Corinne Colen ~ Founder

Corinne Colen designed and crafted The Culinary Loft to share her passion for the culinary arts with those intrigued by the world of minced garlic, grilled vegetables and salmon roasted in coarse salt.  Her passion for food and sensual imagery first evolved into a career as a commercial food/still-life photographer in New York City. The Culinary Loft is a natural extension of this artistic development, providing a warm and inviting atmosphere, where her impressive roster of clients can savor the art of cooking while enjoying the pleasure of their guests.

The concept of a warm “home-style” kitchen, as distinct from commercial cooking school or restaurant style kitchens, is integral to feeling more comfortable in your own home kitchen. When you can translate what you have experienced, you are more willing to practice what you have seen, learned and tasted. This certainly makes for a truly satisfying and worthwhile experience!

Corinne’s training was more casual than formal. She left Los Angeles to fulfill her dream of living in the mountains, and landed in Big Sur, California. For five years she and her partner developed a five-acre property overlooking the ocean in the Los Padres National Forest, creating a bountiful, strictly organic garden, while nurturing their twenty-five chickens, and fruit & nut trees. The abundance of the food produced inspired the self-teaching of cooking techniques, health and nutrition, bread baking, canning her own tomatoes, making fruit preserves and trying recipes inherited from family and friends.