About

My background in cooking is not linear but all the same an adventurous tale. I started cooking sixteen years ago while studying in London to be an actor. I found the same joy in cooking that I had in theater: teamwork, monotonous preparation, exciting performances (known as lunch and dinner), and discovering that together we could create something more meaningful than we could individually.

Since then, I’ve crisscrossed Europe and the Bay Area cooking, acting, directing, and professionally teaching cooking and theater. Eight years ago I formalized my knowledge of cooking by attending Le Cordon Bleu Paris. After graduation I landed a stage with Guy Savoy who ultimately sponsored my work visa. There, I worked as Chef de Partie in a 3 Michelin Star Parisian restaurant for four years.

Homesick for U.S. culture I moved to New York and cooked at Le Bernardin as Senior Chef de Partie for two years, also a 3 Michelin Star restaurant, absorbing everything I could about fish cookery. I am back in San Francisco for good now (at least I think!). Over the last two years I have opened three restaurants in the Bay Area including the new Citizen Cake.

Currently I work as Executive Chef at Tunitas Creek Kitchen on Potrero Nuevo Farm along the beautiful Highway 1. We are set to begin a series of farm to table dinners, workshops, and events this year as well as launch our product line of jams and pickles from produce grown on site. I am honored to work here focusing on production creation of all things edible, healthful, sustainable and beautiful.

During the week I am Chef/Program Director for Edible After School teen program in connection with the Puente Organization. This is an organization that began over 20 years ago to help farm workers bridge the gap. Today this organization reaches out to low income families all across California. Edible After School draws upon local farms for our produce and proteins and we sell products at the local Pescadero farmer’s market. Curricula focuses on: food handling/safety, cooking skills & creativity, team building, organization & sequential learning, marketing, management, customer service, and product development. Come check us out at the farmer’s market this summer! This will be our second season of teen cuisine.

At Pie Ranch, a nonprofit educational farm, I teach students of all ages how to turn just picked produce into tasty meals. I cook for corporate companies and sponsors and provide fun team building cooking lessons (and a fabulous 3-course farm to fork lunch!). And yes, we do make a lot of pies from wheat grown and milled on site baked in our outdoor woodfire oven – hence the name “Pie” ranch. If you are interested in being a sponsor or hosting an off-site team building event here please contact Pie Ranch at 650-879-0995.

Some background info on this blog: I began writing it in 2005 when I moved to Paris as a way to keep in touch with my cooking students and my friends & family back home. Little did I know there was a much bigger audience out there! Originally it was titled: Ms. Glaze’s Pommes d’Amour, but my URL was taken by an Japanese travel site when I failed to renew the domain name. Hence the new name of :Amy Glaze’s Pommes d’Amour. I was the first blogger to chronicle my studies at Le Cordon Bleu and then later as a female cook in a 3-Michelin star Parisian restaurant.

Education: B.A. from Mills College, Credential Education from Notre Dame University (I hold a California Single Subject Teaching Credential in English with a special authorization in Foods that is valid through 2017), Graduated from Le Cordon Bleu Paris with a Cuisine certificate plus special certificates in Basic Pastry and Wine.