Our School and Staff
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Our Philosophy Culinary Underground School for Home Cooks is committed to furthering the art and craft of home cooking through engaging and educational hands-on and demonstrations classes. Using the best seasonal ingredients, mastering techniques, minimizing prep, and maximizing flavor are the focus of our classes. We believe that good eating and breaking bread with others are two of life’s greatest pleasures, and are at the heart of everyday cooking for family and friends. We share with our students a growing concern of what is in our food and where it comes from. To that end, we support small, local, organic farms and dairies, seek out area restaurants whose chefs cook locally, and invite those chefs, farmers, and purveyors into the classroom to share their knowledge and ideas with our students. |
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Our New Kitchen! Check out our fantastic new teaching kitchen, located at 21 Turnpike Road in Southborough, MA: Wolf and Subzero appliances, a commercial dishwasher, a wonderful demonstration island and plenty of work space for hands-on cooking! |
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About Our Name The Culinary Underground School for Home Cooks gets its name from our original location; we live in a berm house, under the ground. We have turf for a roof and huge south-facing windows light the the original Culinary Underground kitchen. After offering classes in our “underground” location for 6 years, we expanded to our current location at 21 Turnpike Road in Southborough. And even though we are no longer literally underground, we kept the name – we liked the whimsically subversive sound of it! |
 Lori Leinbach Chef Lori Leinbach: Founder and director of Culinary Underground, Chef Lori is a former grade school teacher and a graduate of the Cambridge School of Culinary Arts. For ten years, she operated Custom Cuisine, a personal chef service for families and individuals in Boston and the MetroWest area.Lori has a special affection for people who continue the tradition of home cooking, and she saw a need for classes for non-professionals. Drawing on her teaching background, she has created Culinary Underground, a school dedicated to reviving the art and craft of home cooking Lori also teaches continuing education classes locally, as well as private cooking classes designed for individuals and small groups. Lori is a member of the International Association of Culinary Professionals, American Federation of Chefs, and Women Chefs and Restaurateurs. |
 Suzanne Johnson Chef Suzanne Johnson: Born in Garden City, NY, Chef Suzanne is a former fundraiser, stock broker and conference coordinator. As a stay-at-home mother of two, she discovered her passion for cooking and started personal cheffing for friends. After taking a class at Culinary Underground School for Home Cooks, she was invited to teach and then joined the ranks as full time Instructor. Chef Suzanne grew up in a family full of excellent cooks. Her mother was a gourmet cook and her father an amateur wine connoisseur. Suzanne specializes in soups and appetizers, and particularly likes working with students of the School’s Very Basic Series. She develops curriculum such as the Parent/Child/Teen Series and other workshops with unique themes and practical applications. She believes strongly that to encourage families to cook and eat together, they should all learn basic knife skills, get into the kitchen, and keep trying new recipes. Children especially are more likely to try and eat what they make themselves in their home kitchen. |
 Diane Richmond Chef Diane Richmond: Diane Richmond pursued a career in the culinary field thanks to her mother, who hated to cook but realized her daughter had the necessary talent required to make dinner. Together they cooked their way through the late 1960s classics, with Diane soon graduating to roasted chicken and baking desserts. Chef Diane attended Mass College of Art, graduating with a degree in illustration. Her experience in the food industry includes direct sales of local produce, restaurant operations, canning and commercial baking, and developing Exceptional Confections, her own line of homemade baked goods. Chef Diane will serve CU as the Events Coordinator and Marketing Manager, including outreach programs for schools, libraries, and corporations. In the CU kitchen, she will lead cooking demos and teach heart-healthy cooking classes. Chef Diane Richmond is a resident of Boylston. |
 Heather Tolmie Chef Heather Tolmie: An undergraduate of Indiana University, Chef Heather Tolmie subsequently spent nine years acquiring extensive fine dining experience in Nashville and Bloomington, Indiana. Chef Tolmie then attended the Johnson & Wales University in Providence, RI where she made the Dean’s List and graduated Summa cum laude with an Associate of Science degree in Culinary Arts. Here she achieved “Mastered” status for various cooking techniques and in 2008 received the Johnsonian Spirit Award. Chef Tolmie worked on the 19th TV season of “Ciao Italia with Mary Ann Esposito”. She is a Certified Culinarian with the American Culinary Federation, a Certified Food Safety Manager with the National Registry of Food Safety Professionals, and received her ServSafe Alcohol Certification from the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation. Chef Heather Tolmie is a resident of Framingham MA. |
 Liz Della Paolera Chef Liz Della Paolera: Chef Liz Paolera, a former public school teacher, is a graduate of Le Cordon Bleu’s Baking & Pastry Arts Program. She has also attended Cambridge School of Culinary Arts. Her culinary interest in creating desserts began at a young age and continued while working in her family-owned restaurant. Before joining the staff at Culinary Underground School for Home Cooks, Liz worked at Vicki Lee’s Bakeshop in Needham and for a local farmer’s market. As a teacher, Liz believes that the best classes are those in which students acquire hands-on experience with baking, cooking and learning about food science. She devotes considerable time to the research and testing of recipes and techniques in order to make a variety of creative desserts with students of all ages. Chef Liz Della Paolera is a resident of Ashland. |
