Lori Frank, Park Cafe Group
Saturday, September 8, 2018, 10:30 am - 11:15 am
Stop by the CUESA Classroom for a cooking demo featuring the seasonal bounty of the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market.
Driven by passion and curiosity for cooking at a young age, Lori Frank brings nearly two decades of culinary experience to her role as Executive Chef at Park Cafe Group. Lori’s insatiable appetite for learning about worldly cuisines is the foundation of her cooking philosophy.
Starting out in the hospitality industry as a server, Lori quickly joined the back of the house team to learn on the line as a self-taught cook. Lori opened her first restaurant, Izzy’s, in Crested Butte Colorado, which became an instant local success. After successfully managing Izzy’s, Lori sold the restaurant to refine her skills in culinary school at the Institute of Culinary Education (ICE) in New York. After school, Lori immersed herself in the hospitality industry from staging at the James Beard House to working with Michelin starred chef Takashi Yagihashi to traveling in Mexico, and to Vietnam to cook on an organic farm. Upon her return to Colorado, Lori opened her second restaurant, Twisted Fork, in Gunnison, Colorado. Running every aspect of the restaurant, Lori created another success with Twisted Fork’s approachable atmosphere and Asian-inspired international cuisine. Lori’s diverse background in the hospitality industry brings a new era of food at Park Cafe Group. Her focus for the culinary program at all of the cafe locations (Dolores Park Cafe, Duboce Park Cafe, Precita Park Cafe, and Paradise Park Cafe) is to incorporate vibrant, seasonal ingredients while utilizing local Bay Area purveyors in the cafe’s surrounding neighborhoods.
All demos take place in the CUESA Classroom (under the white tents in front of the Ferry Building) and are free to the public, with recipes and samples for all.