About Global Kitchen

Comments Off | June 27, 2012

Global Kitchen was born out of a love for food, culture, stories, and shared meals. All of these elements are brought together through our immigrant-led cooking classes. Through our in-person cooking classes Global Kitchen preserves traditional recipes and establishes a space for vibrant cultural exchange. We invite you to attend our classes and celebrate our chef instructor’s culture, passion for food, and traditional recipes.

Pete Freeman

Pete Freeman is an International Public/Non-profit Policy and Management student at NYU Wagner. He spent 2½ years in Senegal, West Africa with the Peace Corps consulting for artisan cooperatives to improve access to export markets, financing and business skills. Upon returning to the US, Pete managed 7 country programs’ grants for the International Rescue Committee, which aims to improve the lives of refugees and those affected by conflict. Pete then immersed himself in the sustainable agriculture world as a Regional Fellow for the Rudolf Steiner Foundation. He will likely be found nodding to music- from West African or New York artists- and getting down with some Mexican or Thai food!

Ryan Brown

Ryan Brown spent the first seven years of his working life in finance. During his three years as an equity trader, he kept his sanity by volunteering with food policy organizations in his free time. Spurred by this work Ryan founded an organization in Chicago with the goal of making local, sustainable meat and produce accessible to everyone, not just those who could afford it. He established CSAs connecting his neighbors to local farmers and launched community gardens and composting centers. Using fresh food from farmers markets, he hosted monthly community meals, cooking for his neighbors including those who were homeless. Ryan’s passion for this work led him to a Master of Public Administration degree at NYU Wagner with a specialization in International Development. When not in his own kitchen, he enjoys exploring NYC’s restaurants. Current favorite cuisines include Turkish and Tibetan and he is always on the hunt for the best Mexican mole.

Leah Selim

Leah Selim is an MA Candidate in Food Systems at NYU. Before graduate school, she worked in the worlds of marketing and publishing with a focus on writing and design, punctuating her career path with a few summers spent farming and teaching English in East Africa. She currently works as an editorial contractor for ReliefWeb – an awesome website administered by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs – while continuing her coursework in sustainable agriculture practices, food policy and human rights issues affecting sub-Saharan Africa. She loves cooking and eating vegetarian dishes, especially those that require input from her ever-expanding collection of spices.

Alexis Herschkowitsch

Alexis Herschkowitsch is a certified sommelier living in Brooklyn. She is the co-author of The Wine Trials, a bestselling guide to inexpensive wines. She has written extensively about the Texas restaurant scene for the Fearless Critic restaurant guide series. Alexis has also written for multiple Fodor’s travel guides to Mexico, Central America, and Thailand. She is a member of the Gastronauts eating club and has a real fondness for fried grasshoppers.