MARIETTA - A world-renowned chef made an impression on the Mid-Ohio Valley with a cooking demonstration and a book signing on Saturday in downtown Marietta.
"This Ohio trip has been a lot of fun and Marietta is charming - I live in New York City, so this couldn't be any more different," said Sara Moulton, a television chef and author of three cookbooks.
Moulton spent Saturday afternoon at The Cook's Shop on Marietta's Front Street with a group of 20 people in the store's small demonstration kitchen.
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Television chef Sara Moulton answers questions of those who attended her cooking class at The Cook’s
"The event went very well," said Ken Kupsche, owner of The Cook's Shop at 180 Front St. "Everybody who took the class was thrilled with it and Sara Moulton is just great."
Kupsche, who owns the store with his wife, Dagmar, said they were introduced to Moulton at the Chicago Housewares Show in March.
Saturday's appearance was one of two in Ohio where Moulton, who was the executive chef of Gourmet Magazine for 23 years until it closed in 2009, demonstrated how to cook four recipes from her latest cookbook, "Sara Moulton's Everyday Family Dinners," which was released in April 2010. This smaller tour between Cleveland and Marietta was part of a larger tour of about 35 stops across the nation since 2010 where she uses Chantal Cookware to demonstrate fusion copper items while she promotes the cookbook.
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Photo by Jolene Craig
Chef Sara Moulton watches as Penny Hall, right, of Marietta, helps her cook on Saturday at The Cook’s Shop in Marietta.
During the 2010 Moulton and Chantal demonstration/book tour, Moulton and her cookware representative visited 23 cities across the country and as far north as Anchorage, Alaska.
"I love doing demonstrations in these smaller 'mom and pop' cook shops because it gives me a chance to know my audience and the people," Moulton said. "At these smaller events you really get to meet people and help them learn how to cook and try things that they wouldn't normally do."
Penny Hall, of Marietta, was one of the 20 participants and was the first person called up to help Moulton cook crepes.
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In Brief
World-renowned chef Sara Moulton conducted a cooking demonstration for 20 people at The Cook's Shop on Marietta's Front Street on Saturday.
Attendees spent more than two hours with the television chef, who prepared four items form her latest cookbook, "Sara Moulton's Everyday Family Dinners."
"It was fun," Hall said. "I come to these cooking classes once a month and I think it's wonderful that she came here and I wish we could get more famous chefs here."
Kupsche said he and his wife have the same hope for their store and the city.
"We are looking, actively, for more celebrity chefs to come in," he said. "We hope to have one event like this every year."
Moulton is best known as one of the first well-known personalities in the first decade of the Food Network with shows such as "Cooking Live," "Sara's Secrets" and "Cooking Live Primetime" as well as her work as the food editor for ABC-TV's "Good Morning America."
Moulton will soon appear on Public Broadcasting Stations with the second season of "Sara's Weeknight Meals."
Following the demonstration, about 15 people who could not get seats for the demonstration brought in their copies of Moulton's books for her to sign.
"It's really unusual for more people to come in for the signing after the demonstration, which was a nice surprise," Moulton said.
