.

Joanne’s passion for home cooking was stoked by a legacy of life in the kitchen. Joanne’s great-grandmother operated a restaurant in Boston at the turn of the century called Pilgrim’s Pantry. That enthusiasm for food was passed down to her mother, a professional chef and caterer, who worked for years with the legendary cookbook author, Charlotte Turgeon.

Joanne spent five years cooking with Alice Waters at Chez Panisse in Berkeley, California and studied with Madeleine Kamman in New England and France and was awarded a Master Chef Diploma. All these elements come alive in her thoughtful classes as well as her delightful words and television series.